[purplejaguar]

Hiya,

Has anyone on here ever grown Bhut Jolokia Peppers before (very HOT Chili)? I have just aquired some seeds and potted them and put them in the airing cupboard for germination, I know they need alot of heat. Hints and tips about growing them in the UK would be greatly appreciated .

[bigben]

I got a pack with just 4 seeds in and tried to grow them on my windowsill over a radiator- I did not have a propagator and did not use a plastic bag - nothing even came up!

I had managed to grow a fair selection of other chillis without but not these!

I have since got a propagator and use bags as well so they might have come up if I had followed the instructions to the letter.

[Jabberwock]

Hi I grew Bhut Jolokia from seed last year and have successfully overwintered the plants, they have now been re-potted in larger pots with fresh compost and they are now starting to bud.
As for germination I sowed 6 seeds and 6 germinated in fact I was really surprised at how quickly they appeared all were showing within 12 days. Like yourself I put mine in the warm airing cupboard to germinate so I can't foresee any problems.
A word of caution, these are a truly formidable chilli and need to be treated with respect I only use a tiny bit when I'm cooking with them as they are so over-powering, even my little parrot who adores chillies and thinks nothing of stripping a chilli plant in seconds (when my back is turned!!) tends to avoid these 
I keep my chillies as house plants and they live on a large south facing window sill and as far as I'm concerned these are one of the easiest and fastest growing varieties I've grown.

[jjbull]

ive grown these and a few other extreme varieties first lot took nearly 4 weeks to come up, but after that i chitted them on damp tissue and only took about a week to show signs of life

[purplejaguar]

Very interesting, thanks for your input. I will keep you posted as to what happens with mine .

[Dan78]

I planted a couple of these seeds about 2 weeks ago and nothing happening as of yet

On a warm windowsill covered in cling film

[purplejaguar]

Good luck with them Dan78

[roller]

I attempted growing these last year, very unsuccessfully I might add, I like to think I can grow just about anything but Jolokias defeated me, saying that I grew mine outside as I don't have a greenhouse, only a few seeds germinated [indoor propagator] the chills that did form were very numerous but very very small [as you'd expect growing outside I guess] but they were very very hot.

If anyone does and I see they have manage to grow the these chillies successfully I'd suggest you harvest and use them green, that's how the Bangladeshi's   use them, they never use them red,  like most chillies the will freeze well.

Bangladeshi's eat the chilli raw, little nibbles with curry and rice, usually fish or prawn, lentils and a vegetable dish

[purplejaguar]

Thanks for that roller, it seems they are extremely hard to grow, I will try though .

[Dan78]

Thanks for that roller, it seems they are extremely hard to grow, I will try though .

Best of luck to you too then! 

[mickeyboy]

I attempted growing these last year, very unsuccessfully I might add, I like to think I can grow just about anything but Jolokias defeated me, saying that I grew mine outside as I don't have a greenhouse, only a few seeds germinated [indoor propagator] the chills that did form were very numerous but very very small [as you'd expect growing outside I guess] but they were very very hot.

If anyone does and I see they have manage to grow the these chillies successfully I'd suggest you harvest and use them green, that's how the Bangladeshi's   use them, they never use them red,  like most chillies the will freeze well.

Bangladeshi's eat the chilli raw, little nibbles with curry and rice, usually fish or prawn, lentils and a vegetable dish

This only happened because you planted them late if you would have sown 4-6 weeks earlier you would not have had a problem...
Ive grown these outdoors in my raised beds for the last 2 years very succesfully and still have loads of big juicy red ones in the freezer.
They just didnt have time to ripen and grow before it became cold
I sow mine around Christmas in heated prop then transfer to 3" pot on windowcill.. If you do manage a succesful grow you can dig them up and overwinter in 4" pots..
Out of 7 bhut jolokia i overwinted 6 survived.... not bad.......
Hope you have more luck in future

[purplejaguar]

More useful info, thanks

Do you think I have sown mine a bit too late?

[mickeyboy]

More useful info, thanks

Do you think I have sown mine a bit too late?

should just about be ok,, plant in the sunniest position you can find when the weather warms up, u may need to cover the small plants when first outside wuth glass cloches to ensure a higher temp...
Nxt year when Christmas decoration out its chilli seeds in...... Not so essential with the not so hot varieties but roccoto red need a long season

[purplejaguar]

Thats good news then, we have a nice sunny garden so will try that .

[Dan78]

My seeds still have not germinated