Classic Stoic Jalapeno

Jalapeno Pepper Seeds

Stuff them, dry them, make sauce from them, smoke them, pickle them, use as a topping on all sorts of food – or as an integral part of salsa.  This is the classic variety – a stoic staple pepper in any kitchen.   Even the extreme pepper-heads can never have too many jalapenos.  I grow more bell and jalapeños than any other pepper because no matter what, someone will gladly take a large bag of the more mild fruit.  Talk about spreading goodwill!

Uses:

• Stuffed
• Cowboy Candy
• Pickled
• Fresh on nachos or salsa
• Cream Cheese blend, spread on burgers or chicken sandwiches

That barebones list just barely scratches the number of things one can do with this pepper.

Which is hotter red or green?

Misconceptions run wild with peppers.  Most folks know red and green fruit come from the same plant.  Green peppers are the immature versions.  With this particular chili, the fruit is typically eaten when green/unripe.  The heat level is slightly more mild, the pepper more crunchy, and has a more of a vegetive taste. Commercial and home growers alike have a good reason to pick the unripe peppers: The fruit takes a long time to ripen to full red color.  Picking immature fruit encourages the plant to increase production.  Afterall, the pepper does not care about you, it only wants to reproduce and give the word red ripe peppers… with viable seeds.

Red, fully ripe peppers tend to be slightly warmer as they have had more time to produce capsaicin.  As well, ripe peppers have more sweetness.  Not commonly found in grocery stores, there are still plenty of commercial and home based uses for the red fruit.  The highly popular siracha sauce is made of the red fruit.  When dried and smoked, the mature pepper’s name changes to chipotle.

Why are the peppers no longer hot?

The average heat is in the 4000 SHU range, plus or minus roughly 2000.  Remember the talk of misconceptions?  If a particular fruit is not hot, it is not because your plant cross pollinated with the heatless bell or Trinidad Perfume growing next to it.  Cross pollination is only an issue if the seeds of the cross pollinated fruit are planted.  The f2 plant is likely to show any dominant or codominant traits from the parents.  So why is my pepper so mild or so blazing hot?

Scoville ratings will change based on growing conditions:

… Especially for these particular  peppers!  Heatless varieties of jalaps do exist – OhioPeppers plans on growing a number of heatless peppers such as the nadapeno and habanada (a heatless Habanero, similar to the Trinidad Perfume) them in 2023 for seeds.  However, any major changes in heat level will likely be due to growing conditions.  A dryer, more stressful environment will often lead to a hotter pepper – likewise – a moisture rich growing environment will provide a cooler pepper.

Grow Many Plants?

Yes.  We say this not as seed vendors – but as an offer of genuine advice.  A single quart of pickled product may take up to 20 peppers.  A handful of quarts, which will go fast once one starts sharing with friends and family…. going to need a lot of peppers! Peter is going to pick how many?  A peck is 537 cubic inches, carry the one, a 3″ long pepper… Poor Peter will pick almost 170 peppers in his peck to be pickled.  Steiner Math.

How many Peppers Per Plant?

Expect around 30 peppers per plant, as long as they are picked while green/immature.