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Who the heck knows the difference???

RedtailForester

RedtailForester

Why does it seem there is so much confusion on the difference (if any) between the Dorset Naga, Bhut Jolokia, Naga Morich, etc. I've heard some of the differences are just the growers, they are different varieties, and so on. So what is it people!?!?! :crazy:

This is what Wikipedia has to say on the matter:
"The chilis with the highest rating on the Scoville scale exceed one million Scoville units and include specimens of naga jolokia or bhut jolokia and its cultivars, the "Dorset naga" and the "Ghost chili," neither of which has official cultivar status. Numerical results for any specimen vary depending on its cultivation conditions and the uncertainty of the laboratory methods used to assess the capsaicinoid content."

Can someone explain this to me and STOP THE MADNESS!!! :mouthonfire:
 
Don't really think there is confusion, look how many jalapeno varieties there are. There will always be different varieties you just happen to be focusing on these peppers.
 
They are different in size and yield per plant, nagas are more prolific then bhuts but have smaller pods, bhuts grow larger pods but produce less of them per plant ,the heat and flavor is subjective, but for the most part the heat levels are the same and the flavor is same,
any variety thats true will produce the desired heat level that one would be looking for in a "ghost pepper"
 
Who knows the actual provenance of any plant these days. I would have thought the reference was for the characteristics of a type.

One thing is for sure if a certain plant (any plant type) has/had a reputation for being the hottest/biggest/healthiest then there will always be someone somewhere trying to rip you off and say that their version has that title (I'm talking large scale commercial dealers, and all plant types, tomatoes, grape etc...) I live in Holland european capital of the hybridisation of many species, green houses the size of wallmart everywhere).

In my humble experience also pods differ massively from the same plant (Biological logic).

BTW, Not trying to sound like an expert because I am not, It is just common sense.

Anyway time for coffee here.

This is my seventh post.. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... ohh that felt good !!! ummm !!!! ohhh !! almost !

Cheers,

Mark.
 
I grew a Bhut Jolokia and a Naga Morich this last growing season. The main giveaway on which was which was their color when unripe: the Bhuts started out a deeper, darker green, while the Nagas were noticeably lighter.

The Bhuts also seemed to be larger in general than the Nagas when ripe, but not by much. To complicate things, I've seen some smaller Bhuts and some larger Nagas at maturity, which make it even harder to tell the difference between the two.

One other thing I noticed is that the Bhuts often have a certain kind of shape to them if you look at a certain side... it's like there's a curved, sunken area that goes down the pepper the long way on the "flat" (or wide) side, if you know what I mean.

Honestly though, chances are I would never know the difference between a fully-ripe Bhut and Naga if they weren't labeled. When ripe, they do look extremely similar. I don't know of a sure-fire way to tell them apart, since for the most part there's enough variation in pods that features of a Bhut can come out in a Naga and vice versa. I could only guess. I tried to pick my Bhuts and Nagas completely separately to avoid mixing them up because of this.
 
from what i've read online, the naga morich is bangladeshi in origin. a cousin to the bhut jolokia. the bhut is from assam india.

that's aside from all the differences already mentioned.
 
This is starting to make more sense to me. Unfortunately, unlike Muzwell said, NO it is not just common sense. I've been on a number of different websites and forums that use the varieties interchangeably. The confusion apparently isn't on my side of the equation. That being said, special thanks to those that provided clarification.
 
RedtailForester, My reference was about plants in the broader sense.
Unless one is a Plant geneticist and examines every single plant and has an official reference, there is no way to know if the plants are true to title or if they have not cross bred somewhere along the line. Not to mention that what your version of a Naga Jolokia is might be something different somewhere else. Same goes for many plants. Is there an official reference to these plants????? Naga Jolokia is something person number one took and referenced (I hope) but what we have, is that true to type, I think it is always changing... Nutrients, light, medium, If you clip the plant to get bigger fruit. All of these factors (and more) change the strains that you are working with. Seeds from the same plant could be grown in australia and england and produce different results.... That was my point.

Regards,

Mark.

8th post !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I grew Dorset Naga, Bhut, and Bih Jolokia this year. Some of the Bhuts had much larger and bumpier pods at times than the others. At other times the pods from all 3 types were hard to tell apart in size, shape and taste. The flavor and heat were the same to my tastes.
The Dorset Naga plants had a much wider angle between the branches and the main trunk than the Bhuts making them more bushy, wider, and shorter than the bhuts. I hadn't noticed this until pointed out by Silver Surfer.
T

Welcome Muzz!!!!!!!!
 
Muzzwell said:
RedtailForester, My reference was about plants in the broader sense.
Unless one is a Plant geneticist and examines every single plant and has an official reference, there is no way to know if the plants are true to title or if they have not cross bred somewhere along the line. Not to mention that what your version of a Naga Jolokia is might be something different somewhere else. Same goes for many plants. Is there an official reference to these plants????? Naga Jolokia is something person number one took and referenced (I hope) but what we have, is that true to type, I think it is always changing... Nutrients, light, medium, If you clip the plant to get bigger fruit. All of these factors (and more) change the strains that you are working with. Seeds from the same plant could be grown in australia and england and produce different results.... That was my point.

Regards,

Mark.

8th post !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

No problem Mark. That's kind of where I was going with this post to begin with. Maybe I should have clarified that point and not used so many exclamation points ;)
 
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