Seeds sold as Scotch Bonnets, but are they?!

cannedSunlight · Jul 7, 2012

Hi guys, I'm quite a newbie so please forgive my ignorance... I've been growing these for two years now. The plants are large, grow like crazy (we keep having to trim them back) to a height of about 1 metre. The seeds were sold as scotch bonets from a seller in the UK but after looking online and on here my chillies don't look 'bonnet' like. Please could you experts let me know what they are?

Heat-wise they are quite hot, but I would not call them super hot, although my tolerance level is quite high. The largest are about 3cm wide/tall and there doesn't seem to be much consistancy in the shape, as you can see from the pictures. Some are square-ish and some are long. I can supply more information and pics if it helps.

Thank you

Waiting to turn red...

fireface · Jul 7, 2012

Looks similar to the red scotch bonnets I grow. I too find the pod shape and size to vary quite a bit. Not all scotch bonnets have the tam o shantern shape that you see in web pictures. Infact, I'd say most are shaped as yours are.

The main identifier for me is taste. Do they taste like habaneros or do they have that distinctive fruity bonnet taste?

POTAWIE · Jul 7, 2012

+1
Red bonnets rarely have the desirable shape like the yellows and oranges, so its difficult to tell

bigbodybussey · Jul 7, 2012

These dont look Scottish at all...no beards?

I'm gonna go with POTAWIE and fireface...The red varieties have always varied in shape and size with me. The proof is in the taste...mmmmm.

Plus you could have a f1 cross...

mygrassisblue · Jul 7, 2012

First

from NC ! They look similar to 2 separate plants I am growing. I have 2 plants from 2 differant seed suppliers. I planted them next to one another as well. I found the Antillais Caribbean on thechileman.org to be the closest pod. I was hoping it was a goat pepper which has a simaliar pod. One has a fruity taste and loses heat when cooked.They were to be 2 differant plants Aj iDulce Yellow and a Jamacian Red Mushroom... Good Luck ! Danny

cannedSunlight · Jul 7, 2012

Thanks for the quick responses!

It does have a fruity taste and loses heat when cooked. I didn't know that the red Scotch Bonnets varied so much in shape so that kind of explains the odd shapes I'm getting.

Cheers again for your help everybody :cheers:

3/5King · Jul 7, 2012

Could be a Caribbean Red Habanero if not a bonnet....I'm still green when it comes to pepper identification. It does look true to form though. I found Scotch bonnets to have a pumpkin like top to them (the way the pepper comes into the stem.) But there body is stretched. I have a picture of some green scotch bonnets (just bonnets that are not ripe yet) I had last year. For reference. As well as the first yellow scotch bonnet of the season. I've also found that pods at the beginning of the year could look nothing like the pepper they are supposed to be but start coming true later in the year.

Burning Colon · Jul 7, 2012

the red bonnets i buy here look just like yours. the grocer said they come from the caribbean. they are not as hot as a good orange habanero(as there are some crappy ones out there) but they do have kind of a sweetened flavour to them. i rather enjoy them and not just because they are the only store that carries them! i use both the pod in cooking and make a powder with them.

cheers,

cannedSunlight · Jul 8, 2012

Thanks again for the replies

It appears that many chillies look similar, but are slightly different, so it makes difficult to identify them! The pictures given here are a great help. My longer and thinner chillies get to max 4cm long, but the more squarer pumpkin shaped ones get to a max of 3x3x3cm. What a variety of shapes from one packet of seeds! Maybe they've been crossed along the way... Well, whatever, I'm enjoying growing them and eating them, and learning about them on this forum

Cheers, Paul

bigbodybussey · Jul 8, 2012

for comparison, these are my Caribbean Red Habs ----

Like 3/5 said, on several occasions I have had early season pods look nothing like mid to late season pods...and I have had Thai peppers decide to turn red at the beginning of the season when ripe and then go yellow when ripe later in the growing season...

fireface · Jul 8, 2012

I just harvested these scotch bonnets

cannedSunlight · Jul 9, 2012

Thanks for the photo fireface. Mine are pretty similar to yours so I'm guessing that I'm growing Scotch Bonnets. The Habs tend to look a little more pointy at the end whereas the majority of mine are rounded. I've got plenty more starting to turn red soon but I must get more different varieties for next year! Great stuff guys - thank you all!