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annuum Zapotec Jalapenos

RedHotChiliPeppers said:
Thank you for the information. Please let me know if you try it again once ripe. So now it's Mucho Nacho vs. Zapotec...Anyone else have any input on the "hotter and better" pepper?
 
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All this talk about the Zapotec jalapenos is pushing me to try them next year. My go to jalapenos have been Chichimeca and Mucho Nacho.
 
Chichimeca: Earliest  to ripen, big pods and hottest jalapeno I've had. Cons: little heat until they cork, bugs like to drill into the red ones, little more bitterness sometimes, hybrid
 
Mucho Nacho: Sweet with decent heat when red. Con: late to ripen for me, hybrid
 
RedHotChiliPeppers said:
Thank you for the information. Please let me know if you try it again once ripe. So now it's Mucho Nacho vs. Zapotec...Anyone else have any input on the "hotter and better" pepper?
 
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My go to jalapeno for the last 3 years has been Emerald Fire Hybrids, https://www.seedsnsuch.com/product/emerald-fire-hybrid-jalapeno-pepper/
and prior to that it was Primo Jalapeno of which I still grow a couple of plants each year,
https://www.gurneys.com/product/gurneys_primo_jalapeno_hybrid_hot_pepper
 
Lemon/Orange/Pumpkin Spice jalapenos are supposed to be really hot. Never tried them but they claim Orange Spice jalas are much hotter. Im just trying to get away from jala hybrids. Ive grown Mucho Nacho and Chichimeca for a few years. Overall im pretty happy with them but would like something a little hotter when ripe for my sauces. So far not a single Zapotec is even remotely mild for a jalapeno.
 
ATM i got Mucho Nacho and some Zaps growing side by side for an accurate comparison. Sofar with greeners its no contest for heat but i do still favor the Mucho Nacho flavor. I bet that changes when i get some ripe Zaps and that is the main reason i even grow so many jalapenos.
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
Lemon/Orange/Pumpkin Spice jalapenos are supposed to be really hot. Never tried them but they claim Orange Spice jalas are much hotter. Im just trying to get away from jala hybrids. Ive grown Mucho Nacho and Chichimeca for a few years. Overall im pretty happy with them but would like something a little hotter when ripe for my sauces. So far not a single Zapotec is even remotely mild for a jalapeno.
 
ATM i got Mucho Nacho and some Zaps growing side by side for an accurate comparison. Sofar with greeners its no contest for heat but i do still favor the Mucho Nacho flavor. I bet that changes when i get some ripe Zaps and that is the main reason i even grow so many jalapenos.
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Its funny you mention the Lemon/Orange/Pumpkin Spice, When i ordered my Zapotec seed last year they Threw in some Lemon Spice, i only grew 2 Plants, And I didnt do ANYTHING Special with the Plants, in fact they were Neglected! They were planted directly in the Ground, No Ferts, Water Treatment, etc. Needless to say They didnt do real well, My Zapotecs were my Focus and as you can see they THRIVED! The 2 little Numex Lemon Spice Jalapeño Plants both have Peppers on them, But no more than a Handful at most. The other day I noticed a nice pretty Yellow one, it was time to Test one out That was UNDOUBTEDLY the Best Jalapeño i have EVER eaten in my life!! I love my Zapotecs, But for Flavor that Numex Lemon Spice was INCREDIBLY Good!! I am hoping that the Few Peppers on the Plants will Turn Yellow soon so i can Eat them and see if the 1 and only Pod i have been able to try thus far was a Fluke? If they Ripen to Yellow and taste as good as that 1st and only one did, Numex Lemon Spice will UNDOUBTEDLY Be my Jalapeño FOCUS Next year!!
 
According to NuMex the Orange is the hottest of the 3. About 3 times hotter than a Early Jalapeno...So are they a nice dark green before they ripen and taste like a green jalapeno? I haven't really checked around but they do look just like a jalapeno in shape but all the pics ive seen are of ripe pods.
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
According to NuMex the Orange is the hottest of the 3. About 3 times hotter than a Early Jalapeno...So are they a nice dark green before they ripen and taste like a green jalapeno? I haven't really checked around but they do look just like a jalapeno in shape but all the pics ive seen are of ripe pods.
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Here is my BEST Plant HORRIBLE Huh? After eating the 1 Ripe Numex Lemon Spice from this same little Plant the other day I REALLY Kick myself for not Putting effort in to these, Like i said above these 2 little Plants were neglected, My focus was Zapotecs, i was Skeptical about ANY other Jala on my Place due to Cross Pollinating, So i took these 2 little Numex Lemon Spice Plants on the other Side of my Property And Planted them in the Ground, All i did was Water, Regular Ole City Water, No Fertilizer, Nothing at all special, I had no interest in them, Just something else to try. The Zapotecs Got ALL the Love! Then i finally get to try a Lemon Spice from this little Plant and i was BUMMED! Unless the one i ate was a Fluke? It was UNDOUBTEDLY the Best Jalapeño i have ever eaten. Decent Heat, Nowhere near as Hot as the Zapotecs, But the Flavor was just Plain AWESOME!!

