Try one raw. Pickling peppers knocks the heat level down immensely.

Kevin

Stressing the plants are purported to make the peppers hotter. Maybe you treated yours too nice?

Picked too soon? (unlikely)

Already burned out your taste buds? (My mother's theory. She may have had a point.)

taste buds are ok :) I did treat them well and 1/2 of them were not fully mature, just beat out the first frost... but even the larger ones were lame ...

I found that with my last batch of Jalapeno's this season they were not quite as hot as the ones that grew directly through the summer heat. The last batch went through a cool September and early October that saw little sun and cool temps. Seeing as that you're not that far from Toronto you experienced the same whether. Now granted mine still did have a bit of kick to them but not as hot as they have been in the past.

As mentioned above pickling does knock out some of the kick the peppers do have. Maybe it was a combo of both options?

My wife just reminded me that we had a dozen peppers still in the fridge. I tried one of the larger full grown ones and it tasted like a bell pepper. I saw a link on line that said that too much nitrogen fertilizer could do this. Anyone heard this before?

Jalepenos come in different heat levels, many are dumbed down to suit the Taco Bell crowd (apologies to those offended). My bet is that your "hot jalepeno" were really "mass-market jalepenos", ie mild.

You have a Xalapa sold in Gringo markets which are notoriously mild. Try some different Xalapas or raise more picante chiles.

Sure you didn't get a Fooled You Jalapeno by mistake? or even a senorita? Sometimes plants get mixed up (by the seller not the buyer... although the buyer too) sometimes seeds get mixed up.

One other possibility. Is you Jal one of the hybrid varieties? Was the seed saved or new? I did save seed from Biker Billys one year and had the same results - No Heat! Some hybrids will reproduce true and some will not.
John A

penguinsrock09: "I found that with my last batch of Jalapeno's this season they were not quite as hot as the ones that grew directly through the summer heat."

I've found that to be true in the past also.

A neighbor just gave me a sack of 'last pickin' Jalepenos that are very sweet and very mild. Just ate two out of hand straight up alone, actually pretty good like that though.....

don55: "Jalepenos come in different heat levels, many are dumbed down to suit the Taco Bell crowd (apologies to those offended). My bet is that your "hot jalepeno" were really "mass-market jalepenos", ie mild."

It's gotten to be often disappointing when buying some fine looking Jalepenos at WalMart and then finding that they have 'no kick' (as someone said). It seems that even the 'mass-market' Serranos are getting to be milder. My imagination?

The seeds were new this spring from Park seeds. One other thought, I had bells next to them, cross pollination? .... And I'm not saying these are mild or don't have enough kick, they have no kick.You can eat them straight up with not a hint of heat.

Not in this generation. Only the seeds would be affected.