The glossy, conical pods on my beautiful Czech Black plants are ripening nicely, from black to scarlet. When eaten straight off the plant and young, the developing black pods have only a little heat but when full sized and black, the pods are quite spicy. Nothing too surprising so far. Here's the interesting bit. Fully ripened red pods have almost no heat and are very sweet. I figure that there are two possibilities: either the capsaicin level in the pods peaks some time before the final stage of ripening, or my plants are producing pods with different heat levels and the less spicy pods are ripening first. Has anyone else noticed decreased heat levels on ripening in this or any other variety?
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Ripening pods = more heat then less heat?
- Thread starter Aussie
- Start date
My similar experience with Serranos last year was similar. Not the fully ripened pods having no heat, but the green pods not being as hot as the fully ripened red ones later in the season. I've grown several Anaheim varieties that varied a lot in heat level from one pod to the next. However, I grew Czech. Black last year, and the heat level was pretty consistent. I didn't try any pods at the purple/black stage though, only once they had turned red.