Bhut Jolikia peppers

[luckycrank]

Just for kicks I am going to attempt growning a plant , anyone ever grow one?

I heard there tricky. do to the fact the need to germinate at great temps ive done a little research on line just wondering if it is critical to get a warming mat

or would it be ok to just find a warm place for them to germinate

[pushbutton]

i did not have much of a problem germinating them, problem was that they grew too fast and became quite leggy. also lost about half trying to harden them off, they just stunted and never recovered. if you just want one plant would start wit at least 4 to 5 seeds. really tricky to time with when to start germinating in order for them to be in good shape for warmer night time temps. make sure you have some space in the garden...they get pretty big!

[KEN W]

That pepper is rated as the third hottest in the world.Supposedly 400 times hotter than Tobasco.

It comes from India where they put it into hand grenades to use to flush out terrorists and control riots.And you guys want to eat it????

[luckycrank]

I would like to know what is number 1 and 2 then ? and I'll anything once ! well almost anything .. I was under the inpression Guiness book of world records recorded it as the hottest . was figuring on cross pollinating with a green pepper, for the next season as a prank.

[KEN W]

Infinity chilli pepper is number 2.This chilli rates at 1,067,286 units on the Scoville scale.

The champ is the Naga Viper pepper with a rating of 1,382,118 Scoville Heat Units.Those babies must be fierce!!!

For comparison, Tabasco red pepper sauce rates at 2,500–5,000

[reinhard1]

i knew a buisnessman from packistan awhile back. nice guy, he liked carp and i would catch some and gut em and he would do the rest. this guy took two habenero peppers whole and eat them as if they were candy. i love spicy food but this guy could of made u tube. never broke a sweat. i think it was because hot spices were a normal part of his meals in packistan. good luck.

[luckycrank]

wow, twice in one month . well it was the hottest when I ordered them.

still furiously hot

[luckycrank]

I guess I was confused it is the hottest natural occuring ,non-hybridnized pepper.

[pushbutton]

hybridized....non hybridized....your pretty much splitting hairs anything over 4 to 5 hundred thousand scovilles ......can't imagine anyone could taste a discernible difference. it is just freaking hot!!!!!

[luckycrank]

Ok your right, doesn't matter there hot!

[luckycrank]

did you have to use a heat lamp or just at room temp for germination

[pushbutton]

i have always put my seeds on top of the fridge. set a system up to where the flat hangs over to catch the warm updraft from the coils. the kitchen is the warmest room in my house and being 6 ft up or so is also warmer than the floor. i would try to keep them at least 80 degrees, if not warmer. i think they germinate in temps from 70 to 90(can't remember specifics).

[luckycrank]

if I can just keep my wife fromnt keeping the t-sat at 60 over night we'd be in bussiness proll gonna take em to work I 'find a safe spot with out traffic i have a infared thermometer (point and read type)so i should be able to find a cedcent location

[Ice_Fishin07]

Man the Bhut Jolikia peppers are really, I mean really hot. Even I think, before I try them. These were originally grown in hot and dry weather state (desert area, say like Nevada). This is coming from a guy originally from India.

Good Luck!

[FishLocker]

I germinate in those peat "ice cube tray" looking things from FF (the big ones not the little ones) and use miracle grow starter soil rather than the peat pellets they include in the kit. I put it on an aluminum cookie sheet and put that on 2x2x2 blocks over the floor heat vent in front of the patio door. The bedding stays warmer than the room and if you leave space between the cookie sheet and the patio door, the door stays clear of frost as well.

Have never had a problem germinating this way,and they are close at hand to keep an eye on for watering. They do need more water with the added air flow so near. It tends to dry them out.

I plant 14 plants along the garage (to get the reflected sun and captured heat for a hotter and sunnier growing season) and at least 10 in the garden. Those along the garage are always hotter than those in the garden.

Have fun.

[Nainoa]

I cut my teeth learning how to work with true tropical peppers when I learned how to trick Aji Dulce peppers to grow in Minnesota. (I have a little greenhouse service where I sell Heirloom peppers and tomatoes for a little side money)

My biggest Bhut Jolokia is currently 3 inches tall and has 2 sets of it's first leaves... I planted it on January 26th!

