My 2013 pepper growing season is officially underway! Last year wasn’t all that great primarily due to the drought. The season started great but then the rain stopped and the temperatures climbed. I still managed to harvest a decent amount of peppers but none of them really grew to their full potential and some plants only produced a handful of stunted peppers. Fingers crossed for a better 2013 growing season.
Here’s the the lineup this year:
Giant Red Bhut Jolokia x 2
Yellow Bhut Jolokia x 2
Chocolate Bhut Jolokia x 2
Caramel Bhut Jolokia x 2
Peach Bhut Jolokia x 2
Red Douglah Cross x 1
7 Pot Brain Strain x 1
Carolina Reaper x 1
Chocolate Habanero x 2
Big Cayenne x 2
Caribbean Red x 3
I put seeds in the dirt on February 3 so should have the first sprouts and day. More than likely I will add some more plants but this is enough to get things rolling.
Here’s a picture of 5 bhut jolokia varieties I’m growing this year. Starting with red and moving clockwise: red bhuts, peach bhuts, chocolate bhuts, yellow bhuts and caramel bhuts.
Some of the hot pepper flakes I have made over the past few weeks. Includes some giant red bhut jolokia, chocolate bhut jolokia, caramel bhut jolokia and a red bhut jolokia / red Caribbean mix.
In the world of hot peppers, while no longer the record holder for being the hottest, the bhut jolokia or “ghost pepper” is still the most popular super hot pepper. Is the ghost pepper as widely known as the habanero…not even close. Is it getting more popular…you bet!
Known Ghost Pepper Varieties
There are a number of bhut jolokia strains. Some much more stable than others…the least stable or “ghost pepper like” in my opinion are the purple, white and caramel bhut jolokias. That said, here are the types I know of:
Ghost Pepper Picture Slideshow
(click or tap pictures to advance)
Ghost Pepper Videos
These videos will give you an idea of how ghost peppers actually taste and what to expect. You won’t find people rolling around on the floor in agony in any of these videos.
Ghost Pepper Popularity
The ghost pepper’s popularity has risen as fast in the United States as anywhere else in the world. In 2011, despite losing the record for world’s hottest pepper in June to the Butch T Trinidad Scorpion, the ghost pepper’s popularity continued to reach new highs.
A quick check of Google Insights shows which states saw the largest relative increase in searches for ghost pepper related terms:
Another quick check of Google Insights reveals the the fastest rising search terms people are using to look for the bhut jolokia / ghost pepper:
1. ghost pepper chili
2. ghost chili
3. the ghost pepper
4. hottest pepper
5. hottest pepper ghost
6. ghost hot pepper
7. ghost peppers
8. scoville
9. ghost pepper sauce
10. ghost pepper scoville
Along with an increase in popularity comes an increase in commercial products that use ghost peppers. While I have not tried all of these I am aware of the following products related to the ghost pepper: