There are a few kinds of chiles available in Israel, including a long green hot chile, but I really missed the taste of jalapeños, and decided to try to grow some on my balcony.

Geoff Mendelson, a friend of mine, gave me some seedlings and I repotted them.

July 26, 2005

They grew...

August 8, 2005

and grew...

August 19, 2005

and grew...

September 8, 2005

and finally bore beautiful fruit

September 22, 2005

which ripened,....

September 26, 2005

and with great excitement, I finally tasted one!!!!

And to my great chagrin and disappointment, there was practically no taste or heat whatsoever.

Help!!

If you has any suggestions, please write me.

• Do I just need to wait for them to ripen more to develop taste and heat?
• Are the seeds bad?
• Was the soil too good?
• Was it not hot enough?
• Did I water them too much?

But, wait!!

Addendum of January, 2006.... After the first pepper was no good, I tried more. In fact, I confidently took a big bite of the second jalapeño I picked, and I thought I'd never be the same. The rest of the peppers were fine, with good taste and quite hot.

January 6, 2006

In the end, I froze about 120 fruits that I had not used yet, and have many more than I know what to do with.

January 6, 2006

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