• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

Purple Thunder / Bhut Jolokia x (PdN x Bonda Ma Jacques)

I have decided to start a dedicated Grow Log for
the Purple Thunder Bhut Jolokia hybrid.

It made its first appearance in 2015:
"This coloration might be the result of the intense
light on these red Bhuts, but only 2/6 show the trait.
If it is a cross,the only purple-y plant near the bhut
was Trippa's Mystery Cross. All of these seeds from
the same pod:"
_DSC2559.jpg
 
Last edited:
Click to expand...
Mr.joe said:
I had the same issues here, I only produced a few pods all season from my purple thunders, once out started cooling off they began to load up, but I'm afraid they froze last night.
I'll probably still try again next season.
Click to expand...
Yeah, hold that thought!
 
 
 
 
duckling.jpg
 
Happy Holidays to all.  I am working on my F6 grow right now.  As some of you know, I live in Panama.  I will be growing Purple Thunder year round here.  My goal is to try and produce better, more stabilized specimens.  I did try and send Purple Thunder seed to the US but was thwarted by USDA.  They intercepted all the mail with the exception of the seed I sent to Paul.  That was lucky.  At any rate, I still have 6 F5 Purple Thunder plants.  They are still producing prolifically.  I planted only one variant for the F6 grow which was a Pjh3 lava or caramel yellow.  There are 11 specimens.  Six are planted in 10 gallon pots and 5 are planted in the ground.  The potted plants are bearing now.  There is still variability in the color of the plants.  Variability in the vigor of the plants.  Variability of the color of the green pods.  I do not know yet what color they will ripen.  Seeds came from 2 pods from an F5 plant.  This plant is an ornamental chili so I am still deciding which direction to go with this project.  Should I go with the plants that are the most purple and ornamental in appearance?  Or, should I go with the plants that show the most vigor?  I have one plant in particular that is more vigorous than the others and will be the largest most branchy plant.  However, the leaves only have a slight purple hue with purple in color branches.  Its a beautiful plant but not real purplish in color.  There are a couple of other plants that are smaller but are much more purple in color.  People like the purple color.  The problem is that the plants that are real purple have less vigor.  This has proven true for me from the beginning.  I have plain green Purple Thunder specimens as well and they are just freaking monster's with plain green unripe pods that ripen red.  They also are hotter and juicier.  But, the purple color seems to be the allure of this new variety so I am thinking of sticking with that theme.  Oh, I forgot to mention, the first pods to ripen are usually the biggest.  Some of these green pods are a third bigger than normal.  I would love to find a plant that produced these huge pods consistently and save seeds from that.  Its much easier to process larger pods than the small ones.
 
TKC4Gok.jpg

 
mrb5hv6.jpg

 
mrb5hv6.jpg

 
bq9YsVo.jpg

 
Rnl5s3m.jpg

 
DsjxFO2.jpg

 
4K7EqVd.jpg
 
Wow, those are going to be awesome pods, Glen!
 
You are doing a great job with the Purple Thunder,
alright! I haven’t decided which to grow out, yet. I
favor the yellow/red or caramel so far, I think. I am
going to try to grow 3 or 4 in small containers.
 
The pods on the young plants are giant.  Thanx for kind words but the real compliment goes to you for starting this new variety.  I googled Purple Thunder chili's today.  There are others who have tried to mix super hot peppers with Pimenta De Neyde and have not come up with anything like this chili pepper.  The shape gets out of wack.  Plants are purple but the pods are not attractive.  The shape of your pepper is attractive and useable.  All variants have useable shapes and similar taste and flavor.  The green version actually has the spiciest and juiciest peppers.  I hope I sent you some of that seed.  But they are all delicious and easy to work with on the cutting board.  I don't really know where you want to take Purple Thunder from a breeding perspective.  Do you want the plants and pods to be real purple in color?  It varies.   Some are purple but most are darker, almost black shades.  The variant I am growing now seems to be more purple shaded but mostly green leaves with dark colored stems.  A few plants have darker leaf.  One plant in particular has pods that are real purple in color.  So, what I am saying is that you can take this where you want to take it but you need to plant as many seedlings as possible so you can select the traits you want.  Its a lot of work.  But, maybe worth it?
Growing a lot of Purple Thunder plants means growing less of your other favorites.
 
@Glen - Great rundown, Glen! Your work on
this pepper is much appreciated. How are
folks down there that you have given seeds
to faring with it?
 
rickvm said:
A few pics of one of the yellows still producing after being moved into garden shed. This is an awesome plant and pepper. Going to make this a staple.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Great looking pods, Rick. I am glad it has
been successful for you. I hope you keep
on getting those yellow/caramel pods!
 
Paul, no one has given me any reports on their experience with Purple Thunder.  If I hear any I will let you know though.
 
Oh, my f6 grow is now starting to show ripening pods.  I planted 11 plants.  All the seed came for this grow came from a Purple Thunder 3 specimen with Lava Yellow color.  The pods are ripening either Lava Red or Lava Yellow.  So I do not have stable color yet.  Pods are huge.
 
