TAM Mild Jalapeño

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The TAM Mild Jalapeño is a milder breed of jalapeño first cultivated at Texas A&M University (TAM).

[edit] Characteristics

The TAM Mild Jalepeño combines high yield, due to its multiple resistance to common disease viruses, with exceptional fruit characteristics such as mild, full flavor. The long, tapering fruits with medium wall thickness mature early from a bright green to a deep red. An excellent source of vitamins A and C, it is ideally suited for fresh consumption, "chile relleno", processing or drying and use as red chile powder. The TAM Mild Chile has proven to be well adapted to most areas of Texas, New Mexico, and California.

[edit] TAM Mild Jalapeño II

The Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES) is preparing to release a new jalapeño variety with superior fruit quality, and superior yield and virus resistance when compared to TAM Mild Jalapeño I. The TAM Mild Jalapeño II possesses numerous attributes, which should be desirable to both growers and consumers. The fruit is extremely large (7-8 cm) and heavy (30-35 g) with thick, dark green flesh, very little skin cracking or anthocyanin development (black color) and mild pungency. Plants are compact in size (40-50 cm), with dense foliage cover, preventing sunburn of the fruit. Additionally, fruit set is concentrated, allowing for fewer harvests. The plants are heat tolerant and will set fruit in temperatures above 30 C. Fruit matures 4-5 days before TAM Mild Jalapeño I and most hybrid varieties such as ‘Mitla’. Yields of TAM Mild Jalapeño II have been consistently superior to TAM Mild Jalapeño I and very similar to the hybrid ‘Grande.’

TAM Mild Jalapeño II is resistant to Texas strains of four common pepper viruses: TEV, PVY, PeMoV, and TMV. Resistance to multiple strains of both TEV and PeMoV has been confirmed by repeated experiments at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Weslaco, Texas. This makes this variety extremely valuable in regions such as south Texas where the potyviruses and the aphid vectors are prevalent. Resistance is provided by several genes from diverse sources verified by previous researchers in Florida, Brazil, and California. More than 12 generations of inbreeding have made TAM Mild Jalapeño II quite uniform in its virus resistance and plant characteristics. Experimental yield trials have demonstrated wide adaptability in south, central, and west Texas and New Mexico. Yields have been good on the silty soils of Weslaco, but even better on the sandy soils near Mission, Texas and in New Mexico. Plant size and yield have been superior when grown on plastic mulch as compared to bare soil.