[pookey]

I have been growing and nurturing my jalapenos since the end of february (from seed), all the plants look fantastic and are dripping in green fruits (greenhouse grown).  I harvested some a month back but they had no flavour so I left them on the plant to develop and harvested them all yesterday as it's getting cold.  I have just spent hours chopping up hundreds of jalapenos but when I tasted them they are so mild they are more like sweet peppers!

I can still use them in stirfries etc and treat them as peppers but it's so dissapointing!  I put so much work into them - where did I go wrong??

Jalapenos are so expensive £1.20 for a small jar, I thought I would keep myself stocked for the year and the effort would save me a fortune!!!!! DAMN :roll:

[sweet nasturtium]

I've had exactly the same problem.  I'm looking forward to hearing any replies.  I think I got my seeds from B&Q.

[Sally A]

I've bought these for next year........hope it was just the cool summer that caused the problem and not a general problem with seeds currently on the market.

[Aidy]

Try pickleing them in things like cider vinegar, they are great picklers, I use allsorts of combinations with them and use them all year.

[GrannieAnnie]

But I thought that jalapenos were quite hot Aidy???

[Aidy]

Yep around a 7 on the scoville, and I think the pickleing may make them a little hotter but they go great with butties and salads and stuff. Just slice them into decent slices, and drop them into the pickle liquid for a few seconds then bottle them.

[Ice]

Can you expand on that pickling recipe Aidy.  I have loads and they are not as hot as expected either.  Even my hot cayenne are pretty tame.

[gobs]

Yep around a 7 on the scoville, and I think the pickleing may make them a little hotter but they go great with butties and salads and stuff. Just slice them into decent slices, and drop them into the pickle liquid for a few seconds then bottle them.

 
Now you sound like Munty, you know  

[WG.]

Try http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?p=41551#41551

I can't see how it would improve tastless ones though.

[gobs]

All of you having no heat in your chillies is somewhat intriguing, not that I've ever grown jalapenos or encountered the problem.

Yes, all Capsicums need a lot of heat and daylight to grow well and we had a rubbish summer but still I'm wondering, if you lot had a rubbish batch of seed.

But then, of course waiting for anybody who knows to tell what can prevent capsaicin(I don't know the English spelling) formation in peppers. :shock:

[Sally A]

Probably a daft question,,,,,,,but here goes, would it be worth tasting one of my seeds for planting next year to see if it has any kick....seems a waste of space and effort if a whole years packets are a duff batch.

I got the T&M 1/2 price Jalapeno summer Heat F1 packeted for year end Sept 07, sp presumably as this was in June/July when I bought them they would have been what was on the shelves at the end of 06 start of 07.

[gobs]

Pepper seeds should be viable for about 4 yrs, but then they don't tell you when it was harvested do they, only when it was packed.

Tasting sounds the best you can do to me.

There are no daft questions only daft answers. :roll:

[Aidy]

In a word yes sort of, the hottest part is the ambilical, this is the bit that conects the seed to the fruit, that is where most of the capsiacin is held, so if you have a hot seed then there is pretty much a good chance you will have a hot pepper, the biggest problem is that many ppl like to grow more than one variety in the greenhouse and you are likely to get cross pollination which will affect the fruit, it is best to decide on one type and grow it. I will dig out my pickle recipes and post them but the cider vinegar was my fave.

[gobs]

That's a good point actually, the issue of cross-pollination, which can happen if there are dif open pollinated, non-sel-pollinating verieties present.

Never encountered it, though. :roll:

[sweet nasturtium]

Would you say Aidy that the lack of heat / sun would have made the Jalapenos less hot?  I'd be able to relax about the seed issue if I knew that...