Hello all, my name is Jesse! I've browsed here a few times as I am just starting to dip my feet in to the world of growing peppers (or much of anything really). I am from New Hampshire so unfortunately cold weather is about to put a damper on my first growing season. I had a bit of success this summer.. I grew some sweet peppers both from seed and from plants which were already started that I purchased from where I work. I started late but still was able to grow some sweet bell peppers and even got a handful of jalapenos! However, this leads to my first question. A while after I purchased my jalapeno plant (which was already started and about six inches tall) I finally got one pepper which to my amazement, was the hottest jalapeno I had ever tasted! Since then I have had a few here and there. Just before a frost we got a couple of nights ago, I picked my biggest ones just to make sure I could enjoy them before the frost got to them. Some of them started to turn black on one side which I've read may be the transition from green to red? I'm not sure, they were still shiny and firm like the rest so I assumed they were okay to eat. Anyway, before I bore you all, my question is why on earth was my very first pepper so hot and the rest since then have had absolutely no heat to them at all? This was so strange and disappointing to me, when it only grew one it was insanely hot but now that the plant is growing several at once they seem to have lost all signs of any heat. Is there any reason for this? Anything I need to change? Thanks so much for any advice!
~Jesse
~Jesse