[CH] Unexpectedly "Mild" Peppers
Rob Solarion (solarion@1starnet.com)
Sat, 4 Jan 2003 20:00:56 -0600
The Dallas Morning News, 27 December 2002
WILL YOUR HABANEROS BE HOT NEXT YEAR?
By Mike Peters
Many gardeners harvested unexpectedly mild habanero peppers last year and
may wonder whether they should have bothered to save the seeds.
Yes, say experts: The mildness was not genetic but cultural. All peppers
planted in areas that were well watered (or got plenty of rain) were milder
than usual.
If you normally watered your peppers every three or four days, this year
cut back to one good soaking a week, says Danise Coon, assistant director
of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University. (And keep
peppers away from automatic sprinklers.) Don't worry if the plants look
wilted -- stressing them will make the fruits hotter.
If you like the flavor of habaneros but not the extreme heat, look for
seeds of 'NuMex Suave Red' and 'NuMex Suave Orange' habaneros being offered
by New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute. By spring, both
mild and incendiary varieties will be available as nursery bedding plants
-- which will require careful shopping