Here’s another addition to our “Ask Jamie” series of questions from you. Keep them coming!
Question:
Hey Jamie,
Last year I grew them, and the pepper started green then started to yellow and then bright red . . . HOT but this year they started green and ended up all bright yellow. They are the same size and shape so I’m leaving some on the plant to see what happens. They are still totally hot. My question is; what could be responsible for the color change – weather, water or fertilizer. I’ve also seen listing’s for the Naga Morich which looks similar. Is it possible that when I ordered my plants (Bhut) they could have been substituted. I did not order from you but next year I plan to. Do you have an online listing of all plants or a catalog I can get.
Thank You for Your Help,
W. Reed
Answer:
Sounds like you got the old “switcharoo” to me. You have to think about what is happening. The normal color change of a Bhut Jolokia is from green, to orange, then when totally ripe a beautiful deep red. A ripe hot pepper that is yellow is not a Bhut Jolokia. It is pretty easy to identify the Bhut Jolokia, please check out the photos in our photo gallery on thehottestpepper.com/gallery.html
For your knowledge a few words about yellow plants. When a plant turns yellow it is usually from the inability of the plant to get rid of water in the soil (could also be from an iron, or nitrogen deficiency, or a high pH). This is usually caused from a clay based soil that holds the water. If this is the case then you need to add compost to your soil. But I don’t think this is the problem because your peppers are bearing fruit. A clay soil will make it difficult for the plant to extract the nutrients it needs to produce the fruit and mostly likely if this was the case you would have a lot of peppers dropping onto the ground. I suspect that you went sent another type of pepper.
I have been in business since 1986 and I have learned that there are a lot of unsavory characters out there. You are only as good as your word, and all the money in the world won’t repair a damaged reputation because of dishonesty. When you need the real thing, send me an email and we will get them out to you ASAP.
Jamie