It might be cool to grow out both red and yellow
varieties to see what happens in a couple of
generations. Maybe both will stabilize, sort of
like I'm hoping with the Trippaul threat v2 F3
grow next season.
 
Eleven plants! You are going to have a ton of pods.
Better go into business!
 
Call out for anyone wanting to participate in the
Purple Thunder 2021 grow. I have some seeds
from the F3 I grew this year, and some of the
Purple Thunder Panama GH F6 strain that Glen
has been working on in Panama. Anyone interested,
PM me an addy and I will send a few of each your way.
 
That being said,
 
:party: :cheers: HAPPY NEW YEAR :cheers:   :party:
 
See you all in 2021!
 
I'm cutting back on my Chinese variety next year, but I will try or again. I still have plenty of seed. Happy new year paul
 
Mr.joe said:
I'm cutting back on my Chinese variety next year, but I will try or again. I still have plenty of seed. Happy new year paul
Click to expand...
Thanks, my friend!
 
 
I can relate. I am thinking of only growing 4-6 non-test chinense
varieties and growing the Purple thunder and Trippaul Threat in
small pots. I have grown a pretty decent plant in a #2 (1.5 gallon)
nursery pot before. Thinking of trying to find some #3 (2.25 gallons)
nursery pots, or a few more #2's.
 
Good luck in 2021!
:cheers:
Better times ahead!
 
Hello everyone and Happy Holidays!!
 
F6 plants are now ripening.  All but one plant is ripening Lava Yellow.  There is a total of eleven plants.  One plant is different and is ripening Lava Red.  All seed came from 2 pods from a Lava Yellow parent.
 
The first pods are giant.  Two of the big pods cover the entire palm of my hand.  The pods are exceptionally beautiful.
 
The Lava Red podded plant is the most prolific and I mean that plant is just covered over in pods-two or three at each node and the branches are full all the way up.  The Lava Red plant was the earliest plant and the most productive so far.  The others are just late.  They will all have big harvest.
 
I must select pods for seed saving.  There are 2 plants in particular that have the best looking pods and the plants are exceptional in appearance with the classic purple branches and leaf color.  Thats probably where I will get my seed.
 
Tomorrow I pick pods and save seed.
 
F5 plants are loaded with pods now but since the plants are older they are smaller.  I have picked these f5 plants many many times and they just won't stop producing.  
 
This is just a few suggestions for growing your Purple Thunder.  Mix compost with your soil at the rate of about a third compost and
Two thirds yard dirt in a large pot.  I like to use a minimum of 6 gallon pot but a 10 gallon pot is even better.  Plants like drainage so make sure you have this.  Purple Thunder is a large chili plant so it needs space in the pot.  Big pots equals huge peppers and lots of em.  Big chili's are easier to process in the kitchen.  If you live in a real hot sunny place give your plants partial shade.  You can stake the plants up in the pot.  I like to use pieces of rebar to stake the plants up.   Feed the plants something like miracle grow once per week.  
 
If you do this you should have all the peppers you need from just 2 or 3 plants.  I have probably 20 plants in the yard and I can't eat them.  They mostly either rot on the plants or I try to give them away.  
 
Oh, in my experience the plain green Purple Thunder plants produce the most and they are plain red.  The Lava Red's produce a lot also.  Lava Yellow is in third place.  But, they all produce tons of peppers.  All the variants taste basically the same.  I like the bigger peppers though for ease of processing into recipes.
 
I hope folks continue to grow Purple Thunder.  Its a good chili pepper.  
 
Thanks for the great update, Glen!
 
I’ll be growing PT again this year. I got 3 different colored pods from F3 seeds. Two of the plants had green foliage, one plant grew Lava Red the other grew Hemi Orange. The third plant had purple foliage and purple stalk and produced yellowish pods with some purple streaking.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
PtMD989 said:
I’ll be growing PT again this year. I got 3 different colored pods from F3 seeds. Two of the plants had green foliage, one plant grew Lava Red the other grew Hemi Orange. The third plant had purple foliage and purple stalk and produced yellowish pods with some purple streaking.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Alright, Bryan! Interesting results!
 
Which ones are you going to grow?
Awesome you are continuing this season!
 
Well I see I am gonna have to go back & read up on this one & also check up on the trippapaul & wilds interesting glogs going on good reading during the winter best of luck to everyone in there grows this season
 
PtMD989 said:
I’m gonna shoot for all 3[emoji106][emoji16].


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
That's what I like to hear!
 
Excited to see your results with the F4. Really glad someone is carrying on with it.
Will be interesting to compare your results
going forward with the Purple Thunder Panama GH -
Glen's 'accession' from the seeds I sent him.
 
Plantguy76 said:
Well I see I am gonna have to go back & read up on this one & also check up on the trippapaul & wilds interesting glogs going on good reading during the winter best of luck to everyone in there grows this season
Click to expand...
Hey, welcome to the party, Jason!
Thanks, friend!
 
Yes, please do check them out, and
feel free to share your own ideas, etc. 
If you are ever interested in growing out 
some and posting in this thread, just let
me know.
 
I'm sure you have already seen some of
the awesome grow logs on the forum
already. Just like the 'old days'   :rofl:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top