Hand Pollinating the Bhut Jolokia
How to ensure your bhut jolokia plant produces fruit
Not since I sweated buckets over the initial germination of my jolokia seeds have I been so concerned as to the plants success. So far they have exceeded all expectations and despite the cold wind and rain England has suffered every month since the seeds were sown in January they have grown into very healthy plants.
All has gone to plan as I write, (famous last words) granted a period of prolonged sunshine wouldn’t go amiss and by that I mean more than four hours in any given week but still they continue to grow. It’s not all doom and gloom, when the sun shines the temperature in my greenhouse can reach 38 degrees centigrade/ 98 farenheit so the plants respond accordingly.
I am now at the stage where the plants have begun to produce flowers and these need a helping hand if they are to germinate and produce fruit. I have deliberately grown all of the other varieties of chilli in a seperate polytunnel to avoid cross contamination which is easily done if there is a bee or two around.
All that is needed is a fine paintbrush and a pot of lukewarm water, dip the brush in the water and then gently brush the inside of the flowers, go from first flower to last and back again so that the first flower is pollinated. I shall repeat this every couple of days until I see a sign of fruit. In the meantime I shall leave a window open to attract the bees before closing it mid-afternoon to keep the heat in. The plants will continue to be dampened down with a fine spray of warm water to encourage more flowering heads….
Hello,
I have had only one actual naga flower, and the promise of many more, for over a week now. Any advice on how to get the flower buds to open? Very much enjoying the anticipation! My other chillies, ’super chillies’ are throwing fruit out all over the place. Hope you are having more success. Thanks for all the advice.
Guy
July 23, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
Guy,
These do take longer to fruit than other varieties so I am afraid you will have to be a little more patient. My bhut jolokia’s have only just begun to fruit even though they have been full of flowers for some time now. Just try and keep them warm and damp down with a spray of water. They should come good eventually. I shall be posting an update on the naga jolokia plants shortly.
Let me know how you get on
Miles
July 23, 2008 @ 5:42 pm
Miles,
Thanks. Will keep you posted. Thanks.
July 23, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
Guy,
Check back in the next couple of days, I’ve got some photos you may or may not be interested in
Miles
July 23, 2008 @ 9:06 pm
Is it necessary to cross-pollinate between plants, or can you pollinate using the same flowers from the same plant?
July 26, 2008 @ 12:39 pm
Helen,
You can pollinate each flower from the same plant, no problem. I kept brushing them every two to three days for about a week. It’s worked okay.
Welcome to the site and good luck with your chillies, I hope you return again soon.
Miles
July 26, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
I planted 32 seeds and got 27 plants and now are blooming like crazy. I used Alaska fish fert. and now Peters for fert.
I pollinated for a week or so with slim taking now I have at lest 22 plants with 30 or so flowers and are fruiting oh almost forgot spray flowers and leaves with a good bloom set. I’m going to make hot sauce #6 Bhunt Jolkia 1,000,000 Dare Sauce. good luck folks. Chef Steve Palm Bay Fl.
June 9, 2009 @ 12:32 am
Chef Steve,
Welcome to the site and thanks for your comment. That sounds like a great rate of return for you!
That chilli sauce should be incredibly hot, I would suggest you warn your customers. There was a tragic case in the UK of someone who died from eating too many of them.
Good look with the growing and thanks again.
Miles
June 9, 2009 @ 8:02 am
I can concur with your initial comment, i too “sweated buckets over the initial germination of my jolokia seeds” , mind you I am in New Zealand and it is the middle of winter here at the moment.
I only have the one plant, who now stands at a little over 3 and a half feet tall, with flowers just starting to appear, thank you so much for the post on self pollination, i wasn’t going to use water with my brush, but thought i would see what knowledge the internet had to offer.
