Topic: Please recommend MILD chillis for more flavour than heat.

[Vinlander]

This question has come up before in other threads, and a few recommendations have appeared (I intend to collate some here later) but not all of them mention whether they are easy to grow or how reliable, prolific or early they are (these last two are sometimes the same thing).

Not many websites cover all these important attributes either, and then only occasionally.

The more varieties with personal recommendation the merrier!

If anyone can recommend a mild tasty pubescens or baccatum type then I'd be particularly interested as these have a reputation for easy overwintering.

I would recommend 'Habanero Trinidad' as my absolute favourite for its strong spicy flavour but it is very late - so I've had enormous trouble ripening them in my unheated greenhouse, and even then the seeds inside have been disappointingly puny.

From looking at various chilli sites it seems possible that 'Trinidad Perfume' and 'Tobago Seasoning' are almost identical to HT. I aquired a few seeds of both, but they were puny too, and the plants were if anything weaker and later than HT.

I have no idea what Aji Dulce#2 taste like but mine were just as late.

But that's just my experience and there are so many random factors in gardening...

I am trying overwintering HT this year and if that doesn't work I may try grafting it onto C.pubescens rootstock.

Has anyone else already tried chilli grafting??

Nothing else I've grown has proved quite as spicy as HT but I can recommend two reliable mild, tasty, early and prolific types:

Cherry Bomb - 3 x 3 cm, medium heat when red - don't develop much wall thickness until then.

Hungarian Waxpod - 15 x 3cm, when green are mild, medium when whitish, medium and sweet when red.

I've had some problems with zero germination of my own seeds of HW but only after 3 or 4 generations.

I can recommend Black Hungarian, especially for its wonderful ornamental qualities - it's a bit hotter than HW but is early and reliable. I had trouble with it hybridising last year but that might have been the bad weather (my climbing french beans only hybridise in really bad years).

I got great results with Poblano in 2006 but I got almost nothing in the last 3 years. I didn't think 2009 was that bad - some chillis seem to behave entirely differently given a few extra degrees C.

I'm also interested in replacing sweet peppers with something more spicy. I am trying to grow more seed of couple of very promising types which have all the advantages of a sweet pepper (fleshy, sweet, juicy) but with far more flavour than even the best Italian longhorn types.

One was labelled Pimento Tangerine and looks exactly like a tangerine - it had a barely detectable heat.

The other came as an unnamed fruit from Benington Chilli festival, but has proved to have all the qualities of Cherry Bomb except with almost no heat - just that mild spicy taste.

I've nearly given up on Alma Paprika - mine have had very little flavour at all.

Hope you can suggest some others...

Cheers.

[Barnowl]

Numex Primavera
Numex Conquistador
Numex Garnet
Numex Suave
Krimson Lee
Navaho (Yellow, somewhat compact)
Petit Marsillais

These are all mild but not as mild as the Trinidad Perfume which has no heat at all

[Sholls]

I'm a fan of Pasilla as a seasoning pepper. the smokey flavour is noticeable even when fresh & because of their thin walls they're a doddle to dry.

[Bugloss2009]

we,ve had great success this year with the C. pubescens Rocoto. It was extremely vigorous and gave lots of fruit, and like you said is hopefully quite hardy. Heat was very variable, but grilling the chilis reduced the heat a lot. The only drawbacks were it was a bit sprawling though quite attractive, and the ripe fruit stayed green green. I'll try the red-orange-yellow collection from nicky's seeds next year (if you want to have some spare seeds........)
the big fruited mild ones like Big Jim and Poblano never work for me, they're like normal peppers and I can't grow them, and Jalapeno always looks like it's unhappy up to about July

[Vinlander]

All the chilli sources and databases I've seen classify the vast majority of rocotos and manzanos as much hotter than, for example, cherry bomb. Some mention a very small number of specific ones which are milder - if you've got one I suggest you look after it! Especially as all the ones I've tried have been late - others have had the same results with them.

I am getting the impression that a very small increase in sun or heat can make poblanos etc. very productive - though I'm only comparing 2006 (good) with this year which didn't seem so bad - a lot better than 07 and 08 but still very different results.

In the meantime I'm sticking mostly with a) the ones that are very early and b) putting my efforts into finding out how to overwinter the later ones.

I have found black hungarian and paprika supreme to be earlier than most - but still medium - not that mild.