Hello Jamie,
After 2 years I have had my best success with the peppers: 25″ plants with over 12 peppers about full size. I live in southest PA we have had 25″ of rain in the last 30 day’s. The plant is in a 15 gallon bucket. Last night it was 50 degrees, 80 during the day . What should I do to get these fruits red? I have a grow light if you think it is necessary.
Thanks,
Mike

Answer:

Hi Mike,
Nice, but if possible, you gotta get your plants in the ground next year. Your yield will go up to more than 300 peppers per plant if grown properly and your plants will be more than 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. The Bhut Jolokia hates to be in pots. I have tried this many times and it just doesn’t work right.
As far as getting your fruits to ripen now, I have written a blog on this very thing on our website. Check it out and if you need more info. Get back to me.
Cheers,
Jamie

Hello Jamie,
I recently planted some ghost peppers and this is my first time growing them. I live in central Pennsylvania and started them in March in the grow box.  I just now got them in the ground here on June 25th. They were all over 6 to 8 inch’s tall, but I am curious to see if this is too late in the season to plant them and will they even get to bear fruit.  Any info would be helpful. Thank you for your time.
Zach Hamor

Answer:

Aloha Zach,
I would try it for sure. But, you will need to use “shade cloth” to keep your Bhut Jolokia plants at 90 degrees or below. They hate hot weather above 90 and when the nights start to get cool in the Fall, you will have to insulated the ground and keep them watered well to a depth of 16″ when the temperatures dip below 60.

Good luck!
Jamie

Hello Jamie!
I have a question about Bhut Jolokia fruit setting. Last December I bought some seeds from you, since then I have been able to germinate almost all of them. My biggest plant was started inside in late December and is about 3 1/2 feet tall and about the same wide.  It has been getting many blossoms since mid may. Currently, I have around 140 blossoms that are just starting to open flowers, but once they open the base of the stem turns bown and they fall while they are still green.

I have tried many different things including pollination with an art brush both wet and dry, shaking the stem and even using an old electric toothbrush to shake the flowers one by one. It’s heartbreaking to go out each day and count the dropped flowers, LOL. As far as watering: I water them one every 4 or 5 days and let it get a heavy soak.  I use a 5 gallon “smart pot” that is supposed to keep the plant from being overwatered.

Overall, the plant looks very healthy; no bugs minus some gnats but very mild. I did have 2 of the bottom leaves turn yellow and then fall off over the last few weeks but the rest are fine. Do you have any suggestions to what could help with the fruiting problem?
Thank you,
Brett U

Answer:

Hi Brett,
How hot is it where you live? The Bhut Jolokia does not like temperatures over 90. If this is the case, then you will have to use a 20% heat reduction “shade cloth”. Let me know what happens.
Cheers and Aloha,
Jamie

My ghost pepper plants will have alot of buds (flowers) on them but as soon as they are formed they fall off.  It isn’t just the flower, the entire stem that is attached to the flower.  I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong.  Is this just what they do or is it me?

Thanks,  Richard

Answer:

Aloha Richard,
The most probable cause for dropping the flowers is heat. When the temperature is above 90, it stresses the Bhut Jolokia pepper plant out which usually results in flower drop. If this is the case, I would use a 20% heat reducing “shade” cloth.

Good luck!

Jamie

Hello!
I just had a question about the Jolokia plant development. I had really good luck germinating about a dozen seeds back in mid-April. Almost 2 months later, my plants are now only about 1-1/2″ tall with 2-4 true leaves.  They’re also the slightest bit yellow in color. I’ve grown a lot of other chiles, but these are my first Jolokias and I don’t know if I’m missing something or if they’re just really slow growers! All of my other peppers are already in the ground and some are even fruiting already.
Like my other peppers, I germinated my Jolokias in disposable containers in an organic sphagnum peat / forest compost potting soil. Watering when the top soil is dry. Up here in New Jersey it was warm enough to start getting the plants out into full sun in mid-May and they’re out in 70-90 degree, mostly sunny weather every day now. I also sprinkled a small amount of a 3-1-2 bone/blood/fish meal fertilizer in with the soil as well. No issues with pests this year either.
Is the slow growth and yellow tinge normal or is something wrong with the above approach?
Really appreciate any information, this has been a really fun experiance so far!
thanks,
Alex Smith

Answer:

Aloha Alex,

Sounds like you’re doing everything correctly, but the yellow color is not normal. Can you email me a picture? Might be overwatering.
The Chili Pepper Institute in New Mexico doesn’t recommend this pepper for the “novice” grower (not saying that this pertains to you) but the Bhut Jolokia is a tough one to establish. Once it takes off, it grows like crazy.

Send me the photo please and good luck!

Jamie

Dear Jamie

First off, I want to say thanks for your website and am sad so see you stop selling. Your website has been a How To Bible on growing Bhut Jolokia’s from seeds.
I added my own touch and started them in petri dishes, with 3 daygermination’s.  But I’m trying to plan ahead to make my first season successful.  I live in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of the few places on earth where it’s 11 degreees F in the summer and -20 degrees F in the winter, with droughts and monsoons to bhut.