July 10, 2009 @ 1:21 am
WarlockNZ,
Welcome to the site and thanks for the comment. Glad your plants have germinated, you should have some very hot fruits there once your New Zealand Summer kicks in. I wish you well with growing and eating them, especially with the eating
Miles
July 10, 2009 @ 8:17 am
I just wanted to tell everyone that once you get one flower to fruit that plant will change and will produce fruit from every flower. I’ve got about 30 or so chili per plant now I’m going to trans plant the small 4″ pots that I fogot to put into larger ones like the rest of the ones I started. When and they will tell you when they are root bound it’s time to go into a larger pot or ground. I’ve picked or cut with sissors about 2 lb. so far. If you cut the peppers they will rebloom. First batch of sauce has lasting heat, I might try cutting the heat with some of my Red Savinas. Again good luck Chili Heads.
July 22, 2009 @ 7:09 pm
Chef Steve,
Welcome back! Great to hear from you again again and thank you for sharing your tipsand experiences with us, it’s really valuable information.
Good luck with eating that sauce!!
Thanks again Steve,
best wishes
Miles
July 22, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
Here is an excellent tip for germinating tricky seeds like Bhut Jolokia. Buy a USB coffe cup warmer for about $10. It heats a small cup of water to 30 degrees celsius constantly. Add seeds to warm water and all viable seeds will sprout within 2-6 days. Then carefully transplant to Jiffy Pots and watch them grow.
http://www.chillihead.tohelpyou.info/photos.asp
Growing Bhut Jolokia
July 24, 2009 @ 11:44 am
Bhut Jolokia
Welcome to the site and thank you for the tip, I’ve never heard of that before, thanks!
Happy growing
Miles
July 25, 2009 @ 10:17 pm
Miles,
Chef Steve here well 7 months after I planted seeds I made with Lil’ garlic, onion, red sea salt, Key Lime juice the I think the ……………. alltime very good even with flavor Best Smoke Your As. HOT SAUCE. One Drop You’ll Know. I’ve really enjoyed reading the blog…cheesey I’m sorry. But please IF you want Try www.howlingchef.webs.com and try to contact me for info or sauce or….. whatever oh! by the way I only got a few select seeds from the peppers so you gotta look for them the white ones not black small ones. Enjoy All.
July 25, 2009 @ 11:02 pm
Chef Steve,
Sounds great mate, well worth the wait and all of that hard work looking after those plants. Your sauce sounds perfect, I wish your restaurant was here in England, it would be great to have some authentic American food.
Glad you’ve enjoyed reading the blog and thank you for your contribution, it’s much appreciated. I wish you well with the sauce and the restaurant.
Kind regards
Miles
July 25, 2009 @ 11:27 pm
Hi Miles,
I’ve grown 8 bhut jolokia plants out of 30 plus seeds. They all started inside, and when they were inside Ive had about 30-40 flowers dropped and they were getting big and i needed more room so i moved them out. I live in Los Angeles and recently its been cold and windy. So now ive lost about 75 flowers from falling off the stem and leaves are turning white on me. On the biggest plant I have one chile producing but thats about it… and its the the top im scared it might die. Please give me advice on keeping them all alive for summer, Thanks.
March 13, 2010 @ 11:01 pm
Grower,
Welcome to the site. It sounds as though they might have grown too tall, too quickly in the first instance. What they need above all else is light and heat so if you’ve got a space next to a window which takes in a lot of light through the day then they need to be there really.
Unless it’s your really hot period in LA (forgive me, I live in England) then I’d keep them indoors. Don’t overwater but keep the flowering heads moist and use the and pollinating method on the other heads.
If you type bhut jolokia into the search box at the top of the page you’ll find other pages with more advice and great comments from other growers too.
Don’t give up because some are slower to fruit than others but above all else don’t shock them with temperature changes.
Best of luck with them.
Kind regards
Miles
March 14, 2010 @ 8:49 am
Thanks
March 20, 2010 @ 7:28 pm
I planted some bhut jolokia seeds I got online and they all came up. Now they are starting to bloom and some have small peppers on them. They look like habanero to me. I hope they didn’t send me the wrong seeds. Do they get more wrinkled looking when they get bigger?
July 10, 2010 @ 11:15 pm
JC,
Welcome to the site, I wouldn’t worry just yet. They will become more wrinkled and elongated than a habanero as they mature.
Fingers crossed!
