Disappointing chillies

[katy]

I grew Jalapeno's for the first time this year and was expecting to them to be reasonably hot but sadly not even a hint of heat exists.

I have picked them at varying sizes and they have not changed from small to large.

Any ideas where I have gone wrong?

I grew them in a pot and kept watered

[katy]

[Curryandchips]

Have they had plenty of sun? Chillies take quite a time to ripen, and jalapenos are mild on the scale of chilli heat anyway. I have not picked any of my chillies (cayenne) yet, which are growing in a pot in my greenhouse, although I did taste one that got knocked off the plant, and it is just developing some heat. My advice is to leave them on the plant as long as possible.

[katy]

Yes, they have full sun for most of the day.  I didn't realise that they were mild.
The one I picked tonight was about 5 inches long, do you think I should leave them to grow bigger or do they develop more flavour once they are picked?

[Curryandchips]

I have not grown jalapenos myself, so I am unsure how big they get, but the heat develops right at the end of the growing process, and seems to increase as the colour turns to red for varieties that change colour. In my opinion, jalapenos are a variety that a perfectly edible raw in salads etc, and are often served pickled. They do have the advantage that you can enjoy the chilli taste without blowing your head off.

If you are interested in the heat aspect of chillies, then you may enjoy googling the scoville scale, which is the measure of chilli heat  :D