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?

David

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

On Nov 14, 11:10*pm, David Rance 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?

David

--
David Rance * * * *writing from Caversham, Reading, UKhttp://rance.org.uk


Probably to do with H&S. Not allowed to sell the hot ones any
more. :-)

In article ,
harry wrote:
On Nov 14, 11:10=A0pm, David Rance 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?

Probably to do with H&S. Not allowed to sell the hot ones any
more. :-)

They've been wethered, actually :-)

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.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"David Rance" 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?


As Nick says, it's more to do with weather than water, at least that has
been my experience. I've tried flooding them for a few weeks before harvest
and keeping them on the dry side and not noticed a difference. If you want
Hot try "Thai Dragon" next year, I think Nick grows that one too, and they
certainly crop well out on our plot.
--
Regards Bob Hobden
Posting to this Newsgroup from the W. of London UK

In article ,
Bob Hobden wrote:

As Nick says, it's more to do with weather than water, at least that has
been my experience. I've tried flooding them for a few weeks before harvest
and keeping them on the dry side and not noticed a difference. If you want
Hot try "Thai Dragon" next year, I think Nick grows that one too, and they
certainly crop well out on our plot.

Not this year, for various unrelated reasons, but it does well with
me and is decently hot (without being ridiculous). It also tastes
good, whereas I find the Scotch bonnet type don't.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

wrote in :

In article ,
Bob Hobden wrote:

As Nick says, it's more to do with weather than water, at least that
has been my experience. I've tried flooding them for a few weeks
before harvest and keeping them on the dry side and not noticed a
difference. If you want Hot try "Thai Dragon" next year, I think Nick
grows that one too, and they certainly crop well out on our plot.

Not this year, for various unrelated reasons, but it does well with
me and is decently hot (without being ridiculous). It also tastes
good, whereas I find the Scotch bonnet type don't.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


Whether this is of any use, I don't know.
What I have done is buy some chillies from the local International
Supermarket and keep the seed from the ones WE like the most.
We have some that are pleasingly warm with the flesh but the seeds are
searingly hot, to very hot flesh and the seed is almost tasteless.
Snag is that I don't the names of any of them but I am willing to give
seeds because I have so many.

I can setup a disposable e-mail account if anybody wants some seeds.

Baz

Allegedly, the heat depends on how warm it was when they were ripening. I know you say the conditions in your conservatory were the same but if you had a miserable summer this year (we did in Yorkshire) it's possible that the conservatory was less warm. Or perhaps that they were a bit slower growing so that the ripening was later and therefore in a cooler part of the year.

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

On Tue, 15 Nov 2011 kay wrote:

t'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.


Allegedly, the heat depends on how warm it was when they were ripening.
I know you say the conditions in your conservatory were the same but if
you had a miserable summer this year (we did in Yorkshire) it's possible
that the conservatory was less warm. Or perhaps that they were a bit
slower growing so that the ripening was later and therefore in a cooler
part of the year.

I know you folks oop north have had a lousy summer because my daughter
lives in Lancashire and greeted us almost every day with, "It's raining
again" in a Sybil Fawlty voice. But we down here had a reasonable summer
- or so I thought. But, of course, at the very time when the pods were
ripening we were away in France so it could be that you've put your
finger on it.

Interesting that the jalapeno chilis grown outside have produced tiny
fruits compared with those in the conservatory.

David

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

wrote in message ...
In article
,
harry wrote:
On Nov 14, 11:10=A0pm, David Rance 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?

Probably to do with H&S. Not allowed to sell the hot ones any
more. :-)

They've been wethered, actually :-)


errrr........
Perhaps I should point out that a wether is a castrated ram?
So unless someone has ripped the nuts off all the male chilis this is
probably not the answer ;-)

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:

Probably to do with H&S. Not allowed to sell the hot ones any
more. :-)

They've been wethered, actually :-)

errrr........
Perhaps I should point out that a wether is a castrated ram?
So unless someone has ripped the nuts off all the male chilis this is
probably not the answer ;-)

My jokes don't deserve to be gilt!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

My experience with pepper plants is that won't do much unless it is warm enough, but once they are warm enough, it is light they crave.

I tried growing rocotos (Capsicum pubescens) this year. Everything else I grews was pretty crap, but the rocotos did stunningly well, and are quite the hottest chillies I've ever grown. They have a reputation of being more cold tolerant than other chillies. I grow my chillies outside in containers against a sunny wall, so cooler than yours, but maximising the light.