Good luck,
Miles
July 10, 2010 @ 11:27 pm
Hi Miles,
When do you hand pollinate? One of the buds on my Dorset bloomed two days ago. I tried to hand pollinate….The anthers are quite rigid, and the flower is so tiny (about 1 cm from petal to petal) that I can’t see the stigma….
July 20, 2010 @ 8:10 pm
Pro bono,
I’d give it a day or two to let them develop. I pollinated them a couple of times and it worked fine. Just be gentle!!
Good luck
Miles
July 20, 2010 @ 9:48 pm
I tried ‘fingering’ the flowers. They don’t seem to produce any pollen. Some say the hottest chilies don’t produce much pollen. I am hoping for the best!
July 22, 2010 @ 4:55 pm
Pro Bono,
It’s a delicate operation for sure, just have to hope for the best to be honest-a bee or two wouldn’t go amiss either!
Miles
July 22, 2010 @ 5:22 pm
I’m from northeast Ohio and bought bhut jolokia plants through Amazon. Three of the plants I put in my garden and the other one I put in a large pot. The ones in the garden are not doing so well. The one in the pot is beautiful. It has lots of flowers and green peppers. Two have turned red. When is the best time to pick them? Any suggestions on what to do with them? I’d like to dry them out and make a powder out of them. Any sauce recipes? I can’t wait to see what they taste like. I have kept this plant protected at night because I know cats like to eat the leaves. I didn’t bring the plant in last night and saw this morning that deer enjoy this plant too. Ugh! They munched on the top part of the plant with the leaves and small budding peppers. The plant is back in the garage for the night.
July 23, 2010 @ 2:07 am
Mary,
Welcome to the site! Glad one at least has turned out, I’m not sure of the climate in Ohio but if you can grow them under glass then all the better to be honest. They will be ready when they are longer, bright red and wrinkled in appearence.
As for recipes you must realise that these are incredibly hot so you cannot use ‘like for like’ in recipes.
I would perhaps make a ’standard’ sauce, relish etc and then add a little of the jolokia to taste.
Never heard of deer eating the leaves, they’d get a shock if they ate the fruit!!!!
Kind regards
Miles
July 23, 2010 @ 7:33 am
I just want to share with you some of my experiences with Dorset Naga and Naga Morich.
Initially I was worried that my Dorset Naga flowers wouldn’t set fruit as pollen grains were not visible. This caused may flowers to drop. Recently, the Dorsets are starting to set fruit. I am not sure what actually caused this…maybe less watering or less sun exposure or a minor temperature drop…I don’t know really…
On the other hand, the Naga Morich didn’t experience flower drops.
When the flowers get pollinated, it seems that the stigma prolongates nearly twice the length of the anthers. I would take this as a sign of successful pollination, correct me if I am wrong.
Anyways, I am quite excited and I hope of getting HOT chilies
August 21, 2010 @ 8:43 am
Pro Bono,
Thanks for that, really useful information which I am sure will be appreciated as I do get a lot of people coming to this thread.
Thanks again and good luck with the growing!
Miles
August 21, 2010 @ 10:08 am
OK, I have a very nice bhut jolokia indoors. It has been very slow to grow this year — I am in the pacific northwest. It spent most of the summer outdoors, and now is about 2 1/2 feet tall with at least 60 buds on it. The first flowers are just starting to open, and it is now September!
Any chance I can get some peppers out of it?
What can I do to make sure that the peppers set?
September 2, 2010 @ 5:18 am
Todd,
Welcome to the site, I’ll leave this one to anyone from your area as I am unfamiliar with your climate. My chillies were still ripening in October but they had already formed fruits in August so I’m not sure how long you have left.
Hope someone can help you.
Miles
September 2, 2010 @ 2:08 pm
Maybe a more general question. I have one that is in the garden outside that is starting to set fruit. Does it take a bit of a temp/climate change for them to start to set? I brought the potted plat inside when night temps dropped to high 40’s/low 50’s. It promptly dropped a few of the flowers.
Thinking I will leave it outside until at least a few of the set?
September 3, 2010 @ 2:22 am
Todd,
I grew mine under glass so the only temperature change was subtle as evening fell. In my experience the don’t like to be messed about with so find your warmest spot and leave them there, I didn’t overfeed them either. I believe chillies are better (and hotter) for being left to their own devices.
