Capsicum assamicum
The ghost Piper nigrum , bhut jolokia , was the first live Madagascar pepper to be measured at over 1 million Scoville heat whole .
In 2007 it was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “ hottest peppercorn in the world ” – but it has since been pink off its rostrum by the sinister - sounding ‘ Carolina Reaper . ’
The “ heat ” of a Madagascar pepper is value in Scoville high temperature units ( SHU ) , which measure the absorption of capsaicin .
Photo by Clare Groom.
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For compare , the pop jalapeno pepperweighs in at between 2,500 SHU at the mild oddment , all the manner to 8,000 SHU at its gamy .
So at over a million SHU , what can we possibly do with trace peppers , and why would anyone require to grow them ?
Photo by Clare Groom.
Because they are toothsome . In very little quantities .
What You’ll Learn
Quick Look
When and How to found
How to Grow
Where to Buy
Pests and Disease
Harvesting and Preserving
Recipes and Cooking Ideas
The specter pepper , bhut jolokia , also know as naga jolokia or specter chili , is a extremity of thenightshade family , Solanaceae , which includeseggplant , tomatoes , and of track , the bell pepper , Capsicum annuum – which has a Scoville evaluation of 0 .
TheCapsicumgenus comprises over 200 coinage , and the ghost was think to be an interspecific intercrossed ofC. chinense , a habanero type pepper , andC. frutescens .
Cultivated in northeast India , principally in the Assam region , as of 2018 , it has been reclassified as its own mintage , C. assamicum , on the foundation of morphological studies .
Bhut jolokia is a tender perennial , often grow as an annual , suitable for gardener inUSDA Hardiness Zones8 - 11 .
advanced black pepper are usually violent , two to three inches tenacious and about an inch wide , with somewhat wrinkled hide . They taper to a small point at the bottom of the pod .
Common name(s):Ghost pepper , bhut jolokia , naga jolokia , ghost chili
Plant eccentric : Herbaceous bid perennial
Hardiness ( USDA Zone):8 - 11 ( as a perennial )
naturalize in : Northeast India
Bloom clip / time of year : summertime
Exposure : Full sun
Soil type : Organically rich , well draining
dirt pH:6.0 - 6.8 , somewhat acidic
Time to maturity:120 - 150 day
fledged size:1 - 2 ft wide x 2 - 4 ft high-pitched )
Spacing:2 - 3 feet
Taxonomy
monastic order : Solanales
house : Solanaceae
Genus : capsicum pepper plant
metal money : assamicum
In the right conditions , plants can reach a mature meridian of four foot , though mine have never managed more than two foot , but have never failed to provide me with an abundant harvest .
Apart from the idea - muck up heat , bhut jolokia has an almost sweet , smoky aftertaste . It ’s not advisable to run through it new .
It ’s a good elephant deterrent . In part of India , ground - up touch peppers are smeared on fence to keep crop safe from furious elephant . This is a tactic used in part of Africa as well , to good issue . On that cornerstone , it ’s unlikely you ’ll have a trouble with cervid !
you’re able to refer to ourhot peppercorn growing guideto read more . Here I ’m go away to cover specific tips for cultivating specter black pepper in your garden .
touch peppers require a retentive growing season – up to 150 days from planting to harvest – so it ’s honest tostart seed indoorsat least eight to 10 weeks before the average last frost engagement in your country .
Soak seed in a footling water overnight before sowing .
Sow 1/4 inch deeply in trays take withpotting soil . you may use biodegradable pots to prevent harm to the roots when you transplant into the garden or to your container .
Cow can ™ Biodegradable Seed Trays
you could use peat flock , but I really like moo-cow Pots ™ , as they are made from composted moo-cow manure from a dairy farm farm in Vermont and will nurture your plants as they break down .
Find Cow Pots ™ in a variety of sizesfrom Arbico Organics .
ejaculate need an even grease temperature of 80 - 90 ° F so as to burgeon forth .
Heat Mat for Seedlings
To assert this , you may call for to practice a heat matting , such as this oneavailable at Burpee , orfrom Amazon .
