Harvesting chillies: the longer they stay on the plant, the hotter they taste
Created: 09/09/2022, 11:30 am
By: Joana Lück
Chilis are always hot, aren't they?
Anyone who grows the pods themselves can control the degree of sharpness using simple tricks.
A red head and sweating does not always have to be a consequence of too much exercise - some people also show these symptoms when eating chili peppers.
The small pods are not for the faint of heart, but if you grow them yourself, you can control the degree of spiciness yourself, as you will learn in this text.
Chilies: The longer they stay on the plant, the hotter they are
The hotness of chili peppers is given in Scoville.
© Weingartner/Imago
Like peppers, tomatoes, aubergines and potatoes, chilies also belong to the nightshade family (Solanacae).
Chilies have a reputation for being very hot.
But as
Plantura Garden
explains, there are a few tricks you can use to influence the degree of sharpness of the harvest:
If you prefer spicy pods, you should use "Naga Ghost", "Bahamian" or "Habanero Chocolate".
The less you water the chili plant, the hotter the pods will be, as the lack of water creates a stressful situation and the plant produces its pungent repellent capsaicin in return.
So if you want to harvest rather mild pods, you should always make sure you have enough water.
As Plantura Garden
knows
, the later the chili pepper is harvested, the hotter it becomes.
Green pods are therefore usually much milder than the mature yellow or red pods of the same variety.
If you plant many different chili peppers next to each other, this also leads to hotter peppers.
However, chili peppers, whose degree of heat is measured in Scoville, can only become hot if the plant is healthy and thrives well in the garden.
That is why the right fertilizer, such as a tomato fertilizer with a high potassium content, is also necessary.
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If you have harvested too many chillies, you can dry them decoratively.
