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These are supposed to be Butch T's

T

TheSteepFallsMauler

So when I was ordering seeds for my garden this year, I got most of them from Baker Creek seeds (rareseeds.com). I didn't plan to grow super hots, but they had Butch T scorpions and Ghost seeds, so I grabbed a package of each. Since I've never had luck growing anything hot in my garden, I put them in 5 gallon buckets and left them outside till it started getting cold, then brought them inside to my basement under some lights (I know this probably isn't the best method, but this whole thing was on a bit of a whim).

I've got decent looking plants (5 butch T's and 1 ghost) with varying amounts of pods that are starting to ripen down there. The Ghosts look fine and normal (not ripening yet, but well-shaped) but a couple of the Butch T's look a bit odd. One one plant, I have a fully ripe pepper, but it's not the regular shape and it's more of a dark orange than red. The I ripe peppers above it have the traditional scorpion shape, so I'm not too worried about this plant. One of the other plants, however, has oddly shaped pods all through it. They don't have the scorpion 'stinger' and they have a strange shape with thick wrinkles in them. One of them began ripening a few days and it's yellow. Not like it's going yellow>orange>red, but just yellow.

This is my first time growing super hots in any capacity, so I'm pretty lost about all of this, and I know the growers here really know their stuff. So I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts about it. I'll try to post pics in a reply to this in a moment, I don't think I can do it from the mobile site
 
This is the ripe, 'normal' Butch T. It's more orange looking in real life. I think the shape is off, but I'm no expert.



These are the unripe pods just above it. More normal looking.



These are from the oddball plant. One ripe yellow, but they're all shaped like this.


 
WE NEED PICS.
 
Some of the red chinense go through a not-quite-ripe stage where they are more orange before the color deepens to blood-red when they are fully ripe.  Just wait a bit. .
 
Sounds like you have at least one cross - the yellow one, and possibly the one with unexpected shape.  I don't know about rareseeds.com, but many sellers don't isolate their plants so the buyer gets the typical 10-15% chance of impure seed. 
 
 
 
Oh, and welcome.  :drunk:
 
They seem like a pretty reliable company. The squash and heirloom tomatoes I ordered from them were all spot on. Also keep in mind that I'm in Southern Maine, so the climate isn't ideal for these kinds of peppers. I don't know if/how that would relate to these oddities. I did everything I could to keep them as warm as possible the whole time.
 
Termperature either kills peppers or it doesn't.  With a short growing season, though, you need a running start.  The super-hots are all late-season producers that can take 90 days or more from flowering to ripe.
 
What did you put in the 5 gal buckets?  Just garden dirt?  That can cause problems over the course of a season.  Garden soil compacts and doesn't drain well, leading to poor root structure and retarded growth. 
 
I like the yellow pods.  They may not be a cross but a different variety that accidently got into the seed pack.  Phenotype looks very familiar but I can't put my finger on it.
 
The mis-shapen Butch T may not be an issue at all.  There is often considerable variation between pod shapes on the same plant, especially with early pods.  Taste it.  If your tongue swells and your teeth melt, it's a Butch T.
 
Any pods on the [strike]Reaper?[/strike] ghost?
 
I don't have any reapers. But the ghost has 15-20 well-formed pods. Haven't started ripening yet though. The soil I used was storebought potting soil that was marked as being good for vegetables. Like I said, this was something did on a whim while I was organizing my regular vegetable garden for the season.
 
The odd ball pod on a plant that otherwise looks fine is fairly normal.  It is more often the first pods, but some plants just throw an odd pod now and then.  With Butch T, it is as if you grabbed the bottom, yanked, and unfolded the shoulder area.  The picture perfect examples of each line is what folk use to sell seeds.  Often our own gardens do not look nearly as perfect.

On the yellow, willing to bet a seed from something else got stuck to someone's glove.  Have had goofy things grow from Burpee and other huge name seed companies.  Human error is everywhere.  I would continue to think fondly of this seed company if you have reason to.
 
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Yes, like I said, they Blue Hubbards, Solar Flare Tomatoes and other stuff they sold me were great. However, the Butch T's and Ghosts were the only super hits they had. Thinking I'll be buying my pepper seeds from some of the vendors here for next year's grow. I'd like to try some other hots like Naga Vipers that they don't carry at Baker Creek.

And if what a couple of you have mentioned is true, that a stray seed got into my package, does anyone have any idea what it is? Doesn't look like any pepper I recognize, but I'm not expert.

And thank you for all your replies. Definitely glad this place exists.
 
2nd pic from the top sure look like Butch T Scorps. You will find that the chinense pods with a stinger in the superhot world will vary from pod to pod. The longer you let the plant grow out the better, because it should put out more true to form pods. Weather/ temps and what its being fed also play key roles in pod size, shape and overall appearance. Hope this helps and makes sense.
 
Makes sense, thanks. I don't have a tons of money/resources to put into these this year, but I'm hoping to have my act together a little better for next season. The main thing is to get them started earlier in a warmer place. When I started them this year, I didn't realize that they tend to take 2 months to germinate. So doing that and being more knowledgeable about soils/fertilizers/etc should help me do better next year.
 
heres what mine looked like ,
photo-4.JPG

 
 
TheSteepFallsMauler said:
The soil I used was storebought potting soil that was marked as being good for vegetables.
Click to expand...
 
"Potting Soil" and "Potting Mix" are different animals, at least in the Miracle Gro world.  "Potting Mix" is what you want for peppers.  Drains better and contains (more?) perlite. 
TheSteepFallsMauler said:
I didn't realize that they tend to take 2 months to germinate.
Click to expand...
 
They shouldn't take nearly that long.  Germinate indoors in a damp paper towel and you should see sprouts in a week.  Or more accurately, 2-10 days. Pop the sprouts into a starter tray or pots and you're off.
 
DMF said: "Germinate indoors in a damp paper towel and you should see sprouts in a week.  Or more accurately, 2-10 days."
 
I noticed DMF lives in Texas and SteepFalls lives in Maine.  I'd be willing to bet there is a difference in indoor temperatures in their homes.  If someone isn't using additional heat, the winter time temperature in a home can made a huge difference in germination rate and time.

SteepFalls, two months does seem unusually long.  Please consider warming your seeds. You can buy a fairly inexpensive heating mat or you can use tricks like putting them on top of the hot water heater, fridge, or any appliance that is warmer than your home.  I think you will have much faster germination.
 
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Yep, temp makes a big difference.
 
I keep my house about 65oF in the winter.  (Unless it's warm out.  This is Texas.)  I don't germinate at room temp, and neither should anyone living in Maine.  Find somewhere warm, like the top of a cable box or inside an oven with a pilot light.  I use a casserole dish to hold the bags wrapped in a tea towel, and include a thermometer inside the towel with the bags to keep a check on the ambient. 
 
Actually, to most people this is main reason to use the paper towel method - it's a lot easier to heat a baggie than a tray full of pots of dirt.
 
I had my tray on top of my refrigerator for most of the time, I only moved it when it was particularly warm out and I felt comfortable putting it in the big bay window in my kitchen where it was even warmer. I think it was the Ghosts that took 2 months (I'd pretty much given up on them). The Butch T's took 5-6 weeks, I think.
 
Can't say for sure since I'm far from an expert in interesting pepper breeds but that yellow one looks remarkably like the Trinidad Perfume, a strong scented but heatless cousin of the Habanero that is supposedly delicious, fruity and sweet.
 
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