Almost all peppers turn red when ripe. The only reason we have green peppers is becasue they are picked before they can turn, either for taste reasons, or because ripe peppers could go bad during storage and transport.

The heat level of a pepper is VERY dependent on the growing conditions. Even different peppers on the same plant can have vastly differing heat levels. For example, sometimes I end up with "cool" habaneros that are barely hotter than cayenne, and sometimes I end up with a scorcher that makes me weep (normally habs just make my face quite red). I've even had hungarian wax before that I swear was hotter than almost any other pepper that I had eaten.

Hey BKSinAZ
Any follow up? Have the green ones been any hotter for you? I find that when I eat them green they're a little warmer. Just pick them when they start to "cork" or have those small brown/tan strees stripes down their sides.
-Todd

All of the newer hybrids, especially jalopeno, seem to be very mild compared to older cultivars. But be careful to assume that all peppers from the same plant will be equal, especially if you have different hot peppers planted nearby. The seeds and inner membrane may be vastly hotter if the flower was polinated by a hotter variety or cultivar. I found out the hard way.

By the way... here are some of the peppers I picked on July 4th. The red ones on the left are all very hot jalapenos which have turned ripe red like you described. I love hot peppers but these jalapenos have even been almost too hot for me. I have to cut them thin and eat them with a bite of food.

So factor's

There are some heatless varieties.

Chiles are hotter if the blossom pollinates when the ambient temp is above 75F

Chiles are cooler if feed a lot of nitrate fertlizer.

Try roasting them whole and see if it doesn't pick up a little. If not they are duds.

I watched an episode of Good Eats last night. Alton Brown(gotta love him) says that peppers are hotter when they are green than when they are allowed to turn red. Also, I grew a variety of jalapeno last year called "False Alarm" that has the jalapeno flavor but none of the heat. Is there a chance you planted some of those??

snip
I watched an episode of Good Eats last night. Alton Brown(gotta love him) says that peppers are hotter when they are green than when they are allowed to turn red.
snip

Alton Brown is full of potatos........

I love that show and Alton Brown is awesome, but sometimes he is only partially right. Some peppers can be hotter when green (jalapenos fall in this category, I think), but the vast majority are hotter when ripe.

Note-roasting peppers often sweetens the taste.
I can't say for certain that it NEVER increases "hotness", but in my experience it has not.
-HPD

I have never watched Alton Brown, but any chef who says peppers are hotter when they are green(i.e. unripe) is as Willard so elegantly stated, "full of potatos"! As far as I know, there are no exceptions to this rule. What determines the heat is what has been stated before: temperature when pollinated, stress, etc.
If Alton thinks the green ones are hotter, I have a gold mine in Alabama I'd like to sell him!
Tom

There is one called Country Girl that is hotter green than yellow ripe.

Regarding green vs ripe "hotness".
Obviously ripe fruit are sweeter, and the increased sweetness may seem to mask the heat to some.
I agree with earlier statements however, that ripeness does not usually reduce, and in some cases may increase heat.
-HPD

Sorry, didn't mean to get a debate going about amount of heat between green and red peppers. Was just repeating what I heard. Guess that's why Mama says "Never repeat hearsay, only what u know is fact.". I think she was referring to gossip though. Anyways, I still like watching "Good Eats" but I like eating 'good eats' even better.
Good luck with ur search for heat BKSinAZ!!!!!

Can you dry a green jalapeno?

Yes you can. I have even purchased dried powdered green jalapeno.

Hi there - New member here. I was scanning the web looking for answers to the same question. None of the answers thus far here have answered my particular problem so I'll ask mine as an extension of the OP's question:
I am actually growing jalapenos from the seeds of some Jalapenos I bought at the local farmers market a few years ago. They are really nice peppers, but the problem is that every year - well last year and now again this year - I have one plant out of about 6 that produces completely heat-free peppers. I know it is not the seeds since other plants from the same batch are producing hot peppers. The problem is though that this plant is producing the nicest looking peppers! Is there something I can do to reverse this? What is causing it? I used some organic fertilizer at low doses - about every 3 weeks - until the first flowers appeared. I don't water all that much and it's been a dry year... Any thoughts?

Thanks!

I discovered this by accident, I generally buy my peppers from the nursery down the block and this year it appears they got the heatless variety in stock (none to pleased).

As far as why some peppers are hot and others not, within the same variety, it's just like anything else nature + Nurture.

Genetics can cause a hot pepper to be mild, but so can environment.

The mild Jalapenos I bought this year are getting slightly hotter with the increase in humidity brought about by the monsoon season here.

My jalapeno plant has produced bountiful, beautiful, and tasty jalapenos for the last 2 years, however this year the plant immediately produces small, red, cherry looking jalelenos with absolutely no taste or heat. I did plant a new jalepeno plant next to the old one, could that have effected my older plant?

'' I did plant a new jalepeno plant next to the old one, could that have effected my older plant?'' NO

ETA There are websites that say the nearby plants will affect hotness. Here on GW that is usually not accepted, I think. And I can think of no botanical reason it should.

any ideas as to why the plant isn't producing this year?

Start here, perhaps:

Growing Hot Peppers | Dengarden - if they are over-fertilized they'll produce lots of green leafy growth but fewer fruits.

If they are from saved seed, you could have created a cross pollination last year. If they are a hybrid (such as Biker Billy) they may not reproduce true. I found that Biker Billies from saved seed had not heat.

John A

You don't mention your grow zone. Most likely you are seeing the results of pepper pods that were developed in cool temperatures and causing what you are seeing immature tiny ripe pods. I had a similar experience with a habanero early spring pods ended up tiny and ripe. Once the weather warmed and new pods set all was back to normal.