I’m definitely not use to the Jolokia’s heat. I ate a whole Habanero about a month ago and quickly regretted that decision lol!I can’t imagine eating a whole Jolokia that is about 3 times hotter!

I had been ordering fresh Jolokia’s from a lady in Texas before trying to grow my own. I’ll have to order some more from her again until my baby Bhuts start producing.

Yes, Orlando weather…it gets too cold or too hot for plants! How crazy is it that we have to cover/uncover our plants and trees with comforters and blankets several times during winter to protect them? I plan on keeping the Bhuts in my bathroom with my orchids during the winter to keep in safe and warm.

You are partially correct. What I do is get some gauze bags (like you would find in a craft store) that are very, very fine, to prevent insects from cross-pollinating. Then I would put the bags over the flower and branch (picking off a few leaves if needed). if the bag has a drawstring, I’ll cinch it snuggly around where the branch joins the main stem. If there is no drawstring, an old piece of torn pantyhose (cut up into ribbons) or even a twist tie will work.

I’ll only need to keep the bag on until I see that the flower has dropped its petals. After that I tag the branch with a piece of ribbon to remind myself which peppers have been bagged.

I was fortunate on ebay to get some nice seeds (pricy, but good) a few years back, so I use those peppers to continue along with the seeds for new plants.

Two things could be happening with your less-than-nuclear-hot peppers. First, they could have crossed with another pepper — it’s certainly possible. In addition, I sometimes find that normally super-hot peppers get “cooler” as the season wears on, especially if a plant has been producing heavily earlier in the season. But cooling to jalapeno-strength is cooler than I would expect. Could it be that it only seems that cool since you are so used to the heat of these wonderful jolokia peppers?

Best wishes with your plants grown from seeds — it’s possible that they could last the winter and then start growing again next spring, but you will have to do some serious protection from the weather — I used to live in Orlando and I know how cold it can get in the winter. Keep them warm and with as much sunlight as possible and they may do dormant, and start to grow again in the spring.

Gail

Last year I purchased a couple of orders of fresh Bhut Jolokias from a lady in Texas. I LOVE these peppers! I also bought ground powder on eBay and picked up some of Dave’s Ghost Pepper sauce! I am so addicted to Bhut Jolokias and have to put it on 99% of anything I eat! I even carry the hotsauce and a vial of the ground pepper in my purse! lol

I live near Orlando and bought 4 plants this spring from a local nursery and also started a couple plants from seeds that I purchased from the Chile Pepper Institute. Yes, the seeds are pricey but I wanted to be sure I was getting the real deal. I too had heard that there are a lot of seeds sold on eBay that are not true Bhut Jolokia seeds.

I’ve harvested hundreds of peppers from the plants I purchased from the nursery they look and smell like Bhut Jolokias (even have the little goose pimples on ‘em) but sadly the peppers are about as hot as a jalapeno. I’m guessing that the seeds they used to grow the plants must have been crossed from other chili plants.

On the other hand, the plants I started from seeds are still a little too small to produce any peppers but I am hopeful that I should get some before the weather cools or hopefully next spring.

I was wondering what you meant by “bag the flowers” in your comment; “It’s just now starting to form some flower buds, and before the buds open, I am going to bag the blossoms, so I can be sure of having more seeds going forward.” Do you cover the flower and stem with a plastic bag and tie it to prevent crossbreeding with another pepper?

I got my seeds from pepperjoes. If you can’t get any, I’d be happy to share.

I also have a two year old, over six foot chocolate habanero in the greenhouse.

Thanks for the reminder that it’s a good idea to check the ratings and comments when buying. I’ve bought off ebay without a problem (the bhut jolokia), and have bought other seeds from Amazon without issue. However, when looking for a special hard-to-find seed, it always pays to do homework.

Gail

Jim

Thanks for asking, but I don’t have any seeds for sale at the moment. Just as an FYI, though, when I buy seeds a lot of time I go to ebay and/or Amazon to get my seeds (especially if they aren’t all that readily available at the usual places).

Hope this helps!

Gail

While I am sure you can grow these indoors, they would require at least 16 hours, I would think. And likely the peppers would not be as hot as if they were grown outdoors in a hot climate. (On the other hand, these peppers are really hot, so that might not be a bad thing). For me, they grow most effectively when they get dappled shade in the afternoons, because the sun is really strong in South Florida in the summer (not to mention the heat and humidity). So to answer your question, they do like the sunlight, so as much natural sun as they can get, supplemented with gro lights to toal 16 hours should do it.