Monday, November 17, 2008

Bhut Jolokia (world's hottest pepper) update





I got tired bringing in the Bhut Jolokia pepper plants for the cold nights and taking them out on sunny days. My original intention was to see if I could overwinter the peppers indoors but the aphids infested the plants despite three sprayings of neem and insecticidal soap. The aphids hid under the leaves so it was difficult to knock them off with a blast of water from the hose and they seem to survive in enough numbers after the insecticidal spray and came back in ever greater numbers.

So, I picked the peppers. Hopefully there will be seeds to plant next year. The Bhut Jolokia peppers are purported to have only very few seeds in each pod so we'll see when I get enough courage to open one up for a taste. I only grew this variety of pepper this year so the plants should breed true.

Surprisingly there were a good many decent sized peppers on the little bush. The leaves hid many so I didn't realize 30+ peppers were growing on the bush. I'll let you know how hot those devils are. I don't think we have enough hot sunny days in New Jersey to develop the maximum hotness. At least that has been our experience growing Jalapenos, Tepin, Piquin, Thai, Cayenne peppers in previous years.

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Those are great looking peppers but what are you going to do with them? Aren't they too hot to eat? Maybe you could make some homemade tear gas or something. That's always a great gift for the holidays. :)

7:21 AM  
Blogger Ki said...

Hi Anthony,
Or...extra strong deer repellent ;D
It probably isn't very hot. I'll work up the courage to do a taste test in the near future. Better get the resuscitation gear ready for the impending heart attack.

5:49 PM  
Blogger joey said...

'Warm wishes', Ki ;)

6:54 PM  
Blogger Tira said...

Congrats on that great crop of peppers! That should be enough heat to take the entire family through winter. Maybe you can dry some and make pepper flakes. You can also try my pepper sauce recipe on my site.

7:50 AM  
Blogger Ki said...

Brrr! it's cold here in NJ. Thanks for the warm greetings Joey - especially fitting for this post ;D

------------------------------------
Hi Nicole,
Maybe we can turn down the thermostat for the duration of winter! I feel like Dr. Frankenstein. I created a monster and don't know what to do with it. The pods have shriveled somewhat, it has thin walls and isn't a very meaty pepper like Jalapenos. I will take a look at your sauce recipe - that may be a good way to use the peppers. In Hawaii many, many years ago,there was always a bottle of hot sauce at every table at the hole in the wall restaurants we frequented. I think it was mainly vinegar and salt with a few small but very hot local peppers at the bottom of the bottle. Surprisingly tasty and hot to our young tastebuds.

6:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a great crop. They are so colorful and would make a great display just sitting in a bowl. Let us know how hot they turned out to be.

Jan
Always Growing

3:14 AM  
Blogger Entangled said...

WooHoo! I've been waiting to see your crop, but vowed not to read/write blogs this week until I got caught up with some other things. I just read again recently that Indian cooks only use a tiny sliver of these peppers for a whole dish, and they burn them as elephant repellent.

Let us know when/if you taste the peppers! Layanee wrote that she was going to make deer repellent with hers.

1:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is on schedule, the deer repellent making, for this weekend. I did freeze some of the peppers and they look pretty in the freezer in the plastic bag. They really don't look hot at all that way. LOL Pretty pictures of yours and I am going to salvage seeds this weekend also. I have been putting it off.

9:12 PM  
Blogger Ki said...

Hi Jan,
They do look beautiful but deadly. I'm still too chicken to try one.

----------------------------------

HI Entangled,
I had to laugh at the elephant repellent remark. Now if it only would work as squirrel repellent, I'd be a happy gardener. Interesting that the Indians only use a small sliver to season a dish. After reading about the woman who ate 52? whole Bhut Jolokia peppers in a sitting, I thought they would use the whole pod. =:0

I'd be surprised if the peppers are very hot - not enough long hot days in NJ. I'll cut them open this weekend to dry them and I'll give it a taste test then. Let you know about the heat.

---------------------------------
Hi Layanee,
I sprayed my own concoction of hot pepper sauce mixed in water with a drop or two of detergent as a deer and squirrel spray. It worked as a deer repellent but was short lived as soon as the next rain.

The squirrels were unfazed even with the beefed up version I made especially for them. Hopefully the Bhut Jolokia will be hot enough to supress their nefarious activities.

I need to save some seeds too and will cut the peppers open this weekend. I hope there are a few seeds as I've read that this pepper doesn't produce many. Will do a taste test too with some yogurt ready to quench the fire if I don't faint first. :D

4:05 AM  
Blogger Michael said...

Where can I get the seeds?? I live in New Jersey too. It is good to know that its possible to grow them here although it seems difficult. Any way I can get a plant from you?? :)

11:59 AM  
Blogger Mr L said...

Hello !!!
I found your blog casually, and I loved your photos because I love hot peppers..!!!!!

Greetings from Barcelona !!!

12:50 PM  

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