So I fear at this point that you are just too late in the coming growing season to really get a big bushy powerful pepper plant. BUT... If you keep them in planters and/or can move them inside under lights or a greenhouse you might still get a good harvest... OR pray for a warm fall.

Here's the basics:

1. Germinate them on a heat mat... You absolutely need consistent heat.

If you don't want to spring for one you can bodge one out of a shallow trat, some oak slats (To act as spacers) and an old heating pad.

2. They will take 2-3 weeks to germinate, and when they do they will require 18-20 hours under a grow light.

*If you don't want to spring for the expensive LED lights, you can just buy a Flourescent shop light 48" and 2 Full Spectrum day light bulbs.

3. Once they come up remove them from the heat pad within 24 hours and re-pot them in a 5 inch Jiffy Peat pot (Filled with Miracle grow soil augmenting with 2 Tablespoons of Vermiculite (Or Perilite)

While they need to be kept warm like their natural soil conditions... If you keep them on consistent heat they will get leggy and eventually fall over and die.

They need a natural swing in temperature like they would find in the wild in order to develop the thick stalks that will keep them strong and allow you to harden them in late May.

*My indoor greenhouse has south facing light, a heat vent and the grow lights to create this balance.

Peppers are NOT like tomatoes, you can't re-pot them deeper... Their stems will just rot

4. Keep them "Moist" at all times until you have at least 2 sets of true leaves.

5. Chinense family peppers are heavy feeders... They crave a balance of Nitrogen and Phosphorous. They'll need the phospherous first. Go out and get a little thing of fertilizer for "Blooming Plants" Once they develop their first true leaves...

Once per week (I do it on Mondays) mix up a small amount (One of the little scoops) of K fertilizer and water the plants with it. If AT ANY TIME you see purple forming under the leaves... DOUBLE this dose.

When the second set of true leaves develops you'll want to give them a Nitrogen fertilizer (Like tomato food) on thursdays.

The K makes strong roots, the N makes strong leaves.

6. As soon as you can work the soil. Go to the spot you plan to plant them and erect a cold frame.

*No you won't be planting them until after Musky Opener... But the cold frame will begin heating the soil so they'll have less transplant shock.

Starting at Walleye Opener... Every day (that isn't cold and miserable) Take the plants outside during the day and harden them off. Bringing them in at night.

The first 2 times you bring them out they will wilt hard from the sun. So keep a sharp eye on them and does them with little hits of nitrogen rich water.

IF you just walk away and they wilt down, they will die.

*****

By Musky Opener they should be hardened off and you can plant them in the cold frame (Make sure the soil temps in the cold frame are around 80 degrees.

Just dig a hole, get it really wet, and put the peat pot in. DO NOT pull the plant from the peat pot. The roots will grow through the pot on their own as the pot naturally degrades in the soil... And this will help insulate them against transplant shock.

*****

I'm assuming you're not a seed saver?

(I am, so it's a HUGE factor for me)

If you are, we'll need to discuss the need for pollination isolation... But if you just buy new seeds every year then you don't have to worry about it.

Questions?

[Nainoa]

hybridized....non hybridized....your pretty much splitting hairs anything over 4 to 5 hundred thousand scovilles ......can't imagine anyone could taste a discernible difference. it is just freaking hot!!!!!

Now speaking from a culinary point of view... You're right... In fact I would argue that anything hotter than habanero and "Flavor" is pointless.

However, speaking from an agricultural point of view, hybridization can be a dangerous thing. It creates genetic weaknesses that can dominate a seed stock in such a way that lets in pervasive microbes like salmonella and e-coli.

I mean there's a reason why our mass market tomatoes, peppers, and certain lettuces are in a genetic state right now that the potato was in a decade before the Irish potato famine

On a single instance like a simple hot pepper that some eager beaver cooked up in his basement... Meh... you're right... Hybridization is no big deal. But if we keep spinning that scale out and keep taking a Laisse Faire attitude towards hybridization of our food stocks... It will certainly come back to bite us in the butt.

Everything I grow is 100% heirloom, from seed stocks that I select every year myself.

