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chinense Tried first super hot: Carolina Reaper

R

rjacobs

Decided last spring on a whim to grow some Carolina Reapers.  Never grew hot peppers, dont know anything much about growing anything.
 
Got 1 pod off 4 plants this year and it was a tiny little pod.  I understand they tend to do this first year and second will be a lot bigger.  I've got lots of flowers, just no pod production.  I have heard also that first year pods may or may not be hot.  This one had no seeds.
 
So anyway, took the pod to my buddies tonight and we decided to cut it up and try small pieces.
 
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My buddy put a piece in his mouth and lasted about two chews before he spit it out, drooling uncontrollably, sweating, nose running, etc...  He didnt handle it well at all.  Had his head in the freezer.
 
I tolerated it pretty well.  I chewed it for a bit, not 30 seconds, but it was a tiny piece.  I got mainly a mouth burn.  It felt like it was going to go down the throat, but nothing ever came of that.  Good mouth burn for 7-8 minutes then it died down.  I ended up drinking some milk at about the 10 minute mark, but I didnt really even need to do that.  Didnt get the drooling, sweating or nose running.  I could feel the pepper piece hit my stomach though which was a weird feeling.  After seeing my buddies reaction, I was a bit dissapointed, but I am a little more heat tolerant than he is.
 
All in all for my first super hot experience, it was enjoyable.  I cant wait till I get some bigger pods next year and a few more varieties growing.
 
Hmmm. That pod looks pretty smooth for a reaper. Also, reapers are known for their "hot coal in the back of the throat" burn. Yours looks and sounds more like a red habanero to me. True, the first pods off a plant can be a bit wonky, and maybe that's all it is, but...
 
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These are the runty first pods from a first year reaper plant. Note the bumpy texture and the long tails. They inflicted a fairly intense back of the throat burn before they set my mouth on fire. Did you get your seeds from a reliable source? (hopefully not Ebay or Amazon) If you need a good source for seeds, the ones in the above photo were grown from Pepperlover seeds, which you can find here http://pepperlover.com/pepper-seeds/heal-leve/world-hottest/reaper-detail
 
Thanks for sharing that experience. Don't get discouraged with getting only the one pod. The pheno does looks off. First, second year, etc... shouldn't matter. You should get a boat load of pods first year assuming it has time and everything it needs to grow.  I would try some different seed stock, and start earlier for next season. Reapers take a while to produce and mature. 
 
Seeds came direct from Ed Currie at Puckerbutt so I hope they are legit.  The plants look like all the other reaper plants I have seen pictures of.
 
My room mate in St. Louis started these seeds for me in probably May in a hydroponics seed starter setup.  They got transplanted in small little 4" pots.  I ended up moving to Dallas in July and didnt take any of the plants with me until I fully moved down here in late August.  I transplanted into larger pots(12") almost as soon as I got down here and got really good growth.  They were root bound for sure in the small pots and I believe probably over watered while in St. Louis.  I need to put them into larger pots right now, but I know I will have to bring them indoors in the next few weeks for the brief winter we get down here so I have held off because im ok with them being slightly small while in the house.
 
I havent killed them and they havent gotten any disease so thats a good thing for me at least!
 
As to the heat level, I ate such a small piece.  I know if I had eaten a larger piece I would have had a completely different experience.  Not enough oil's and what not to do a whole lot in the small piece I ate.  I have eaten Hab's quite a bit and this was definitely hotter than any Hab I have ever had.
 
They could be an off pheno of the reaper or maybe a natural mutation of the reaper. Either way it sounds like you enjoyed the fruit.
 
Hey Robert, if you like tacos you should join us folks for tacos and peppers. Trying to do it once a month now that most of us have pods. Got burned up pretty good last weekend. Also tried some pretty good non face melting pods. Arlington seems the middle ground for gathering.
 
Chewi said:
Hey Robert, if you like tacos you should join us folks for tacos and peppers. Trying to do it once a month now that most of us have pods. Got burned up pretty good last weekend. Also tried some pretty good non face melting pods. Arlington seems the middle ground for gathering.
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definitely.
 
Send me a PM with information or if there is a better way let me know.
 
rjacobs said:
Decided last spring on a whim to grow some Carolina Reapers.  Never grew hot peppers, dont know anything much about growing anything.
 
Got 1 pod off 4 plants this year and it was a tiny little pod.  I understand they tend to do this first year and second will be a lot bigger.  I've got lots of flowers, just no pod production.  I have heard also that first year pods may or may not be hot.  This one had no seeds.
 
So anyway, took the pod to my buddies tonight and we decided to cut it up and try small pieces.
 
1027152009.jpg

 
1103152057.jpg

 
 
My buddy put a piece in his mouth and lasted about two chews before he spit it out, drooling uncontrollably, sweating, nose running, etc...  He didnt handle it well at all.  Had his head in the freezer.
 
I tolerated it pretty well.  I chewed it for a bit, not 30 seconds, but it was a tiny piece.  I got mainly a mouth burn.  It felt like it was going to go down the throat, but nothing ever came of that.  Good mouth burn for 7-8 minutes then it died down.  I ended up drinking some milk at about the 10 minute mark, but I didnt really even need to do that.  Didnt get the drooling, sweating or nose running.  I could feel the pepper piece hit my stomach though which was a weird feeling.  After seeing my buddies reaction, I was a bit dissapointed, but I am a little more heat tolerant than he is.
 
All in all for my first super hot experience, it was enjoyable.  I cant wait till I get some bigger pods next year and a few more varieties growing.
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hey my friend , if you would like a few seeds from these guys , p.m. me your addy and i'll hook you up .      :onfire:
 
moruga welder said:
hey my friend , if you would like a few seeds from these guys , p.m. me your addy and i'll hook you up .      :onfire:
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the offer.  I think I am set with these and I am going to let them grow completely out next year in a real garden and not in pots and see what I get before I trash these and start over.  I still have 10 more seeds from Ed Currie if I decide to grow more.  Out of the 10 we tried to germinate, we got 9.  I bought all my seeds for next year from superhotchilis.com which is supposed to be reputable.
 
My first reaper pods this year looked nothing like a Reaper.  The latter pods were absolute beasts though.  Just wait for the first flush of pods to go through their weird looking stage, and they will put out some nasty looking blistered pods with tails.  My seeds were also originally sourced from PB.
 
Please excuse the sideway pics, the first one is from April 1st.  The second is from July 25th, exact same plant.  They turned from WTF I got burned on these seeds, to WTF these pods are burning me in 3 months.
 

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Rcjacobs > Don't fret, a lot of plants when they first pod up can throw out under developed warped little pods. I had many plants grow these baby pods that looked crap, before growing full size great pods. Chances are there exactly what there supposed to be.
 
Had my first super hot last weekend...it was a Bhut. Small piece for my wife and I.
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Guess I can cross that off the bucket list.
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What does a blowtorch in my mouth feel like?
 
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