I may be way, way wrong but the first thing that crossed my mind was by that theory wouldn't hydro grown plants have no heat at all?

I don't think that would be possible. I believe the stress can have an affect on the amount of capsaicin oil the pepper produces, but I don't think you would be able to reduce the oil enough to dilute the heat that much. I think the plant would die first. Of course, this is merely my opinion. I'm sure someone else will give a much more educated response.

Tim

I may have to make this my pepper experiment for the year. :)

I grow in aero and the pump runs 24/7/365. My picante chiles are plenty picante.

I think growing conditions (sun, temp, water) can and will make some difference but not significantly. Genetics is the most powerful factor. That is why we can grow sweet, mild, hot and superhot all in the same garden. The difference in heat in some mild varieties is mostly affected when the pods are young and tender. I always munch on jalapenos and Koreans ... when green and tender. But most HOT peppers are HOT from day one,no matter what.

water will not change genetics,period

The only time I ever notice significant heat level change is with WINTER pods. Has nothing to do with water though. I don't know why winter pods lose their heat, but being here in Socal where there is no :"extra" water, I can almost guarantee the loss in heat has nothing to do with WATER.

If you're looking for a less hot pepper, grow them! For almost every hot pepper out there, there's a milder version with the same flavor profile.

Kevin

I don't know, last year we had an extremely wet summer, and my super hots were plenty of super still. I don't think drowning the plant in water will change what the peppers are made to do. It may affect it a little but if you're looking for something super mild, there are plenty of hybrid/crosses that retain essential tastes usually without the bite (or as much of the bite.)

I posed this question to the University of Maryland Extension (I love asking them the random things I am curious about). Here is their response:

"There is contradictory, anecdotal information that increasing or decreasing the amount of water given to peppers before harvest will affect the pungency, however, we can find no bona fide research to corroborate either. The only reliable comment we have found follows:

Pungency seems to increase with ambient temperatures, length of time growing and thinness of the pod wall. Typically, one finds genetic variability in pungency between plants grown from the same seed packet and even between different pods from
the same plant. This is especially true for less-domesticated, non-hybridized types of chiles (e.g. ancho, mulatto, pasilla and numex types).
LS"

I guess this means they don't know either.

Angie

I've bee doing some more research on this question. I found an article from HortScience, the journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science that confirms a significant increase in capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in habanero pepper plants subjected to reduced water stress. They explain that the increase is due to a reduction in the rate at which capsaicin in the plant degrades. So this should correlate to increased pepper heat. But it does not answer the question about how far down it could be deleted.

The article is linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Water Deficit Affects the Accumulation of Capsaicinoids in Fruits of Capsicum Chinense

They can not be diluted with water
Whether growing or rating.
Cant take the heat,stay out the kitchen:)

I'm still researching, TNKS. I posted one peer reviewed research study that seems to indicate the opposite of what you say is true. Can you send me to any science that would support your view that watering does not affect the heat level?

I'm not doing this because I don't like the heat. Check my username--I LOVE habanero heat. But I am also genuinely interested in understanding peppers. So anything that enhances my knowledge and understanding is helpful. :)

Angie

I'm still researching, TNKS. I posted one peer reviewed research study that seems to indicate the opposite of what you say is true. Can you send me to any science that would support your view that watering does not affect the heat level?

I'm not doing this because I don't like the heat. Check my username--I LOVE habanero heat. But I am also genuinely interested in understanding peppers. So anything that enhances my knowledge and understanding is helpful. :)

Angie

I do know that overwatered plants don't produce nearly as many pods. which, technically speaking would be a reduction in the total capsaicin output of a given plant.

just grow some numex suave habs. it's a hab with substantially less heat. isn't that what you're looking for?

I'd probably say without specific greenhouses, and subjecting a wide variety of plants to specific conditions, it's in the air. Everyone has different levels of heat they can tolerate. Without being able to test a wide variety of pods, and then document those findings it seems like it would be kind of a losing battle. And testing and all that stuff I just can't bring myself to fork over the cash for. If the object is getting a less pungent pepper, I would suggest growing one that's been crossed/bred to be less pungent.

Have you tried watering them with milk? lol..... sorry... had to pull that one out of my bag of sense of humor.

If I were looking to grow a milder habanero, I would grow some numex sauce habs. I'm not. As I keep saying over and over, this is about curiosity and education about peppers, not something I'm planning to do. But I would like to know why my friend's cayenne peppers that she gave me as a "hot pepper" had absolutely no heat last years. If I knew that I could avoid doing it myself.

Although I'm starting to feel tempted to do it as an experiment just to find out. :)

Angie

They could have been crossed, or just a dud in general. That's always an extreme probablity. And unless you have testing equipment, or have a LOT of time on your hands, to conduct the appropriate "taste" tests you'll have to essentially taste one pepper, wait a day or two for the receptors on your tongue to essentially go back to normal, try again, and even then I find it nearly impossible to say well this or that is hotter between certain pods.

Winter pod, maybe?

Kevin

It was definitely not a winter pod because it was given to me at the end of summer.