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chinense Scorpions do not look like scorpions....?

branj70

branj70

I'm a new user & fairly new grower but avid hot pepper enthusiast. This spring i decided to grow some really hot peppers for myself, so i bought two small plants from a local but reputable nursery. I bought 2 Trinidad Scorpion plants and put them in my garden. After roughly 3 months i get a crazy abundance of beautiful peppers that are actually ridiculously hot, & I'm no newbie when it comes to eating fiery foods, lol. I am however unsure if they are actually Trinidad Scorpions though as they really don't resemble the ones i see online. I'm confused because the little information stick that came with them clearly stated Trinidad Scorpion Peppers.

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They look a bit similar to Habaneros but their heat level is actually FAR BEYOND any Habanero, and are quite painful.:lol:. They all have a little nub on their bottoms, and are smooth skinned. What could i have here?
 
i am going to say they are more than likely a hab of some sorts! maybe a hybrid. but from my experience of looking at thousands of scorpions and those looking nothing like it.

Eric
 
Thats what I figured because they have smooth skin and don't have that mushroomed out tail. SO they could be Carribean Reds? Whats their heat range, typically? Like compared to regular Habaneros. I thought it tasted and looked similar to a Red Savina as well?
 
Definitely not Trinidad Scorpions. :( They look like some type of non-superhot red chinense. The nomenclature with non-superhot red chinenses is all screwed up and highly debated and several different pod shapes are often sold as one variety, so I hate to take a guess, but Caribbean Red is a likely suspect as usual.

That's a bummer, but it still looks like a nice chile. If it's hot and prolific you might as well save the seeds. Unfortunately, nurseries seem to be very unreliable when it comes to superhots, and even peppers in general. Most of them don't start their own plants so who knows where they're getting the plants and who knows if their source has any idea what's what (and generally they have no clue outside of the standard supermarket varieties). I bought two "Super Chile" plants at a nursery this year, both grew a plant that looked like a compact Serrano minus the hairy leaves, I'm still not sure what the hell they are and they aren't very good producers. I bought another plant labeled as a bhut jolokia that I'm 90% is a Caribbean Red. The tobasco and poblano I got there are growing true, but 2/5 is pretty shitty. Next year I'm starting 100% of my seeds myself and not wasting my time with any nursery plants (not that buying 5 plants is a big investment vs. a couple hundred I started myself, but still).
 
Avon Barksdale said:
Definitely not Trinidad Scorpions. :( They look like some type of non-superhot red chinense. The nomenclature with non-superhot red chinenses is all screwed up and highly debated and several different pod shapes are often sold as one variety, so I hate to take a guess, but Caribbean Red is a likely suspect as usual.

That's a bummer, but it still looks like a nice chile. If it's hot and prolific you might as well save the seeds. Unfortunately, nurseries seem to be very unreliable when it comes to superhots, and even peppers in general. Most of them don't start their own plants so who knows where they're getting the plants and who knows if their source has any idea what's what (and generally they have no clue outside of the standard supermarket varieties). I bought two "Super Chile" plants at a nursery this year, both grew a plant that looked like a compact Serrano minus the hairy leaves, I'm still not sure what the hell they are and they aren't very good producers. I bought another plant labeled as a bhut jolokia that I'm 90% is a Caribbean Red. The tobasco and poblano I got there are growing true, but 2/5 is pretty shitty. Next year I'm starting 100% of my seeds myself and not wasting my time with any nursery plants (not that buying 5 plants is a big investment vs. a couple hundred I started myself, but still).
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I've seen this play out as chili surprise many times 2/5 sounds about right!!
It's defiantly a hab, sucks not knowing exactly which one it is "mystery seeds"!!
 
SuperHot said:
I've seen this play out as chili surprise many times 2/5 sounds about right!!
It's defiantly a hab, sucks not knowing exactly which one it is "mystery seeds"!!
Click to expand...

Yeah, it sucks. I didn't care about the fake bhut, because I thought it was fake when I bought it, just want to see what would happen, and I got a Caribbean red that produced like a mofo out of it. What really pissed me off were the super chilis. I was expecting two massive producers of hot pods to use for powder and instead I got some weird plant that stops growing at 1 foot tall and produces maybe 2-3 small pods a week with minimal heat. I have a feeling some shady dummies didn't know it is a hybrid or don't know how hybrids work and tried to save seeds. I wish I knew who Super Chili's parents are.

I took pods in and showed the people at the nursery, they seemed concerned and were helpful, I gave them my number so the head guy could call me. I did get a missed call from the nursery, but no voice message and they never called a second time, so I guess they're not all that concerned. I left a couple pods with them at least so they could see the difference, whether they do anything about it who knows. I'll probably check back next year to see if they're still selling the same fake bhut jolokias, I'm guessing they will be...
 
They are really nice and hot for Habaneros so i will use the seeds for next year. Where can i get legit seeds for Superhots and Bhuts and such to also start in spring?
 
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