Sorry, but I don't see the question tab on the site. I had two pots on my deck with two ghost pepper plants in each. In each pot, I got peppers to grow. However, in both pots, I had one plant growing the typical bell-shaped super hot ghost peppers, and in the plant next to it, not hot at all (like no heat) peppers that looked much longer, sort of like the shape of a small banana pepper. I grew these plants from seed and babied them all spring and transplanted them myself. Could someone help me understand why the two plants produced odd, not-hot peppers? All I could think of is either I got bad seeds or maybe I did something wrong by pollinating them using my finger tip.
-
✅ Expert and friendly hot pepper grow advice.
✅ The latest information on hot pepper varieties.
✅ Reliable seed trading.
✅ Hot sauce recipes and food safety guidance.
✅ Hot sauce business tips for startups.
🌶️ And more!
It's all here, at The Hot Pepper! The Internet's original hot pepper community! Est. 2004.
issue Ghost Pepper hot and not-hot side by side in a pot
- Thread starter ejmckenna1
- Start date
Solution
This is the normal hot one (I guess I probably don't need to show it) for the sake of reference.
This is the dud:
This is the dud:
I'm just confused because the outer surface of the dud (not hot) peppers was blistery like you'd expect from a ghost pepper, but it had zero heat. I'd say less heat than a bell pepper if that is even possible. I thought maybe some of the more experienced growers might find it interesting. I was pretty obsessed with these plants since the day I got the seeds to germinate under the coffee machine in the office 
I cared more about these plants than the rest of my entire vegetable garden.
I cared more about these plants than the rest of my entire vegetable garden.
Have to agree with DR on this one. There are many variants of this pepper:
The word “bhut” means “ghost”, given from the Bhutias people, - Note: “Naga” mean “Cobra Snake” in Sanskrit.
Bhut Jolokia - Naga Morich - Naga Jolokia - U-Morok - Bih Jolokia - Nagahari - Raja Mircha - Borbih jolokiai - Ghost Chili
What did you receive?
Why not ask the owner?
If you are interested in receiving our e-newsletter or if you have any other inquiries, please use the form below:
If you are interested in receiving our e-newsletter or if you have any other inquiries, please use the form below:
NamePhone (Optional)
Message
Try to enjoy them this year, see how they ripen and to what color, and next season buy seeds from reputable vendors or members.
Yeah, the duds ripened to red, but never acquired any heat. Same plants side by side in the pot. Actually, I should check the flowers. I still have flowers. I never looked at the color inside the flower or the pollen. Anyway, next year I'll buy from a better vendor. And fwiw, I got plenty of hot peppers from the good plants. Overall, it was awesome growing them. Next step is hot sauce
Last edited:
Commercial ghost seed has been throwing some unusual plants for the past few years at least as a small number of plants in the population.
I started a line I call Casper (get it?) from just such a plant. I actually took the fruit to the nursery to discuss this with the owner and I learned more about this. I am unsure of the grower but it is not an isolated incident and another nursery owner commented about a similar issue this season as well.
At least one major supplier of Bhut Jolokia seed in the commercial USA is selling seed that is not of a high purity, the plants are likewise relatively unimpressive even when they are true to type. This is interesting as that Bhut Jolokia has not been a standard offering for most nurseries in this state (Utah) until the last 2-3 years, this year even big franchise hardware stores around here carried them this year, however they were poorly grown and the genetics are unimpressive.
Plants I grew from seeds I obtained through well reviewed vendors mentioned at The Hot Pepper have been vastly superior to the nursery stock.
I started a line I call Casper (get it?) from just such a plant. I actually took the fruit to the nursery to discuss this with the owner and I learned more about this. I am unsure of the grower but it is not an isolated incident and another nursery owner commented about a similar issue this season as well.
At least one major supplier of Bhut Jolokia seed in the commercial USA is selling seed that is not of a high purity, the plants are likewise relatively unimpressive even when they are true to type. This is interesting as that Bhut Jolokia has not been a standard offering for most nurseries in this state (Utah) until the last 2-3 years, this year even big franchise hardware stores around here carried them this year, however they were poorly grown and the genetics are unimpressive.
Plants I grew from seeds I obtained through well reviewed vendors mentioned at The Hot Pepper have been vastly superior to the nursery stock.