Re: [CH] No Heat!
Brent Thompson (brent@hplbct.hpl.hp.com)
Fri, 21 Aug 1998 10:32:50 -0700
> All of the plants are doing great with lush growth and many, many chiles.
> However, none of them have much heat.
Stress increases pungency. Great growing conditions result in lower heat.
Perhaps _perfect_ growing conditions result in very low heat, and maybe
especially this year you are providing nearly perfect growing conditions.
Basically all fruit crops are like this -- consider the great French wines
grown on rocky soils that are fundamentally pretty awful soils. In
agriculture it's always a tradeoff between greater yield and more
concentrated flavor (and pungency, in the case of chiles).
High (ambient) air temps and water stress (too low being easiest to
initiate though a bit dangerous, too much being harder to do with potted
plants in summertime) are two factors that can stress chile plants and
consequently result in more pungent fruits.
It also helps to grow varieties that have very high pungency potential,
e.g. many C. chinense varieties including a host of habanero-types, so that
even if yours end up with only half or let's say even just a tenth of full
potential, they're still hot enough to provide some satisfaction.
--- Brent