Last season I got my peppers really hot, I think it's due to the compost I used

[lionbeat]

Last season I got all my peppers really hot, even the ones with low heat or no heat turned out quite pungent. I cannot define the exact increase in heat levels, but my Bishops Hat were not mild as usual, but really hot, Marbles which had no heat - had some good pungency too.

I'm not sure what exactly caused this, but my guess it's the compost I used. I had a mixture of peat moss and compost that I made. It was actually the horse manure I brought in fresh in the autumn to heat the greenhouse. I started it with some urea and got it going for about 2,5 months with temperature reaching over 70 degrees celsius inside. After the pile cooled I added the so called effective microorganisms to finish the composting faster and populate the soil with beneficial bacterias and stuff. In a while the pile was filled with earth worms, pillbugs and millipede (Oxidus gracilis). So in about 6 months I got myself an excelent horse manure compost that I think contributed to the heat level of my peppers.

I just wanted to share this experience with the ones interested in getting more pungent pods and to find out if somebody experienced similar effect.

 

[Neme]

I heard that if you plant normal peppers next to hot peppers, the normal will have heat also. Not sure if it's true tho.
 
Have you grown them close to each other?

 

[MeatHead1313]

I heard that if you plant normal peppers next to hot peppers, the normal will have heat also. Not sure if it's true tho.
 
Have you grown them close to each other?

That's not true at all. The only way the normal peppers would be hot from that is if they cross pollinated, and that wouldn't have an effect until the next year if you save seeds. Planting sweet or mild peppers beside hot peppers won't have any effect on that years pods.

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

I heard that if you plant normal peppers next to hot peppers, the normal will have heat also. Not sure if it's true tho.
 
Have you grown them close to each other?

That's not true at all. The only way the normal peppers would be hot from that is if they cross pollinated, and that wouldn't have an effect until the next year if you save seeds. Planting sweet or mild peppers beside hot peppers won't have any effect on that years pods.

@Neme.... Reread MeatHead's post... that is impossible!

 

[lionbeat]

I heard that if you plant normal peppers next to hot peppers, the normal will have heat also. Not sure if it's true tho.
 
Have you grown them close to each other?

 
As others had mention already it cannot be true. I've heard of this misconception, we even had a thread about it here, but it's not proven yet. Although there are some thoughts on the peppers placenta getting the heat or even the roots interconnecting. Anyway that is not the case for sure as I had literally hundreds of plants all getting more heat, regardless of the place in the garden or pot, and I had very few sweet varieties.

 

[Justosmo]

I heard that if you plant normal peppers next to hot peppers, the normal will have heat also. Not sure if it's true tho.
 
Have you grown them close to each other?

This is true. It's called the "guilty by association" gene. It's widely known if peppers hang out with the wrong crowd they can have the heat turned up.

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]