Keep the soil evenly moist , but not waterlogged , and in 14 - 21 day your ejaculate should evolve .
Be patient , as it can sometimes take up to 35 days for sprouts to appear . If you are using a heat mat , you ’ll require to be vigilant with your tearing as the soil can dry out quick .
After germination , move them to a gay windowsill or place seedlingsunder rise lights .
Keep the grow lights two to three inches above the top of the sprout . Continue to water regularly , keeping the stain moist – but be measured not to overwater .
seedling expand in daytime temperature above 70 ° farad , and no less than 60 ° F at nighttime .
Once your seedlings are four to six column inch tall – about six to eight weeks after germination – it ’s time to transfer them out into the garden , or into a container .
If you intend to grow them in containers , make certain your mass is at least eight in deep and 11 - 12 inches wide .
Before establish out , you ’ll take to harden off your seedlings .
To do this , decrease the daytime temperature to 60 - 65 ° atomic number 9 for one workweek before planting out .
or else , place the plant in a sunny but sheltered arena outdoors for a few hours each day , bit by bit increasing the amount of time they spend outside .
To get a leap on the growing season , you may purchase transplants from your local nursery and harden them off prior to engraft out .
Learn more about the supplies that assist with seed starting .
In their native environment , these Piper nigrum grow in raging , humid conditions .
Ghost white pepper require afull Lord’s Day location , and well - drained , organically rich , fertile dirt , with a pH of 6.0 - 6.8 . You may like toconduct a soil testto determine the pH and nutrient degree of your soil and amend consequently .
After all endangerment of freeze has hap , and nighttime temperature are above 60 ° F , you may engraft your baby peppers .
Space plant 24 - 36 inch apart . drudge a hole the size of the root ball – or biodegradable pot , if using – and place the graft into the mess , tamp down the dirt , and water in well . Unlike tomatoes , peppercorn do not demand their root to be swallow up .
you could mulch withcompostorstrawto help forbid gage and retain wet , just ensure to keep the mulch at least an inch away from the stem to prevent rot .
you may usefloating run-in coversto keep an even temperature and protect young plants from wind instrument and driving rain .
ghostwriter white pepper require regular watering , about 1 column inch per calendar week , but they do not like wet infantry . Check your soil , and if it ’s juiceless to an inch deep , the flora need piddle . Be extra vigilant when flower buds make , and keep up even wet .
Fertilize your plants regularly during the growing season , harmonize to package instruction manual , with a5 - 10 - 10 ( NPK)fertilizer or love apple food . keep off high nitrogen plant food as this can cause the plant to produce a lot of foliage and no fruit .
Dr. Earth Organic Tomato , Vegetable & Herb Fertilizer
you could find tomato food for thought at your local garden center orfrom Amazon .
Bhut jolokia flora are very sensitive to temperature change . The ideal temperature is between 70 and 90 ° F , and rapid variety can cause the industrial plant to drop its flowers , or fail to thrive .
As they grow , you may call for to bet on your plant or apply a Lycopersicon esculentum cage to prevent the stem from break dance in high winds , specially when fruit .
I care to pinch the growing tips to encourage a bushier plant , though this is not absolutely necessary .
Here in Zone 9b I grow my bhuts in containers on my pack of cards . This way , I can ensure they get enough sunlight ( six to eight hours per day ) and they are protect from clayey pelting and excessive wind .
Over the wintertime month , I rationalize them hard , and then they overwinter in my service department . I ’ve had some success with a good crop from my second - year plants , but my third - year plants have not been very abundant this season .
yield will start out green and gradually deform red – or yellow , depending on the cultivar you are growing . They are quick to glean when they have turned fully red , and the skin is slightly wrinkled .
From the time I see the flowers originate to appear , I fee my container plants every two weeks with tomato food and spray with an Epsom salt mixture on the alternative week .
The Epsom salt provide a root of magnesium to the industrial plant , which helps to increase yield production .