This little plant is Tiny, Maybe 12 Tall? This is what the Pods look like. If These end up tasting as good as the one i just recently ate, This Variety will get some Serious DEVOTION Next year
 
Idaholewis said:
Its funny you mention the Lemon/Orange/Pumpkin Spice, When i ordered my Zapotec seed last year they Threw in some Lemon Spice, i only grew 2 Plants, And I didnt do ANYTHING Special with the Plants, in fact they were Neglected! They were planted directly in the Ground, No Ferts, Water Treatment, etc. Needless to say They didnt do real well, My Zapotecs were my Focus and as you can see they THRIVED! The 2 little Numex Lemon Spice Jalapeño Plants both have Peppers on them, But no more than a Handful at most. The other day I noticed a nice pretty Yellow one, it was time to Test one out That was UNDOUBTEDLY the Best Jalapeño i have EVER eaten in my life!! I love my Zapotecs, But for Flavor that Numex Lemon Spice was INCREDIBLY Good!! I am hoping that the Few Peppers on the Plants will Turn Yellow soon so i can Eat them and see if the 1 and only Pod i have been able to try thus far was a Fluke? If they Ripen to Yellow and taste as good as that 1st and only one did, Numex Lemon Spice will UNDOUBTEDLY Be my Jalapeño FOCUS Next year!!
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Im glad I stumbled over this post, I've planted a few Numex lemon spice a few days ago, now I can't wait!
 
I finally got a Zapotec turning and 2 Mucho Nacho. Couple more days for the Zap and i can give a better comparison for my use. Both these plants are right next to each other in dirt.
 
Generally speaking, I feel like yellow chiles simply taste better than red chiles, all other things being equal or at least similar. So I'm not surprised, Idaho Lewis, that you loved the NuMex Lemon Spice so much...

I'm open to the idea of growing the various NuMex "Spice" series of "Jalapeños," but I guess my issue that Jalapeños are traditionally red when ripe. I'm not sure that I'd consider them to be "real" Jalapeños, no matter how much I enjoyed them. And, considering that they are hybrids, I'd kinda be right.

Fwiw, I grow and enjoy plenty of hybrid chiles, many of which came from CPU, and several of which I don't really consider "real." I have nothing against any of these peppers, but i know I could never replace red Jalapeños with the Lemon jawns...
 
Finally got a chance to sample a ripe Zapotec side by side with a ripe Mucho Nacho. The biggest difference was the ripe Mucho Nacho was sweeter. Neither one came off as bitter. I needed those 3 pods for a test batch of sauce ive been delaying so it was just a small sample of each one.
 
Bicycle808 said:
Generally speaking, I feel like yellow chiles simply taste better than red chiles, all other things being equal or at least similar. So I'm not surprised, Idaho Lewis, that you loved the NuMex Lemon Spice so much...

I'm open to the idea of growing the various NuMex "Spice" series of "Jalapeños," but I guess my issue that Jalapeños are traditionally red when ripe. I'm not sure that I'd consider them to be "real" Jalapeños, no matter how much I enjoyed them. And, considering that they are hybrids, I'd kinda be right.

Fwiw, I grow and enjoy plenty of hybrid chiles, many of which came from CPU, and several of which I don't really consider "real." I have nothing against any of these peppers, but i know I could never replace red Jalapeños with the Lemon jawns...
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If you can squeeze it in your program, Try Some Numex Lemon Spice I dont know anything about the other Numex? I have NEVER tasted a better Pepper than this Lemon Spice, it was that good!! But that was only 1 Ripe pod i have eaten, I did try a Smaller Green pod the other day and it was STELLAR as well! That makes me feel comfortable saying that these are the best Tasting Peppers i have ever eaten, But i also agree with you on Old School Jalapeños VS Hybrids, You Just Dont get that same Pizazz, Cool Factor From a Hybrid like these Lemon Spice, as you Do a Nice Red Ripened Jalapeño like The Zapotecs That said, These Numex Lemon Spice will get your attention for Flavor! I could dip them in Ranch, probably Eat a Plant Full like that

I LOVE My Zapotecs, I consider them an AWESOME Variety that i plan to continue on with! They have ROCK SOLID Heat which is something i look for in Jalapeños, The Hotter the Better And look how they did for me, Nothing short of STELLAR! I couldnt of asked for a Better Variety. Beth Boyd knew what she was doing when she Brought these Back with her, I am VERY thankful she did
 
Raze said:
Anyone tried any of the jalapenos from Hippy seed company?
 
Examples...
 
https://thehippyseedcompany.com/product/jalapeno-tormenta/
 
https://thehippyseedcompany.com/product/jalapeno-chichimeca/
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I haven't personally, but I know plenty of folks here on THP and on social media have grown the Chichimeca. Seems like the general consensus is that they're pretty good.

I haven't heard anything, good or bad, about the tormenta.

