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chinense Bih Jolokia

t0mato

t0mato

Does anyone here have any experience growing the bih jolokia (not the bhut)?  I'm growing this particular variety for the first time this year and already I'm pretty impressed.  After just two and a half days I already have radicles emerging from my seeds.  In years past I've waited weeks and sometimes over a month for my morich and bhut seeds to germinate like this.  The germination rate is also one hundred percent compared to about fifty for the morich and bhut.  Does this translate into faster growth rates and pod setting?  I sure hope it does and I hope that they aren't as finicky as the morich and the bhut.
 
Thank you in advance in all your help
 
   I love the BIH. I am growing a special version of it from Frontal Agritecture in India. Super hot and a very prolific variety. My seeds germinated in about 4 days and already it has outgrown plants that germinated weeks earlier. The strain I am growing is a select strain that starts out with extremely light green pods " very light lime green". Then it matures to a very deep red. I am very excited about this pepper for the 2016 season! I sowed two of them and got two healthy plants growing away. Oh and so far this plant has been 10 times less fussy than the Bhut and Naga I have growing right next to it. And the bih will not set pods earlier in the season. But it will throw more pods out than any other Bhut you have! Less flower drop and more fruit set. Just don't over fert it and keep your pH under control.
 
It depends very much on your sources... The Frontal Agritech Bih used to be very good.
Nowadays too much inferior naga/bhut genetics float around because of hybridization and bad marketing.
I'm working hard to collect vintage stock seeds and landraces but it's becoming harder. Check glogs of the wise people (eg Spicegeist or Pepper-Guru) to see how real bhuts look like.

Happy growing

Datil
 
SvtCobra said:
   I love the BIH. I am growing a special version of it from Frontal Agritecture in India. Super hot and a very prolific variety. My seeds germinated in about 4 days and already it has outgrown plants that germinated weeks earlier. The strain I am growing is a select strain that starts out with extremely light green pods " very light lime green". Then it matures to a very deep red. I am very excited about this pepper for the 2016 season! I sowed two of them and got two healthy plants growing away. Oh and so far this plant has been 10 times less fussy than the Bhut and Naga I have growing right next to it. And the bih will not set pods earlier in the season. But it will throw more pods out than any other Bhut you have! Less flower drop and more fruit set. Just don't over fert it and keep your pH under control.
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That's very good to hear.   I'm even more excited now to see what the plants give by way of fresh peppers.  What would be the ideal ph for growing naga type peppers?  I use fish emulsion as a fertilizer, and I feel like I've always had pretty good success.
 
Datil said:
It depends very much on your sources... The Frontal Agritech Bih used to be very good.
Nowadays too much inferior naga/bhut genetics float around because of hybridization and bad marketing.
I'm working hard to collect vintage stock seeds and landraces but it's becoming harder. Check glogs of the wise people (eg Spicegeist or Pepper-Guru) to see how real bhuts look like.

Happy growing

Datil
Click to expand...
 
The seeds came from pepperlover, so I think that they are pure and not nearly as inferior as the amazon.com/ebay seeds that are quote "ghost pepper seeds".  I will look into some glogs as well.  I have traded some seeds with spicegeist before.  He really knows what he is doing.  Thanks Datil.  ;)
 
Datil said:
It depends very much on your sources... The Frontal Agritech Bih used to be very good.
Nowadays too much inferior naga/bhut genetics float around because of hybridization and bad marketing.
I'm working hard to collect vintage stock seeds and landraces but it's becoming harder. Check glogs of the wise people (eg Spicegeist or Pepper-Guru) to see how real bhuts look like.
Happy growing
Datil
Click to expand...
My seeds came from Chris Phillips. I don't feel as though he deals with seeds of inferior quality. I do agree though that it's very likely when you get seeds from eBay, Amazon, etc etc. I only buy seeds from reputable growers. I never buy from random internet sites. Or I use seed stock from isolated plants that I have grown out myself.
 
t0mato said:
That's very good to hear.   I'm even more excited now to see what the plants give by way of fresh peppers.  What would be the ideal ph for growing naga type peppers?  I use fish emulsion as a fertilizer, and I feel like I've always had pretty good success.
 