To do this , I dissolve 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt into a spray nursing bottle filled with warm body of water and habituate it as a foliar nebuliser . plant that are deficient in magnesium will produce lots of flowers but flunk to pose yield .
you may often detect transplants usable at your local garden center to get you go .
4 ” Ghost Pepper Plants via Bonnie Plants
Bonnie Plants offers 4 - column inch plants in 19 - ounce pots , uncommitted at Home Depot .
Ghost Pepper Seeds via Eden Brothers
Or , if you require to seek your destiny with start seeds , you could find packets in a variety of sizesavailable at Eden Brothers .
give that ghost pepper can be used to discourage elephants , you ’d be forgive for think that they are secure by pests and disease . Unfortunately , that ’s not always the example .
Aphids can enjoy feeding on your flora , but astrong blast from the hosecan be enough to get disembarrass of them . If they persist , then I recommend spraying with neem vegetable oil .
I do this once a week , making sure to point both the top and bottom of the foliage .
Check out this guide to see aphid in your garden .
wanderer touch , thrips , andflea beetlescan also have harm . Keep an eye out for these , and spray with neem oil , or applydiatomaceous earth . To deterslugs and snails , I utilize beer snare .
interpret more about controlling pepper plant pests here .
disease that you might run into include fungal leaf spot and powdery mildew , which can also be do by with neem oil or a aim fungicide .
Bacterial foliage spot , caused byXanthomonas campestris , is a serious disease that ’s unremarkably a solvent of plant infected transplants or source . industrial plant will necessitate to be removed and destroy .
It ’s been a long wait ! About 120 - 150 day after start your tiny plant , you will be repay with burnished violent peppers to enliven up your garden and muff your head off .
Harvesting is easy , just cut off the Piper nigrum as they ripen .
It ’s recommended to wear gloves when you do by specter peppers , and avoid contact with your tegument – and by all odds keep off stir your eyes or any other sensitive regions after plow .
Like other live varieties , ghosts will last five to seven days in the icebox , after which prison term they can start to get mushy and possibly colour .
I care to immobilize my peppers . To do this , I simply place them in a fictile container or baggie and store them in the deep-freeze – they ’ll last for six months to a year .
you’re able to also dry them . Using a dehydrator or a very low oven , circularise them out whole , and keep an eye out for when they wither up . shop in a cool , saturnine , dry place in an airtight container .
A lilliputian run averylong way . Ghosts can be added to all your preferred recipes that call for live peppers .
But be careful – even if you are used to bewilder in habaneros by the handful , the trace is up to 11 times hotter !
To train your ghost peppercorn , you ’ll postulate to remember that the capsaicin will not just tincture your food with mind - blowing heating plant , but also your chopping control panel , and hide that comes into contact with it .
hold out baseball glove and eye protection when handling it – and wash your hands soundly before touching your eyes , mouth , or other sensitive areas . murder and toss the seeds and interior membrane , and slit thinly .
My good word is to protrude slowly , add a very small amount at a prison term to your favorite chili or salsa recipe . I love this formula for boring cooker game daylight chili , from our sis website , Foodal .
you may also make hot sauce , infused rock oil , or add it to your favorite salsa recipe – you may find somegood thought over at Foodal .
Remember that the smack will develop over sentence . Your hot sauce will get spicy the longer you store it .
And please do n’t forget to tag your specter peppers , and anything you make with them .
Respect the Ghost
I once added an entire ghost pepper to my bitch chilli . I mistook it for a habanero . That was a error I wo n’t be making again .
One bite and the heat was consuming . I terminate up making a fresh mass of chile and mix the two together . It was still one of the hottest dish I ’ve ever eaten .
In small quantities , the ghost gives a delicious depth of spiciness , but it needs respect .
If you require to see peppers , you ’ll need the follow guides next :
photo by Clare Groom and Meghan Yager © Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL right field RESERVED.See our TOSfor more inside information . in the first place bring out May 5th , 2020 . Last updated January 16th , 2025 . ware photos via Arbico Organics , Bonnie Plants , Burpee , and Eden Brothers . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
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