Idaholewis said:
If you can squeeze it in your program, Try Some Numex Lemon Spice I dont know anything about the other Numex? I have NEVER tasted a better Pepper than this Lemon Spice, it was that good!! But that was only 1 Ripe pod i have eaten, I did try a Smaller Green pod the other day and it was STELLAR as well! That makes me feel comfortable saying that these are the best Tasting Peppers i have ever eaten, But i also agree with you on Old School Jalapeños VS Hybrids, You Just Dont get that same Pizazz, Cool Factor From a Hybrid like these Lemon Spice, as you Do a Nice Red Ripened Jalapeño like The Zapotecs That said, These Numex Lemon Spice will get your attention for Flavor! I could dip them in Ranch, probably Eat a Plant Full like that

I LOVE My Zapotecs, I consider them an AWESOME Variety that i plan to continue on with! They have ROCK SOLID Heat which is something i look for in Jalapeños, The Hotter the Better And look how they did for me, Nothing short of STELLAR! I couldnt of asked for a Better Variety. Beth Boyd knew what she was doing when she Brought these Back with her, I am VERY thankful she did
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Beth Boyd was some sort of chile genius or legend or goddess or all of that and more.

Yeah, if I can fit Lemon Spice in, I will. At least three plants. I'm losing more than half of my growing space next year, so it's going to be TIGHT. I can probably extend some of my beds a bit, maybe try to increase my container game, but in the end, there's no way around it: I'm going to be lucky if I can grow half as many plants as I did this year. Which, to be honest, is probably a good thing. I grow too many.

But yeah, I'm glad you get it, re: my need to focus on red landrace Jalapeños. But that's more about those being important to me than it is about hybrids and recent cultivars being somehow "less than." Beyond that, some local eateries have developed a deep appreciation for these Zapotecs. I feel like I'll have to keep growing them for as long as I can.
 
I would disagree with Hippie's assessment of the chichimeca. Not the hottest but it is very good. Great if you want high yield and big plants.
 
A little smaller and slighter thinner walls than Much Nacho...Still very nice size though.
About the same heat, flavor and almost as sweet as Mucho Nacho
Better production than Mucho Nacho...can get HUGE. Even the leaves are big.
They might ripen slightly faster but not by a large amount.
 
Only complaint is both are hybrids. Saved seeds could be a crap shoot. Heat level is not as consistent as my Zapotecs but they are hot enough for a jalapeno. I got a Mucho Nacho a couple days ago that was a zinger. Happens often with jalapeno hybrids.
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
I would disagree with Hippie's assessment of the chichimeca. Not the hottest but it is very good. Great if you want high yield and big plants.
 
A little smaller and slighter thinner walls than Much Nacho...Still very nice size though.
About the same heat, flavor and almost as sweet as Mucho Nacho
Better production than Mucho Nacho...can get HUGE. Even the leaves are big.
They might ripen slightly faster but not by a large amount.
 
Only complaint is both are hybrids. Saved seeds could be a crap shoot. Heat level is not as consistent as my Zapotecs but they are hot enough for a jalapeno. I got a Mucho Nacho a couple days ago that was a zinger. Happens often with jalapeno hybrids.
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Educate me here my friend. I dont plan to do this, BUT if i were to keep seed from these Numex Lemon Spice theres no telling what I might end up with right? Plus these were planted beside 2 Farmers Market Jalapeños, Which really didnt do Much, to ANYTHING For me here, One Plant had NOTHING on it and I literally Just pulled it up the other day and got rid of it. The other has 3 Pods on it that were VERY Slow to come on. These plants received the same neglect as the Numex Lemon Spice, They got nothing special.
 
Idaholewis said:
Educate me here my friend. I dont plan to do this, BUT if i were to keep seed from these Numex Lemon Spice theres no telling what I might end up with right? 
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Peppers are self pollinating so generally they remain true to their parentage. if they were cross pollinated  due to outside influence of other peppers due to bees you get an off pheno fruit. If you grow a pepper that has crossed when started there are multiple scenarios of what will grow.
 
I think IdahoLewis is concerned that the Lemon Spice is an F1 hybrid so the stability is out the door of hr saves and grows f2 plants from saved seeds. Examples of this would be things like the Naga Viper, HotRod Serrano, and Red Savina Hab... Which are supposed to be f1 hybrids, meaning you get seeds stock by crossing the parent strains, rather than saving seeds.

I haven't grown the Lemon Spice, but afaik, the CPI plants are stable and ready to rock. That's been the case with the NuMex/CPU varieties I have grown, including both colors of NuMex Suave, NuMex Trick or Treat, and volunteers of NuMez Vaquero that popped up. However, I have volunteer HotRod Serrano plants that are producing pods that seem just like the supposedly f1 parents... They look and taste like last year's HotRods... Maybe average pod size is a bit smaller.

Lewis, I bet a quick email to CPI would clear that up for you. Seeds are cheap, anyway. Buy a packet and grow our saved seeds, see if the results vary?

Hth
 
There are stable hybrids. How stable is anyone's guess but you will get mostly what you wanted if its stabilized. When you select pods for a specific trait and save those seeds over and over it still happens too i guess. I have had great luck with my Dreadies producing virtually the same but its only the 2nd year growing them.
 
I would bet when NuMex releases a hybrid its pretty good in that regard. Bonnie and Burpee....not so much. Yet every single Zapotec ive eaten has been virtually the same as the first one. HOT as hell for a jalapeno.
 
 
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