[pushbutton]

yep....... my laissez faire attitude was only directed from a culinary point of view of how hot the bhut jolikia pepper was.... not trying to incite a hybrid vs non hybrid debate. might be a great silly town thread though

[Nainoa]

yep....... my laissez faire attitude was only directed from a culinary point of view of how hot the bhut jolikia pepper was.... not trying to incite a hybrid vs non hybrid debate. might be a great silly town thread though

Oh yeah... I hear ya.

But... If you pull it back to a less ideological discussion that still takes a look at the world of Mega-hot peppers and the whole Hybrid vs Open Pollonator debate...

Since I grow only open pollenators and heirloom plants, each year I can intelligently select the best peppers with the best adaptive traits.

Take for example Aji Dulce (Which is basically a habanero pepper that has been selectively bred to have the Flavor of Habanero, but less than half the heat of a jalapeno.)

A normal "Just bought it off the internet seed stock" takes 3-4 weeks to Germinate at a 65-70% success rate, with 20% deadloss and 120 days to maturity.

An open pollenator, allows you to collect and save seeds into the next generation. By doing this and picking selectively for seed stocks, in 4 years now my Aji Dulce germinate in 10-12 days, at a 92% germination rate, less than 5% deadloss (So Far...And I'm out of the woods already) and 90 days to maturity. (And dare I boast that my fruits are larger!)

And every Aji Dulce seed for me is Free...

Compare this to a hybrid... Every year you have to buy more seeds, and unless it's a certified seller (Which as I learned is easily lied about BTW) you just have to trust that what you ordered is what you're getting... It's some unknown germination rate, and long maturity. And since hybrid seeds don't breed true... You can't even pick the best of the best for next year... You have to just order it, hope and do it all over again.

Now IF... From a culinary stand point, my assertions that "Anything hotter than a habanero is pointless as far as flavor goes" By choosing an Open Pollenator over a Hybrid... You are saving money every year, streamling the process, and having a direct hand in the quality of fruit, plant and flavor in the end product.

[luckycrank]

my jolikia peppers are now about an inch and have had there first true leaves for about week and a half little growth if any in the last week , any idea why they seem to have stalled, granted the air temp has been a little on the low side at about 64 degrees 24/7.

[Nainoa]

my jolikia peppers are now about an inch and have had there first true leaves for about week and a half little growth if any in the last week , any idea why they seem to have stalled, granted the air temp has been a little on the low side at about 64 degrees 24/7.

More than likely it's normal... The entire Chinense family of peppers do tend to do that... It's this early slow growth and long germination time that causes northern gardeners to have to start them indoors as early as January.

You can speed them up a little bit with warmth and increased day length. Give them a little Phosphorous right fertilizer to maximize their root growth.

But in general that's just how they grow.

I started mine in late January and they are just now getting respectable in size.

[luckycrank]

ok thanks

[Nainoa]

When they start getting a few more "True Leaves" to them you can give them some half strength Nitrogen Rich fertilizer... Like Miracle Grow.

But you'll want to wait until their leaves go from "Light Green" to "Jade Green" and get that glossy look to them (This is a sign that the roots are now strong and taking up nutrients for the rapid growth phase of the plant) before you want to give them Full Strength Nitrogen Fertilizer.

It seems like most plants in the Solanum family follow a similar pattern to human growth... They start out slow and weak... Plateau in growth... Then they hit "adolescence" and they grow like wild fire.

[Dylan33]

wow...the Aji Dulce sounds incredible to me, i've never heard of it before....where would a guy pick some of those up? I'm assuming a local grocery store wouldn't carry 'em.

[Nainoa]

wow...the Aji Dulce sounds incredible to me, i've never heard of it before....where would a guy pick some of those up? I'm assuming a local grocery store wouldn't carry 'em.

LOL...

So far as I know I'm the only person in the state who's growing them fresh.

I had to basically TRICK them into growing this far north with grow lights and intelligent seed selection.

Tim Stark is growing them in PA by the same means. Otherwise they can't survive the growing season any father North than Tennessee.

Their native range is Venzuela - Trinidad.

This is a mixed time of year for me... On the one hand... Tons of excitement about the new growing season and getting the first spring veg planted. On the other hand, being completely out of San Marzano Tomatoes and smoked aji dulce powder makes me sad to have to resort to the grocery store.