On Tue, 15 Nov 2011 Nick Maclaren wrote:

It's a few years since I grew chili peppers but I did it again this
year: cayenne, jalapeno and anaheim. The hottest is supposed to be the
cayenne but, for some reason, they are not as hot as they should be. In
fact, they are quite mild - I can put a piece in my mouth and it doesn't
skin my tongue. I still have some dried cayenne chilis from a few years
ago and they are certainly hot. Growing conditions are exactly the same
in my conservatory.

Does anyone have any idea why this should be?

Despite the common (Merkin?) misbelief that the key to heat is whether
they get enough water, the most common cause that I know of is lack
of warmth and/or sunlight - a FAR more common problem here. Of course,
Jalapeno IS a mild chilli, anyway, and is usually eaten whole, seeds
and all.

I know that jalapeno and anaheim are milder but my problem is that the
usually hot ones, cayenne, are not hot.

But is it lack of warmth? They are in a warm conservatory. By contrast
my fig tree has ripened fifty to a hundred figs this year and is still
continuing to do so. Although the tree is more than twenty years old it
has never produced more than two or three edible ones in previous years.
Is it not the late warm autumn?

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk