Planting in the same site year after year doesn't contribute to increased heat in the pepper.

Crop rotation is the best practice, it will help prevent plant specific viruses / etc. from building up in the soil.
and I agree with jean001a, planting in the same site will not increase heat.

I agree keep rotating, I planted a Thai and the next year planted a jalapeno before I realized that I had a pepper plant in that spot last year and the jalapeno were as expected nothing hotter about them. If you want hotter just grow a hotter variety, Ghost, TS Butch T, or Morouga.

Mark

Most people can't rotate due to space limitations, but keep doing what you're doing -- crop rotation is a great fundamental to adhere to(for reasons already mentioned), if possible. Keep feeding that soil lots of OM -- healthy soil=happy plants. Watch out for ash though... it raises ph, so use it sparingly.

Never heard of repetitive plantings of peppers making successive plantings "hotter."

Do like Mark said, if you want hotter peppers, grow hotter varieties.

Kevin

If I add compost to my raised beds each year, do I still need to rotate? I only have 2 raised beds and 1 has daylilies right now, so I don't rotate. I am hoping to move those as soon as I decide where to relocate them.

Ruthz:

Rotation isn't a necessity. It's just a good practice. Like I mentioned, a lot of gardeners can't.

I don't know all the veggies you grow and how much space a particular type takes up, but yes --- adding compost definitely helps keep diseases at bay. Doesn't do much for keeping future generations of plant family specific pests from popping up the next year in that same spot though.

About the only thing you can do is keep adding compost regularly and look for varieties that are disease resistant. Maybe switch off every other year between beds or sections of beds. Or make more beds. ;)

Solarization is a technique used to correct diseased soil, but it has to be done in the dead of summer when we want our peppers and maters and such. So, one loses a season when solarizing.

Kevin

Talking about Soil Practice for Peppers.

Soil is nothing more than a medium. Its role is hold enough moisture and drain excess moisture. So the elements (major like N/P, K, Ca, Mg) and the trace elements that are essential. Then comes the microbial beings that help to create a favorable environment in the soil (as they do in human digestive tract) Just consider container mixes. Originally the stuff has nothing, as far as the nutrients and the trace elements are concerned. Then the manufacturers and the gardeners add necessary nutrients to it.

Now having said all that, I would like to know what kind of nutrient, pH, and trace elements are preferred by peppers ?
I have heard of burying some match book in the ground. Is there a truth to that? Does it help pepper plant? The idea is that peppers like some more sulfur than ,say, tomatoes. ALSO I have heard of foliar feeding Epsom salt, hydrogen peroxide. But sulfur also lowers pH.
Now, let us hear from the experienced pepper growers here on the best forum on the face of Earth.

I've also read about the matchbook thing. Not sure if it actually works. Yes, sulfur does lower ph, but i don't think a book of matches is going to do much. Besides, peppers(like most veggies), prefer soil a bit on the acidic side.

A good strategy to get some buffered sulfur into the soil would fall in line with the whole crop rotation thing--- plant alliums( onions, garlic, et al) the season before you plant the peppers.

As far as the balance of NPK. This can be argued. Most people that grow peppers in containers tend to use soluble ferts with a ratio of 3-1-2. In the past, my GROUND peppers have done great with OM and an occasional sprinkle of triple 15. Never noticed too much difference when I used a 15-30-15.

But now I've gone organic in the ground that's more like a 2-2-1 ratio and copious amounts of compost. Again, over the last couple years, no discernible difference.

Most general info on the internet tells me that peppers aren't TOO heavy of feeders and usually calls for a 10-10-10 or 5-5-5.

I'm no expert though. I just know what works for me.

Kevin