 
The seeds came from pepperlover, so I think that they are pure and not nearly as inferior as the amazon.com/ebay seeds that are quote "ghost pepper seeds".  I will look into some glogs as well.  I have traded some seeds with spicegeist before.  He really knows what he is doing.  Thanks Datil.  ;)
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I keep my ph around 6.0 - 6.5. The fish emulsion usually is not the problem. It's the water you use to dilute your nutrients that is usually the issue. I just tested my fresh rain water yesterday and it registered out at 4.5 on the pH meter. That is too acidic so I ph'd it up to 6.5 and then watered my peppers. My soil was registering out at 5.0 pH and again that is too low in my book. So I raised the pH to 6.0 level tested the soil and my Naga is doing a lot better now.
 
SvtCobra said:
I keep my ph around 6.0 - 6.5. The fish emulsion usually is not the problem. It's the water you use to dilute your nutrients that is usually the issue. I just tested my fresh rain water yesterday and it registered out at 4.5 on the pH meter. That is too acidic so I ph'd it up to 6.5 and then watered my peppers. My soil was registering out at 5.0 pH and again that is too low in my book. So I raised the pH to 6.0 level tested the soil and my Naga is doing a lot better now.
Click to expand...
 
I will test the ph of the tap water I give to all my plants.  The treated water here in Oregon is extremely clean.  There is hardly any mineral content or dissolved solids (more recently due to some flooding).  The vast majority of whatever mineral content there is comes solely from the lines used to transmit and distribute the water to my house. 
 
t0mato said:
 
I will test the ph of the tap water I give to all my plants.  The treated water here in Oregon is extremely clean.  There is hardly any mineral content or dissolved solids (more recently due to some flooding).  The vast majority of whatever mineral content there is comes solely from the lines used to transmit and distribute the water to my house. 
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  That's good. Rain water is supposed to be one of the cleanest forms of water out there. But low and behold this was anything but the case. I think you will actually be surprised what you find. I used to live in Washington and my water from the Cascades was highly acidic.
 
SvtCobra said:
  That's good. Rain water is supposed to be one of the cleanest forms of water out there. But low and behold this was anything but the case. I think you will actually be surprised what you find. I used to live in Washington and my water from the Cascades was highly acidic.
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The ph measured 7.7.  I'm quite pleased with that. :party:
 
t0mato said:
 
The ph measured 7.7.  I'm quite pleased with that. :party:
Click to expand...
  That's good. But peppers prefer a ph of around 6.5 - 5.5. So now you just need to test your soil and if the soil ph is high you need to ph your water down.
 
SvtCobra said:
  That's good. But peppers prefer a ph of around 6.5 - 5.5. So now you just need to test your soil and if the soil ph is high you need to ph your water down.
Click to expand...
 
Yep!!  I like having ph neutral water though because that is one factor that I can't control.  I can always add some pine needles or some coffee grounds to my soil to make the ph slightly more acidic.  Peat moss is acidic too right?  I always add plenty of that into my soil mixture but I use it more to retain a certain amount of moisture rather than keeping the ph lower.  Oh and also, do you know if coco coir has a lower ph.  I've always wanted to try and start my seeds in little coir blocks, but I always never pull the trigger and use jiffy pellets instead.
 
  Peat moss is used to lower pH. Lime is used to raise pH. But you can control your water ph and therefor directly control soil pH. I use hydroponic ph up and ph down to adjust water pH before giving it my plants. It is a kit that includes ph up ph down and a vial to test water ph. I use jiffy pellets 100% of time. I just love them, and can't get away from them.
 
SvtCobra said:
  Peat moss is used to lower pH. Lime is used to raise pH. But you can control your water ph and therefor directly control soil pH. I use hydroponic ph up and ph down to adjust water pH before giving it my plants. It is a kit that includes ph up ph down and a vial to test water ph. I use jiffy pellets 100% of time. I just love them, and can't get away from them.
Click to expand...
I gots to have the PH down.
 
