This year's jalepeno plants exploded with fruit. Last year I planted about 4 plants, I think, and I didn't think it was enough jalepenos. I did two batches of jalepeno poppers, had them on the table once a week for tacos, and by the end of the summer, I had totally run out and the plants were done producing. This year I over-compensated, or I should say that I planted the amount of plants that I thought I would need - 6 - and ended up with way too many fruits and I still have more growing on the plants... it's mid-October!
When I grow jalepenos, I tend to look for the variety that is bred to grow in the cooler northern climates. This year I ended up with "Big Guy" and then a couple plants of the regular jalepeno from Burpee that is sold at Menards. Both varieties did well.
In my experience, if you stress the plants out a little bit, they tend to make hotter, spicier fruits and they over produce, which is exactly what I ended up with this year. The absolute opposite of last year. To mildly stress out the pepper plants - I water only half as much as all of my other veggie plants, I actually skip over watering them daily and water every 2-3 days instead. I let that soil get a little more dry than normal and then water well, nice and deep. Make the roots reach deep down and make the plant WORK to survive. Your soil health is also a part of stress - but for your soil, you need it to be healthy, so plenty of compost and loamy soil for growing peppers. The stress for the plants comes in the amount of hours in the sunshine and the amount you water the plants. The stress of survival puts the plants defense system into work - the peppers use the capsaicin in the white pith of the fruits as defense from pests so the plant actually gets hotter to protect itself. The more you know, eh?
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