Tasteless chillies?

[Mrs Dobby]

Hi Gang,

Bit of a queery here, we've some Naga Jolokia (purple) chilli plants in our unheated greenhouse on plot1 that are now producing fruit. Now I'd been led to believe that Naga Jolokia are a very hot chilli, so with trepidation a tried nibbling a very small tip, to find it tasted of nothing but greenery! I used one in a curry, removing the seeds and chopping it up into small pieces, and on licking a finger that had touched the white pulp inside I got a nice peppery heat, but from the actual flesh itself nothing at all!

The chillies seem to be fully mature, they are supposed to grow to 4 inches or so, and are supposedly ripe once they've gone a black colour. Is it possible that they arent actually ripe yet, or is it that I'm doing something wrong in preparation, or is it that the plant variety we have isnt quite what its supposed to be (tho it does look right from what we've been able to find out)

Any advice, ideas, thoughts, opinions or other remarks would be very welcome, as it has me flummoxed!

[Alice]

Mystery Mrs D. I've never grown that variety but even supposedly mild chillies have a definite kick. And the heat is in the white pulpy bit so if you've tried that and it's not there .............
I know we have some chillie experts on here (Julian, where are you) so will be interested to hear what they say.

[kernowyon]

I tend to find that the higher the temperature in which they are grown does have an effect on the heat of the fruit, but also the heat from chillies does vary greatly, even from the same variety. ( be careful, you may have just picked a dud) leave the rest on the plant for a bit longer and as temp rises the fruits should ripen better.

[Snadger]

Hi Gang,

Bit of a queery here, we've some Naga Jolokia (purple) chilli plants in our unheated greenhouse on plot1 that are now producing fruit. Now I'd been led to believe that Naga Jolokia are a very hot chilli, so with trepidation a tried nibbling a very small tip, to find it tasted of nothing but greenery! I used one in a curry, removing the seeds and chopping it up into small pieces, and on licking a finger that had touched the white pulp inside I got a nice peppery heat, but from the actual flesh itself nothing at all!

The chillies seem to be fully mature, they are supposed to grow to 4 inches or so, and are supposedly ripe once they've gone a black colour. Is it possible that they arent actually ripe yet, or is it that I'm doing something wrong in preparation, or is it that the plant variety we have isnt quite what its supposed to be (tho it does look right from what we've been able to find out)

Any advice, ideas, thoughts, opinions or other remarks would be very welcome, as it has me flummoxed!

Interesting to hear you quote " it tasted of nothing but greenery"!!! Thats what my chillie vodka tasted of! My son said " It tastes of plant" Must admit I do agree!
Sorry to hear yours tastes of 'greenery' and hope your others taste a bit better!

[pigletwillie]

I find that the poorer the soil and the hotter the conditions the hotter the chillie.

Dorset Nagas which I grow are phenomenely hot and I wear disposeable gloves to prepare them, but they look more like scotch bonnets than your rats tails. If you were to nibble one Mrs D you would not enjoy the experience.

[willowstar]

I had a similar experience last year, I had about 12 chilli plants (can't remember the variety) and was hugely dissapointed when I picked them as they had no, and I mean NO heat at all. I put it down to the cooler August we had last year as I was harvesting in September. It is interesting to hear from others that they need a lot of heat to warm up, maybe I was right. In that case, yours should heat up when the weather warms up again??? I hope so, it is disspointing isn't it?

[tattiefritter]

I've been growing chillies for about 5 years now, they are what got me into GYO and I like them really, really hot. I've always tried to grow atomic hot varieties (Fatalli, Carribean Red etc) and while I've always had fruit the results have always been pretty variable, sometimes the chilli barely tickles then another chilli from the same plant blows your head off! I could always tell when I cut into the chilli if it was a dud or not as the hot chillies just seemed to have a hot "smell". I've just accepted that its because I try to grow them outside in the UK (Preston). This year I have a green house and I have diversified into growing a couple of F1 hybrids that are bred to cope with the UK short growing season to see what happens and what they taste like. At first glance the F1 plants are definitely further ahead in the growing stakes than the traditional type of chilli I've grown.

The one thing thats always been consistent with the hot type chillies I've grown in the past is that even if they weren't atomic they had the most wonderful flavour, I'm hoping the F1s are as good.

[unconcerned]

Have to agree with kernowyon in that heat can vary greatly depending on local conditions (how much sun, water, etc, etc).

Also, naga jolokia is a very hot chilli. Naga jolokia purple however is a completely different variety.

Also, if it tastes "green" it ain't ripe. Leave them be for a good long time. Once the fruit has stopped growing, I would leave it a month or more before picking. I don't think the jolokia purple ripens to red so it'll be harder to tell whether it is ripe. It should have a fair heat.

[rustylady]

Not just the heat, I find if you grow chillies, tomatoes, strawberries really fast with lots of water you don't get the "wow" factor. Too much water really does dilute the taste - the fruit may look good but something's missing. You're better to give just enough water to keep them growing well.

[SarzWix]

Mrs D, where did you get your seeds from? A friend of ours who is a major 'chile-head' reckons there's been some dodgy ones sold on eBay over the winter. If they've come from a reputable seed company, you should be able to raise the issue with them, and they should have some useful advice too. If they came from eBay, it may be that they're not what they're supposed to be...?!

[willowstar]

that is interesting about the watering rustylady, I will try keeping mine on the dry side this year and see if that helps.