Peppers To Hot

[minisambora]

Hi, I grow a lot of things here in Phoenix, AZ but one of my favorite things to grow are peppers mainly jalapeno and green chiles and I have grown the same varieties for years and love them and often grill them up and serve them with some kind of meat for dinner and the jalapenos are always hot but not unbearable and the green chiles always had a nice kick but where sweet and really good. However, this year all the peppers are so hot, almost unbearable unless you like being miserable and so my question is why would this be. I have done the same thing as usual but I will say that they seem a little bit smaller than usual and just yesterday I picked and grilled the biggest one of the season and it was fine so I thought maybe it has something to do with they are so small. Anybody know what I can do to get them to cool off a bit. Thanks

[rainbowgardener]

Are you in drought? Less water tends to make them more concentrated, hotter. More water tends to make them bigger and more mild. So try giving it a lot more water - but it still needs to drain well and not be waterlogged or sitting in water.

[rockhound]

There are a lot of variables including where do you get your seeds/plants. Weather is another factor as well as nutrition. Sometimes different fruit on the same plant will differ in heat. I would suggest getting a slightly milder pepper and use them together with your present ones to alleviate the heat a little.
You can also remove the seeds and membranes from the inside before you eat the peppers. That's where most of the heat is.
If you grow your own plants from seed, select from the mature peppers you like the best.

[dustyrivergardens]

Lots of people run into that now a days. There are several Jalapenos plants being sold and most of them are larger than the standard and hotter. They still sell the old heirloom variety so next season keep a sharp eye out for them.

[rockhound]

There's even one Jalapeno with no heat at all!

[Halfway]

I had a batch of jalapenos last year that were exceptionally hot. In fact, I do not even grow them for heat, just flavor. These were kept pretty dry throughout the summer so that it what I attributed it to.

I think an extra early start may have contributed as well as they were ready alot sooner and during the hit part of August as opposed to mid September.

[tc_31_fillAmenist]

I had a plant in a black 3(?) gallon container that wound up sitting on a slab of concrete out back(full sun) last Spring.

I planted it for flavor, wanting a little bite but nothing overwhelming.

It was drought conditions here, and relatively hot and sunny. Although I tried to water it daily, I often got behind and noticed it drooping badly.

The first few peppers were what I wanted but they quickly crossed the line.

They got so hot that even cutting them up made my fingers tingle/burn.

I have another planted in the same pot now, same seed packet, grabbed a couple for a pizza a couple nights ago and they were still very mild. It seems to be on its second spurt of blooms and I expect them to be a little more flavorful.

So, I also suspect the dry(and/or hot) weather does indeed make them hotter. So "maybe" more regular watering would cool them down?

I'm speaking from very very limited experience though. I'm a recent transplant to Vero Beach, Florida and am trying to grow a few vegetables on a small, limited space basis.

And I do mean "try", I wasn't a gardener in Ohio, and I'm definitely not here either. I'll probably be posting a few pics of diseased tomatoes as proof... later.

Richard

[dustyrivergardens]

you can make peppers hotter definitely by stressing them cutting back there water and that could be it but they sell 5 variety's of Jalapeno's in my area of Az from a Jalapeno macho nacho hybrid, jalapeno M,jalapeno TAM, fooled you Jalapeno and the early Jalapeno. some with no heat some twice as hot. If you bought your plants from a box store you never know what you bought. Look for the early Jalapeno variety it is the closest to the classic jalapeno that I grow. the fooled you jalapeno has no heat and the TAM is very mild.