Hello,
For the last three years I have grown Hatch green chiles in my garden here in upstate NY (Zone 5A). My plants grow beautifully, but they are not even a little spicy. This year, for example, I grew an extra hot variety from Sandia Seed Company, and they grew beautiful peppers that tasted like sweet peppers. I've also grown a few varieties (Big Jim and Sandia Select) from the NM Chile Institute, and those were also sweet. I think my seeds are good quality.
My question is: what could be affecting the spiciness of my my chile?
I assumed that it might be too wet here to produce spicy peppers. So, this year I grew the peppers under an open high tunnel and severely limited their water. Still not spicy. My soil is very healthy, and I am very restrained in my use of fertilizer. What could be affecting the flavor? I've been through a variety of ideas--nutrients, day length, etc--but none of them make sense to me. Our climate is about 10 degrees colder than NM (our highs in the summer are around 95), so I don't expect my chile to taste the same as what my family gets in NM, but I cannot fathom why my chile doesn't get at all spicy.
For comparison, every other hot pepper I grow is spicy. HELP!
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- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 3053
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
- Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b
Welcome to the forum, Tim!
I can't tell you much about milder peppers, like that. When I'm growing them, it's for the mild flavor, and sometimes I get a slightly hotter one, but it's always the production and other flavors I'm thinking about, so I can't really recommend any particular varieties. The suggestions by webmaster I'm sure would be more helpful.
Also, what kinds of peppers do you eat on a regular basis? I ask because I know from experience that by the end of the season, especially, I get "less sensitive", STS, due to a friend and I sampling some extremely hot peppers! They never loose all their heat, but none really taste hot, after a summer of sampling.
I can't tell you much about milder peppers, like that. When I'm growing them, it's for the mild flavor, and sometimes I get a slightly hotter one, but it's always the production and other flavors I'm thinking about, so I can't really recommend any particular varieties. The suggestions by webmaster I'm sure would be more helpful.
Also, what kinds of peppers do you eat on a regular basis? I ask because I know from experience that by the end of the season, especially, I get "less sensitive", STS, due to a friend and I sampling some extremely hot peppers! They never loose all their heat, but none really taste hot, after a summer of sampling.