• Please post pictures and as much information as possible.

Bhut Jolokia?

Monsterhook87

Monsterhook87

In 2012, I purchased some "Ghost Peppers" at my local supermarket.  They appeared to be true bhut jolokia (I can't find the pictures), and I seeded them and planted the seeds that year.  The resulting plant was massive and incredibly prolific.  Plant was 8'x8' at least and over 7' tall.  It easily produced well over 5lbs of peppers, probably closer to 10lbs (most harvests contained 200-300 peppers).  The peppers, however, appeared to be smaller and smoother.  I'm not too familiar with Naga types, but if I had to guess, these really appear more like Morich's or something similar.  Anyone have any ideas as to what I had?  My assumption was that it was cross-pollinated, and the massive plant that grew was a result of possible hybrid vigor.
Bhut1.png

One of the larger pods produced. Pods were generally 3 inches long, 1 inch wide, and the most strongly aromatic pepper I've ever smelled (very floral and fruity).
Bhut2.png

A small harvest of my "bhut's."
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Ive also have purchased "Bhut Jolokia" from my local grocery store as they were labled Bhuts but after being on the forum a little while ive found that they as yours are Naga Jolokia Not Bhut jolokia as for the shortness of them real Bhuts are about twice as long if not longer?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hard to say given that Bhut's are known for being a pain in the butt to pollinate with themselves given that they have fructecsen in their genetics.
Cool looking pods though.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Your description of the vigour and huge harvest (as well as the pics) best fits a Naga Morich.  They are incredible productive and at times very difficult to tell apart from a bhut - it all depends on where it was grown.  But Naga Morich is the best fit.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Interesting.  The pods I bought were packaged by Melissa's Produce.  I went over to their site just now, and they have changed the product name from "Ghost Peppers" to "Bhut Jolokia Chiles."  The picture associated with that product seems to have similar pods to what I ended up growing.  The really unfortunate part of all of this is that I can't seem to find the seeds I collected.  I had a nice baggy filled with them, but seem to have lost them when I moved recently.  Would have been interesting to grow again and see if it was something stable or not.  
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah, I'd agree with the Naga Jolokia (or variant) comments.  They are slightly smaller, less crinkly, and more prolific.  Many commercial operations sell Naga Jolokia as "Ghost Peppers" because they are similar and much better producers.  That's probably why it shows up more often in the grocery stores.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
RobStar said:
Your description of the vigour and huge harvest (as well as the pics) best fits a Naga Morich.  They are incredible productive and at times very difficult to tell apart from a bhut - it all depends on where it was grown.  But Naga Morich is the best fit.
Click to expand...
 
I disagree. His pods look too smooth and red to be naga moriches. The shape is also off.
 
Naga moriches and bhut jolokias look very different.
 
 
Naga morichs from my garden;
7786225990_aa23075476.jpg

 
Bhut jolokias from my garden:
7919363262_0906df92a3.jpg
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
hottoddy said:
Yeah, I'd agree with the Naga Jolokia (or variant) comments.  They are slightly smaller, less crinkly, and more prolific.  Many commercial operations sell Naga Jolokia as "Ghost Peppers" because they are similar and much better producers.  That's probably why it shows up more often in the grocery stores.
Click to expand...
What is a naga jolokia? Hybrid?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
7potquezada said:
What is a naga jolokia? Hybrid?
Click to expand...
 
That's a good question. I bought some fresh "naga jolokias" in a grocery store that looked exactly like naga morichs. I didn't save seeds since I had naga morich seeds from Judy. I kind of wish I did. They taste the same as naga morichs though.
 
Here is a pic I found of what I bought:
NagaJolokia.jpg
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
7potquezada said:
Wow that's real interesting. Do you think the commercialization of super hots would affect the chili head community?
Click to expand...
 
I think it already has. People will get confused by the names. Commercial growers are going to misname things. Lots are selling habaneros as ghost peppers. However, when someone sells something from the naga landrace like the box I bought, then it will get more people interested in superhots. Those peppers were great naga morichs. The naming was off, but not too far off. The cashier told me that she loved them, lol. She was Spanish, so she is used to heat.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jolokia is the Assam word for chile/hot/pepper.  So Naga Jolokia is literally chili/hot pepper from Naga(land).  A Naga Morich is? What? Naga Snake. 
 
Anyhoooooooo.  I have seen Naga Morich that were completely smooth.  I have seen 7 Pots that were mega bumpy and some that were smooth some that were wrinkly.  I don't think the skin texture or even the shape sometimes is much to go on.  If they were grown under cool conditions they tend to be smoother and less wrinkled.
 
As a well-respected botanist once told me: "Common things occur most commonly". 
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
RobStar said:
Jolokia is the Assam word for chile/hot/pepper.  So Naga Jolokia is literally chili/hot pepper from Naga(land).  A Naga Morich is? What? Naga Snake. 
 
Anyhoooooooo.  I have seen Naga Morich that were completely smooth.  I have seen 7 Pots that were mega bumpy and some that were smooth some that were wrinkly.  I don't think the skin texture or even the shape sometimes is much to go on.  If they were grown under cool conditions they tend to be smoother and less wrinkled.
 
As a well-respected botanist once told me: "Common things occur most commonly". 
Click to expand...
 
What about color? Naga moriches are a reddish-orange color. I've never grown a smooth naga morich or one that deviated from its pod shape. I disagree about not going on skin texture or shape. It's quite much to go on when it's desired such as in the case of Scotch bonnets, which are named after their shape.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
 
That's a good question. I bought some fresh "naga jolokias" in a grocery store that looked exactly like naga morichs. I didn't save seeds since I had naga morich seeds from Judy. I kind of wish I did. They taste the same as naga morichs though.
 
Here is a pic I found of what I bought:
NagaJolokia.jpg



I am curious as to what the market price was for that container!?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
theliveculture said:
I am curious as to what the market price was for that container!?
Click to expand...
 
I forgot theliveculture. Sorry, it was about 2 years ago. I was just excited to find them at Farm Fresh, lol. I don't shop their often, but I'll see if they got them again. They were probably testing the market for them. They were imported from Holland, which I think is odd. Those naga morichs are very true to type.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top