Miles
September 3, 2010 @ 8:04 am
hi miles just found your site…….brilliant !!!!
i have just taken about 20 seeds off a naga chilli. will they grow if i plant them next year ??? i live in merseyside
September 3, 2010 @ 9:30 am
Hi Jim,
Welcome to the site and thank you, I reckon you’ve got a good chance with them. Have a look at step one here: http://www.milescollins.com/wordpress/a-beginners-guide-to-growing-naga-chillies
I don’t see why they shouldn’t germinate, good luck!
Miles
September 3, 2010 @ 9:42 am
Hi guys,i live in west australia,and have a lot of varieties,recently the jolikas and scorpions and was wondering why i couldn’t git them to fruit as ive never had trouble before,so cheers for all the tips,ive just been out with the brush,its been 35 here for nearly 2weeks straight so their going sick.
January 12, 2011 @ 2:14 am
Daniel,
Welcome to the site, sorry to hear that. If Jolokias won’t germinate in your conditions then there’s got to be a problem! Not sure what the answer is, it could be bacterial. I’ll do some research and in the meantime if anyone else has an idea to help Daniel please leave a message.
Good luck mate.
Miles
January 12, 2011 @ 9:21 am
Hi Daniel,
Are they flowering? I assume they are outside in that climate
)
Are your other varieties fruiting?
If they are still young they may be putting all their energy into growing, you could force them to stop growing and start flowering by putting them in a smaller pot.
Sam.
January 12, 2011 @ 12:15 pm
I have a 3′ tall plant growing but have not had any luck pollinating it. Also it has not flowered in what seems like forever. It is in a sunny window, with the temp averaging around 78 Farenheit. It is also supplemented by two 48″ flourescent grow lights. Any advice on getting it to flower again?
June 7, 2011 @ 7:24 pm
Noah,
Have to say that doesn’t sound too promising I’m afraid, by the height I would expect to see some flowering buds. Have you given them any feed? It could be an issue with watering and/or feeding but to be honest I’m not sure what else I would suggest. Try hand pollinating them every two days for the next week and see if that helps, keep the soil moist but not wet and spray and flowers with a little water.
Good luck
Miles
June 8, 2011 @ 12:13 pm
Noah,
Do you know much about the lights? Only ask as I know some lights are better for leaf growth and some better for encouraging fruiting. Something to do with the light wavelength emitted.
Also could be to do with being in a pot that is too big. The plant concentrates on growing rather than flowering.
Take a look on the chillies galore forums. Loads of info there.
June 9, 2011 @ 2:34 pm
Hi guys, this is my first time growing bhut’s I was just wondering if Chef Steve’s claim is true.
He said:
“I just wanted to tell everyone that once you get one flower to fruit that plant will change and will produce fruit from every flower”
Is this true or do I still have to hand pollinate all my flowers even after some have started to produce peppers?
June 11, 2011 @ 12:14 am
Brian,
Welcome to the site, personally I hand pollinated all of them because I didn’t want to risk them not flowering. It worked for me but it’s personal choice I suppose.
Good luck
Miles
June 11, 2011 @ 8:53 am
Just standard flourescent GE grow lights, not sure of spectrum, I am wondering if I should time the amount of light they receive. Plant is in a five gallon bucket, too big?
June 12, 2011 @ 4:28 am
That sounds ok Noah. Did you re-pot it recently? Do you feed it on anything?
1/2 strength tomato feed is good once flowering but before that i think the best is chilli focus.
I don’t know enough about the lights to know if it would make the difference I’m afraid.
Brian, each flower must still be pollinated to fruit but I usually find that once you start seeing fruit, the other flowers fruit more easily. Saying that, I have a 4 year old habanero plant that drops probably up to 70% of it’s flowers. It still gives me 70 or so chillies though.
June 13, 2011 @ 9:50 am
I have mine in a pot, I have 75 plus buds and a few flours. I bring the pot in at night so it stays warm, but I’ve been keeping it my gardern during the day. Do I need to hand pollinate it? Or will nature take care of it?
June 17, 2011 @ 4:37 pm
Jesse
Welcome to the site, it sounds as though you’ll be ok-you could always try a few flowers to be safe though.
