Dave:We have a bumper crop of chile peppers this year. But the problem is the jalapenos. I picked some 50 big juicy green jalapenos yesterday. My beautiful green fleshy examples have no heat whatsoever. There is no point in making pepper jelly with them. My question is whether they will ripen/acquire some heat after they’ve been picked from the bush?–AndreaAndrea:Environment …
Replanting Pepper Plants
Dave:We recently purchased a plant and we want to learn how to take care of it. It has small purple peppers about the size of a thumb, small light purple flowers, green/purple leaves. I believe the plant originated in South America and contains the name ’Diablo’. It is an annual here. We love the plant and want to know how …
Worms in Chile Pods
Hi Dave,I’ve found worms in my chiles and hot cherry peppers and they appear to be either European corn borers or pepper maggots based on the info I’ve just read on the web. The fruits I’ve found them in are usually apparent–rotten, etc., but I just picked a bunch and I’d hate to throw them all away (although I certainly …
Chiles and Tomatoes interbreeding?
Hi Dave,Years ago I grew tomatoes and peppers in the same garden, side by side. One of the tomato plants’ fruit seemed to acquire all of the properties of the bell pepper–hollow inside, with the seed cluster in the middle, towards the top–but it was still a tomato. I thought it was just a fluke, so I took the seeds …
Recommended Peppers for Indoor Growing
Dear Dave,Please tell me which peppers are good for indoor growing.–AlisaHello Alisa:To successfully grow peppers indoors you need a very bright southern-exposed window or artificial lights–and no cats, as they will eat the foliage. Generally speaking, the smaller-podded chile plants grow the best in containers, probably because their habit (physical size and stature) is small and compact. Try piquins, tabascos, …