Hot Pepper, Jala-Spike Jalapeño (Organic)
Capsicum annuum. Medium Hot. 70 days green, 90 red.
Jala-Spike Jalapeño is the hotter and pointier compliment to our Party Popper Jalapeño. This spike of capsaicin is nearly as hot as a serrano pepper but has the flavor and shape of a traditional 3-3.5” long jalapeño. After almost a decade of selecting our ideal jalapeño from a high quality commercial hybrid, we arrived at this and the Party Popper. We had a hard time choosing our favorite so now we have released both.
Jala-Spike’s unique qualities include a good heat level along with high yield potential, ripening fruit over a wide harvest window, and the ability to absorb smoke flavor and dry easily. Old school jalapeño aficionados like to say a green jalapeño is not ready until the skin starts to check with light corky cracks. Whereas modern jalapeños are bred to resist this checking and stay smooth, it was once considered a sign of quality. Jala-Spike displays plenty of this traditional signal of excellence when the fruit matures to peak green flavor. When the fruit ripen to their fully mature dark red color, the checking facilitates dehydration and smoke absorption, resulting in a proper chipotle appearance and flavor. When naming this variety we considered “Thagomizer,” after the spikes on the tails of some dinosaurs, but it seemed too grandiose even for us. And before you get your hopes up, Thagomizer as a band name has already been taken. Dinosaur synth, anyone?
Sow indoors in flats with good potting soil as early as February, but no later than April. Keep warm and well-watered. Up pot seedlings into 4” pots when they have their first two true leaves. Transplant out into the garden after danger of frost has passed, typically late May in western Oregon.
Seed Saving
To save seed, wait until fruit is fully ripe. Remove seeds from fruit and dry. Isolate from other pepper varieties of the same species by at least 500 feet.
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