This should not happen unless this is from a plant from seed saved from crossed plants.

Are you saying your jalapenos and habs are not hot at all? Have they had much moisture and mild growing conditions?

The bell peppers will eventually ripen to yellow or red.

Al

I bought the plants from either Lowes or WalMart and they are not hot at all. They taste just like green bell peppers. Is it possible I picked them too fast?

Some people say too much moisture, too much nitrogen, or not enough heat will make them mild. Sometimes it's just the plant itself, too, I think. Anyway, try stressing them. Wait until they wilt a little before watering and that might make them hotter. I had the same problem a few years ago and I did this, but can't say for sure they became hotter because of that or just nature. I was also told to use epsom salts to make them hotter, but I didn't try that.

How big are they when you pick them? I've picked early before and they weren't hot enough.

I can't say why your Habs are not hot, probably due to the reasons stated by Trsinc, but you may have gotten Jalapenos that were mis-labeled. There have been varieties developed with little or no heat and they have been becoming popular in recent years. Do you still have your labels?
Last year I sent for seed for Aji Dulce 2, which are supposed to be like Habaneros without the heat. They looked like Habs, had the fruity taste, and some, but not all, were quite hot...all on the same plant.

There are heatless varieties of Jalepenos.

"Yeah, there are of course both jalapeno and habenereo varieties with no to little heat. I would be surprised to find either at Lowes or WallMart though."

I wouldn't be surprised to find such plants at stores. Most customers are oblivious where plant varieties are concerned.

There is a weird trend to breeding mild chiles. Why? What is the purpose of breeding mildness into a plant whose purpose is to be hot? I don't get it. But then, acidity was bred out of tomatoes during the 1940s when manufactured bread was becoming spongy and bland and hops bitterness was being eliminated from popular beers.

Let me know it you want a few seeds for jalapenos with a kick.

Jim

For the same reason Jack Daniels keeps lowering the proof of its whiskey. You cater to your customers.

Sounds to me like you should just wait a little while. Your bell peppers will ripen to their proper color eventually. Its just early.

I'll let them stay on the plants longer and see if that makes a difference but there is absolutely no heat at all in the ones I picked.

I don't think I'll be able to stress them by withholding water because it will not stop raining here. We had the wettest first four or five months in history this year in St Louis and we are still getting plenty of rain. I haven't watered anything in the garden this year. It has been and still is quite a bit cooler than average year. So maybe just a combination of all of this?

I have had the same thing happen with my Jalapeños in the past, no heat. Also, I have bought Jalapeños from a local Latino store and had the same thing happen, where some are hot and some are not. I am sure the growing conditions might play a factor, but I bet the plant itself plays a large factor as well.

Dean

"I wouldn't be surprised to find such plants at stores. Most customers are oblivious where plant varieties are concerned."

While I do think there may be demand for non hot normally hot peppers, I don't see them at any of the big boxes (Target, Home Depot, Lowes) or at any of the several local garden shops.

I am growing a few non hot habs, mainly to share with my family as they can't take any heat, but I think they may enjoy the taste.

Al

Let them turn red, then try.

Perchance did you purchase a Tam Jalapeño?

I got mine at Home Depot. Its a variety that looks like a Jalapeno and tastes like one but has no heat.

Okay I found a red one and there is just a little touch of heat to it. I don't think anyone would have any trouble eating one straight. Jmsimpson, I didn't pay any attention to the variety, I just know it was a jalapeno. I will know better next year. I planted them along with my tomatoes in early May and like I mentioned earlier, we had a very wet and cool spring. My plants are only about ten inches tall so maybe that has something to do with it?

I can't understand why the heat is ever bred out of a hot pepper. It's the heat which is the most notable attribute of these vegetables. Why would anyone want to get rid of it? If anyone wants the taste of a bell pepper, let them eat a bell pepper. In the mean time, Mark and others suffer the disappointment of getting an impotent pepper.

Thanks for your attention. That's a rant I have to spew out every once in a while.

Jim

Some hot peppers do have flavors underneath the heat.

Aji Dulce is a great tasting "false hab" with a fruity taste and a slight heat kick when ripe. Sweet habs tend to have more of a fruity taste, apple-like, and it comes out well without the heat. There's citrus-like low/no heat ones around.

Personally, most bells to me taste like watery nothing. I prefer sweet chili peppers because they still retain some of the semi-astringent pepper "taste" that tends to disappear from a lot of bells once they break their green color.

I'm "working on" a super sweet chili pepper right now, but it's going to take another growing season, minimum, before I can hand out seed. My latest cross I'm growing out is a step backwards and I'm left growing out the seed from the crop before the cross to see if I have another generation of stabilization or not. Oh well, I got time to burn.

This isn't much help, but I'm puzzled by the same phenomenon. Last year I had plants that produced 'salad Jalapenos' all summer no matter what. Now, the weird thing is that I saved a plant that was producing scorchers last summer, it's producing well - actually it seems to be producing too many peppers - but the peppers have zero to little heat. Perhaps the problem is that here (Iowa) we've had a lot of rain this summer?? I really would like to hear from someone with some experience about this. I've heard that in Mexico growers pick off leaves in order to stress the plant and produce hotter peppers, but I would consider this apocryphal until I get some verification.

The first chili's I picked off my jalapenos were slightly like yours, very little heat and slightly sweet. Very good flavor too. The ones I picked last week were barnburners for jalapeno's. Great flavor and a deep lasting burn. Latting some go purple, and some go red produce some interesting flavor differences and varied intensities of heat as well. As far as my habaneros, there have not been any duds. I guess it depends on what you purchase or grow. I had somewhat of this problem last year, so I purchased from Cross Country this year and am extremely pleased with the results. Good Luck TiMo

I do not know why everyone insists that crossing can not occur immediately. I was told the same thing to my cross zucchini/spaghetti squashes. I even have pictures of the zucchini looking spaghetti squashes and lighter colored zucchini and people still insist it did not happen.

I do plant my jalapenos next to my green peppers and never noticed any crossing. I don't typically eat the jalapenos by themselves though so it is tough to say.

I believe you though!