I grew those little sweet hearts last summer , red & caramel , nice little hot pepper , as for water while there seedlings , i use nursery water to mix with my feed . about as pure as it gets . once outside they do fine with rain water .       :onfire:
 
moruga welder said:
I grew those little sweet hearts last summer , red & caramel , nice little hot pepper , as for water while there seedlings , i use nursery water to mix with my feed . about as pure as it gets . once outside they do fine with rain water .       :onfire:
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Mine where struggling just a bit. So I tested my rainwater and soil and my pH was low. So I raised the pH and my 2 bih's are so much happier. They are still small so they are affected by the slightest ph or nute imbalance. So I figured like most of my super hot's they need to be babied until outdoors. And I am happy to do it anyways!
Lovepeppers said:
I gots to have the PH down.
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This last time out I actually had to use the ph up. But they both work well!
 
t0mato said:
Does anyone here have any experience growing the bih jolokia (not the bhut)?  I'm growing this particular variety for the first time this year and already I'm pretty impressed.  After just two and a half days I already have radicles emerging from my seeds.  In years past I've waited weeks and sometimes over a month for my morich and bhut seeds to germinate like this.  The germination rate is also one hundred percent compared to about fifty for the morich and bhut.  Does this translate into faster growth rates and pod setting?  I sure hope it does and I hope that they aren't as finicky as the morich and the bhut.
 
Thank you in advance in all your help
Click to expand...
I forgot to ask you this when the thread first started. What is your germination set up? I was just curious as you said that some of your bhuts and a Morich have taken weeks to germinate. I just have never had to wait longer than 14 days for any pepper to pop. And most of the time I see my bhuts of all colors pop within 6 to 7 days.
 
SvtCobra said:
I forgot to ask you this when the thread first started. What is your germination set up? I was just curious as you said that some of your bhuts and a Morich have taken weeks to germinate. I just have never had to wait longer than 14 days for any pepper to pop. And most of the time I see my bhuts of all colors pop within 6 to 7 days.
Click to expand...
 
I use a the paper towel method.  I keep the seeds on a lukewarm heating pad and keep it on during the day and then I turn it off at night to simulate a day/night cycle. I unwrap them regularly to circulate air make sure they don't get too wet so that mold does not grow.  When they sprout I quickly move them to a jiffy pellets in a jiffy greenhouse on a heating pad until the cotyledons emerge.  After they emerge nature takes care of the rest. 
 
t0mato said:
 
I use a the paper towel method.  I keep the seeds on a lukewarm heating pad and keep it on during the day and then I turn it off at night to simulate a day/night cycle. I unwrap them regularly to circulate air make sure they don't get too wet so that mold does not grow.  When they sprout I quickly move them to a jiffy pellets in a jiffy greenhouse on a heating pad until the cotyledons emerge.  After they emerge nature takes care of the rest. 
Click to expand...
You should try leaving the heating pad on 24/7 if you have not already tried it. Bhut's especially like a constant temp of 85 to germinate faster. So when you turn the heat of it actually slows the process down. Maybe that's why you have some that take more than a month to emerge. My Morich had its cotyledons spread out within 7 days of sowing the seed. My bhut's have their cotyledons spread within 6 -10 days. But that's because I provide a constant 85 degrees. My temp only fluctuates by no more than a degree or 2 for the entire germination process.
 
SvtCobra said:
You should try leaving the heating pad on 24/7 if you have not already tried it. Bhut's especially like a constant temp of 85 to germinate faster. So when you turn the heat of it actually slows the process down. Maybe that's why you have some that take more than a month to emerge. My Morich had its cotyledons spread out within 7 days of sowing the seed. My bhut's have their cotyledons spread within 6 -10 days. But that's because I provide a constant 85 degrees. My temp only fluctuates by no more than a degree or 2 for the entire germination process.
Click to expand...
 
I will try and have constant heat from now on with as little fluctuation as possible.  I will check back on them in a few days or so.  Thank you for all your help.  Bhuts are awesome aren't they?  :party:
 
t0mato said:
 
I will try and have constant heat from now on with as little fluctuation as possible.  I will check back on them in a few days or so.  Thank you for all your help.  Bhuts are awesome aren't they?  :party:
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   Bhut's are the best! I can't stop myself from buying every variety of bhut I see. I am up to 8 varieties and colors for the 2016 season. And it will probably grow bigger by the week. :dance:
 
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