Good luck
Miles
June 18, 2011 @ 8:19 am
Hi
I wrote a really long comment but it did’nt post it so im kinda pissed off…
To make it short: I’ve planted my bhut jolokias in november, and they are growing beautifully, they are big, but 8 months and still not one flower, what could the problem be? please help im getting a bit worried.. (they are growing outside, in pots the weather is fine, around 30 celsius, gets water everyday and fed it couple of times)
thanks
August 4, 2011 @ 10:57 pm
Andrew,
Welcome to the site, sorry about your original comment but without the spam protection it wouldn’t be worth having the blog I’m afraid.
Sorry to hear about the plants, all I can suggest is trying to hand pollinate them as described above, try hanging back with the watering a little too, they like to be left alone every now and then,
Good luck
Miles
August 7, 2011 @ 9:20 pm
Hi Andrew,
Where do you live? Are the plants in very big pots?
If the climate is right, the plant will try and grow as much as possible within it’s environment. Once it gets limited, by pot size, climate or other factors, it will then start to reproduce (fruit).
It sounds like your conditions are very good for chilli plants. I ask where you live because if you don’t get a cold winter, you may soon have a big plant that starts to fruit and you will have many chillies.
S.
August 8, 2011 @ 9:29 am
Miles,
I know it’s been awhile but a few things have changed closed the store but am running a BBQ cocession trailer, Twin Boar BBQ and Facebook.com/page/twinboarbbqq and www. howlingchef1@att.net have the DARE sauce up and another with Jolokias have a partner with 5.5 ac. of Jokes growning he does mostly seeds www.bhutjolokiaseeds.com these are pure from NM in usa you know the chili pepper inst.
I am making sauce alot and will send to you guys but the shipping I can not control
That website will and Ted M. Taylor will answer all the questions once and forall over done, Miles let’s sell BBQ over there what you say……and and sauce
August 8, 2011 @ 11:23 pm
Hi all,
I am in New Zealand and have secured 5 (!) bhut jolakia seeds to try for the first time. Should I be starting them off already (just in to Spring - South Island of NZ) indoors now - and when should I plant out (we can still have a frost or two end Oct) - Can they be grown indoors in a greenhouse all the way through?
Any help appreciated - it’s my first time with chillies.
September 12, 2011 @ 1:07 am
I know this is mainly about the Bhut Jolokia but I seem to have similar pollen problems with a different chilli.
I’ve been growing a Dorset Naga from a plant plug I bought in May. It’s grown well and I’ve potted it on as it’s grown. It’s now about 4 feet tall and has a 5 foot spread.
By about the beginning of July flowers were appearing. However, despite keeping the plant well watered none of the flowers set and just kept falling. I tried pollinating using a dry artist’s paintbrush but no pollen was visible. So about 6 weeks ago I started cross pollinating using pollen from a very fertile habanero. At last the flowers started setting - I now have about 30 or more deeply wrinkled fruit on the plant. The largest are about 20mm wide and 40mm long - I’m sure it won’t be long before the first one starts to turn red.
Obviously the seeds of these fruit will produce a Dorset Naga/habanero cross…
Has anyone else found this pollen problem with the Dorset Naga?
September 14, 2011 @ 1:10 am
Hi Jeremy,
I have similar issues with mine. They don’t seem to produce as much pollen as some varieties.
One tip is to do it late afternoon/early evening. Apparently this is when their pollen is released and I have found more success at these times.
However, unless you want to use the seeds as a pure naga, your method is fine and the fruits will be no different (from this plant). The plants can last for many years so you don’t actually have to grow new ones each season. In fact you often get more chillies on a mature plant.
The nagas do take a long time to ripen fully but it sounds like yours may be ready in a few more weeks. Enjoy!
Helen,
I’d plant them as early as possible. Spring here is April time and I like to plant mine in January. However, you will need to keep them in the sunniest window you can or they grow too leggy and collapse. Once the days and nights get hotter, you could put them outside but you’ll get much better results (more chillies) in a greenhouse or sunny windowsill.
S.
September 14, 2011 @ 2:55 pm