[GrannieAnnie]

My beautiful Scotch Bonnet chillies have started to go red at last, but just tasted one and they have no heat whatsoever, they taste more like red peppers!

Reading back on old posts, they say it could be cross pollination.  I do have another chilli in the same greenhouse, which was very hot.  Can't remember its name now, could it have caused my scotch bonnet to have no heat?

[DanielCoffey]

Did you grow them from your own saved seed or from new shop-bought seeds?

If you seed saved, they may have crossed with any other pepper in the area and while that generation of fruits would have been hot, the seeds you saved could have been mild.

[surbie100]

My beautiful Scotch Bonnet chillies have started to go red at last, but just tasted one and they have no heat whatsoever, they taste more like red peppers!

Reading back on old posts, they say it could be cross pollination.  I do have another chilli in the same greenhouse, which was very hot.  Can't remember its name now, could it have caused my scotch bonnet to have no heat?

Cross pollination would only impact on the seeds for next year, not this year's fruit. Is the plant from saved seed which could have crossed?

[GrannieAnnie]

No, because my own plants didn't do very well, I bought this one at a garden centre.  It's a beautiful plant too with about 40 fruits on it!   

I did think that about the cross pollination, but thought maybe I was wrong.  Perhaps the insects cross pollinated from one to the other while the flowers were still on but not fruiting yet?

[surbie100]

I'm no chillii expert but maybe leave them till they are thoroughly mature before picking?

Cross-pollination really shouldn't impact this year's fruit, only next year's seed. In the same way that a courgette plant will have normal courgettes an be pollinated by many other kinds, but you wouldn't want to save that seed for planting next year unless you've hand pollinated it or like surprises.

I don't grow scotch bonnets, but my other chillies are only just beginning to turn now. My padrons are too hot to eat though, always happens at the end of the season.

[GreyScales]

Did you grow this one from seed or did you buy the plant? I purchased a scotch bonnet plant from B&Q last year because family requested some past the sowing date, however like you the chillies had no heat whatsoever.

[GrannieAnnie]

Did you grow this one from seed or did you buy the plant? I purchased a scotch bonnet plant from B&Q last year because family requested some past the sowing date, however like you the chillies had no heat whatsoever.

Yes Grey Scales, as mentioned above.  I bought the plant from a big garden Centre.  The label DID say it should be hot though! 

Surbie, I've tried them green, just red, and the one yesterday was over ripe and starting to wrinkle a little bit!  I am really disappointed.  I wanted step son to have a lovely hot chilli.  Gave him the very first one too.  Must ask him if that one had any heat in it! 

[Twitch]

Were they grown outside in the ground or pots?

I grow lots of hot chillies, and find one's outside are never hot (well not for me).
One's in pots outside slightly warmer, (less water I guess).

The one's in the polly tunnel pot or ground are HOT

[GrannieAnnie]

It sits in a very large pot in the middle of my big greenhouse Twitch, so that's another good idea shot down in flames by my non hot, hot chilli plant!       

I've also been very good with watering, not too much and not too little.  It's a mystery! 

[GrannieAnnie]

Hope no one minds, but borrowed this article from Gardening Knowhow to show you, perhaps I was too kind?

"On the opposite side, you may have been to kind to your peppers. Over caring for your peppers through excessive amounts of water and fertilizer will cause the peppers to be over sized and the capsicum in the membranes to become diluted, thus resulting is a milder tasting pepper."

[mrsbean]

My scotch bonnets are still to flower for some reason. cayenne chillies are strange this year, off the same plant one can blow your head  off another has no heat at all.

[GrannieAnnie]

My scotch bonnets are still to flower for some reason. cayenne chillies are strange this year, off the same plant one can blow your head  off another has no heat at all.

Awww Mrs Bean, I think it may be too late for yours now    I've got another chilli plant, which is the only one I sowed from my saved seed, and it only has tiny green upright chillies on it at the moment.  I don't think they will get much bigger, but I'm hoping for a bit of heat if they ever go red!

[Thrutchington]

Hope no one minds, but borrowed this article from Gardening Knowhow to show you, perhaps I was too kind?

"On the opposite side, you may have been to kind to your peppers. Over caring for your peppers through excessive amounts of water and fertilizer will cause the peppers to be over sized and the capsicum in the membranes to become diluted, thus resulting is a milder tasting pepper."

The stuff in the membranes is capsaicin not capsicum. A capsicum is a sweet pepper variety.

[GrannieAnnie]

Hope no one minds, but borrowed this article from Gardening Knowhow to show you, perhaps I was too kind?

"On the opposite side, you may have been to kind to your peppers. Over caring for your peppers through excessive amounts of water and fertilizer will cause the peppers to be over sized and the capsicum in the membranes to become diluted, thus resulting is a milder tasting pepper."

The stuff in the membranes is capsaicin not capsicum. A capsicum is a sweet pepper variety.

That wasn't my spelling, I copied it from an article! Sorry didn't notice the bloke who wrote the article can't spell!   

[jambop]

Well I have just tasted one of my scotch bonnets and they are unbelievably hot!!!!!! I can eat some pretty hot curries and the like but these things are lethal and I only cut a very thin slice from a green/orange one ... no seeds and it is so hot I reckon one of those without seeds could make 5L of vindiloo type curry no problem. My ones were grown from seeds saved from peppers from Waitrose and grown out doors down here in SW France. I now need to find out what to do with the huge amount I have on the plants. Thinking of making a  hot sauce but to be honest I would say that a teaspoon full would blow your head off These may even be hotter than the Habanero salsa I tasted a few years back I gave some to a work mate and he went into convulsions !! These could be dangerous and will be kept well away from the normal hot salsa's.