The Hottest Pepper Blog

Question:

I was told they were ‘extremely hard’ to grow especially in the Midwest (this was a challenge for me) so I wanted to try for myself.  They are not hard to grow but are very delicate in the beginning so you leave them indoors until they are at least 8 inches tall with a good root system and then only put them outside if the temps are above 60.  I discovered they LOVE Hot temps and seem to thrive in it. I also discovered they need more ‘time’ & ‘patience’ to develop than their cousins with  LOTS of full sun throughout the entire day – so I placed them on the bank by the lake!  I also watered mostly with the Lake water…. Occasionally I would use the tap water when mixing Miracle Grow.  I have a very healthy plant with lots of Ghost Peppers.  The birds don’t even peck at these things like the other vegetables I grow in the garden.  The Chipmunks & squirrels stay away from them also.  A few garden variety bugs have tried to eat the leaves of this demon plant but….to their demise!  Now I sit looking at these beauties but not brave enough to try them.  Was thinking of using in a Fresh Salsa BUT one would have to make a couple gallons for just a half of the pepper and even then I bet the kick would be something else?  Do you have any suggestions or recipes?
Again ~ I read to use extreme caution when handling these super hot peppers ~ GLOVES – MASK OVER MOUTH & NOSE – GOGGLES.  I’d use long sleeves also in case a juicy one were to squirt a bit.  Better to have a hole in my garment than a painful burn on my skin.

Thank You for your time,

Diane

Answer:

Hi Diane,

Great looks Bhuts! You are correct. The Bhuts are very fragile when young, but when they get going, they kick butt!!  They love the sun and love a loamy soil with lots of water. So, my advice to you is to dry your peppers, grind them up and use the flakes/powder very sparingly at first until you get the feel for an appropriate amount. Use can also use the flakes/powder as a rub for fish and meat which works very, very well. Fresh is also good, but I have ruined several meals/salsa/guacamole by putting too much in and I couldn’t even eat it. And my guests wouldn’t even get close to it.

Nice job!!

Jamie

Follow-up from Diane:

That sounds wonderful!  Thanks for your advice…  Mine are just starting to turn red….but very healthy.  At any rate, when you say dry my peppers out…how?  Do you let them air dry or do you place them in the oven?  This is all very new to me.  I will wear gloves when I wash the grinder…

Thank You,

Diane

Jamie’s Response:

Aloha Diane,

You can dry the peppers in the sun for a full day or you can use a dehydrator. If you buy one, get one that doesn’t go over about 120 degrees. I have found that drying them slower is better. Never soak your peppers before drying, simply rinse off (hopefully you are growing organically) and set on a towel to absorb the water from rinsing. Always wear gloves and a respirator (unless you like sneezing–BTW they are great, deep, sneezes). Pick your peppers in the early AM or in the late PM, and at the peak of the red color–the more red the hotter.

Have fun and be careful!

Aloha,
Jamie

Question:

Hey Jamie. Its Mike I’m Wash.DC. I love my plant looks like I may get more than 100 peppers off my plant. Your seeds R top shelf!!!!

Mike

Answer:

Aloha Mike,

Cool! Glad that you are satisfied. Your plant looks great! How hot are the peppers? You can save the seeds from your peppers but make sure that you wait until the peppers are very red before you pick them. This will make sure that the seeds are mature and will reproduce.

Cheers,
Jamie

Question:

Aloha Jamie…

Thought you should know that my seeds are growing well! Small bush-like plants… not a whole lot of sun in our parts lately, so that has been bad, but what do you expect from southern Oregon.

I’m having a little problem with something chewing little tiny holes in the leaves, but have coated the plants first with a garlic, cayenne, jalapeno, dish soap, veg-oil & water solution for a few hours , then washed off and then dusted them with some Diatomaceous earth for about 12 hours, then washed that off. There doesn’t seem to be new chews, but I will obviously keep a close eye on them. I have them in a hot house so snails and slugs can’t get to them, but there are such pests as aphids / earwings / sowbugs and assorted chewing and sucking pests about.  I will keep the organic pesticide going as needed, if you got any better thoughts or ideas please let me know.

I have a question: Do you know how I can get some fresh bhut jolokia peppers to make into fire salsa? or, can I just order from you some dried ones and rehydrate them and put them into salsa?

There are a few of us who want to cry for mercy and I’m aching for some real pain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  By-the-way, how do you use your peppers in your personal life?  You do eat them in foods and salsas…don’t you?   I love habaneros and usually don’t ever eat them raw and off the plant anymore… did that, been there, and it was interesting, but now I take a handful of them and grind them up in a blender and mix them into a hamburger paddy and cook it  …. Wow!  What a nice treat that is, but mostly I  just make a salsa from them for my serious pepper eating friends.

Anyway… how often do you place them [jolokias] in your diet and how?
~BRyan

Answer:

Hey Bryan,

Jamie