I have my seeds to the point where there about 2 days from showing first leaves.  I keep them in a nice dark soil that I just got from store.  I was wondering if there was anything that I could fertilize them with that would increase growth and fruit production without decreasing the peppers potential heat levels. You know, the King of Fertilizers.

Oh, one last thing, have you ever pickled your Jolokia’s, and if so, is it good?

Thank you very much,
Nick

Answer:

Hi Nick,
Thanks for writing.  Sounds like you are having fun with the Bhuts. They are a challenge to grow but well worth the effort. As far as fertilizer, I would use a well rotted horse manure if you can find it. Do not use steer as it usually contains too much salt. Or you could use fish emulsion or kelp.
Be sure to deep water every two days when the weather is really hot. You may have to put shade cloth over the plants to keep the temperatures in the low ninties.

As far as pickling, no not yet, but I bet they would be good in small doses.

Talk to you later,
Jamie

Aloha!

Hi there. I just placed an order for your ghost pepper seeds.

Is there any advice you can give me how cultivate the soil so I can plant them perfectly?

I live in South Florida, and as you know, soils are different everywhere.

Is there a way to test for acidity and stuff I should look for?

I would really appreciate the feedback.

Since I purchased organic seeds, I would love to keep my plants organic.

Please advise?

I thank you in advance for your advise.

Erica

Answer:

Aloha Erika,

Mahalo for your order. The Bhut Jolokia likes a very loamy soil rich in organic amendments. The pH should be around 7.0–slightly alkaline. But don’t worry if your soil is in the 6.5 – 7.5 range. The most important thing is digging a large hole filled with the amended, loamy soil. Since you are in Florida, you will need to keep the temperatures between 80-90 degrees during the day. This will require you to use shade cloth with about a 20% sun reducing cloth. The Bhuts will go into a very stressful condition if they get too hot which will make them drop their flowers which produces the fruit. So it is very important that they do not get too hot. AND, you will have to “deep” water to a depth of at least 16″ every 2 days this summer or when it is hot. Do this on a very slow flow from your hose or put your plants on a drip system.

There is a lot of information on my site concerning this. If you need more assistance, feel free to email me.

Aloha and Mahalo,

Jamie

thehottestpepper.com

Response:

Aloha Jamie.

Thank you so much for the advise. Once I get the seeds I will check into everything.

According to Wikipedia, spice heat is measured through process that identifies and measures heat-producing chemicals using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). These numbers are mathematically manipulated to produce a number conveying a peppers capacity to produce heat. This is not the traditional Scoville scale used worldwide to measure heat, but the American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) pungency unit number, proven to be about 20-40% lower than Scoville heat units. Experts agree the ASTA number can be simply multiplied by 15 to convert to Scoville heat units.

To date, the chilis with the highest Scoville rating include specimens of naga jolokia or bhut jolokia. Their Scoville units exceed  one million. The unofficial hottest pepper is, indeed, the Naga Viper as it has supposedly recorded 1,359,000 Scoville units. This number was produced by researchers at Warwick University after they combined three of the hottest peppers known to man, including the Bhut Jolokia. However, this number has not been submitted to any world record holder. Remember that numerical results vary substantially depending on cultivation conditions and unregulated laboratory methods. The Warwick University number must be reproduced and tested against the official hottest pepper before the Naga Viper can have the title of Worlds Hottest Pepper.

I live in Virginia, love hot peppers and am curious about your Bhut Jolokias. How long have you been growing them? I ask because I am wondering if you’ve observed any variation or if you’ve tried to select for size (or any other characteristic). Also, have you tried to (or accidentally) hybridize it with any other variety?

Happy new year!
-Charles

Answer:

Aloha Charles,
I have been growing the Bhuts for 6 seasons. I have not tried to cross them with any other peppers as I was trying to break the world record for heat. Peppers are self pollinating but in some instances will cross. I net my other pepper varieties when they flower to avoid any chance of crossing.

Thanks and best of luck,

Jamie

Aloha Jamie,

I was reading the last post and was wondering about pruning here in Hawaii. My Hawaiian Chili peppers started out as those little 2″ pots and are now 6″ bushes..
I just cut them way way back a few months ago since they were starting to break branches withtheir eternal supply of peppers… But they are back again after being sticks.. Might I get similar results with the Bhut?

I had to move my kalo since it got big enough to block the sunlight to my cottage. Same patch of dirt as the peppers.

A hui hou,
Greg

Answer:

Hi Greg,

Thanks for your inquiry. I have now tried for 3 years to prune my Bhuts. That’s not a problem. They will come back nicely, however, I have found that the yield is not as good as the first year. So, now at the end of fall, I just pull out my plants, rework the soil with organic amendments and start the process again after the winter solstice when days are getting longer. You may have different results on your side of the island. I would keep a few plants and experiment. Please let me know the results.

Cheers and aloha,

Jamie