My Experiment - Growing Bhut Jolokia or Naga Jolokia

Bhut Jolokia aka Naga Jolokia aka Ghost Pepper is one of the hottest pepper (or chili) around. I have wanted to grow these firebombs for 2 years. But I could not the right seeds. I checked online as well as offline for reliable seeds with decent germination rates but it ended in disappointment. Finally, a friend from Delhi who happens to have a good friend in Nagaland came to my rescue. This gentleman from Nagaland arranged to send a good number of dried Naga Jolokia pods to me. He had his concerns whether these peppers would grow at my location due to huge differences in soil and water properties.

When I received the package, it was wrapped in multiple layers of plastic and paper packaging. When I opened the first layer, I was greeted with a pungent smell typical to Naga Jolokia. Upon opening the package, I found that pods were protected with 5 layers of plastic and paper. That tells a lot about the smell of these peppers. You better be careful while handling these peppers.

Finally, it was time to separate seeds from pods. I put on latex gloves, tied a handkerchief around my face like a mask, put on my glasses and made sure that all doors and windows were closed. I didn't want seeds flying across my room. My wife was sitting 8 feet away from me and she didn't wear a mask. As soon as I sliced open the first pod, she started coughing due to the pungent smell of Naga Jolokia. That's some really powerful stuff.

Finally, I removed seeds from 8 pods and packed the rest of them, covered in multiple layers of plastic bags. I marked them with a danger symbol. These pods were kept in a separate cupboard and not my regular seed storage.

Now it was time to plant those seeds and see how well they germinate. Jolokia has an okayish rate of germination ranging from 40-80%. Since this is the first time that I am cultivating Jolokia, I'll need to wait before I share my observations. Jolokia has a very slow rate of germination too. It takes 3-4 months for seeds to germinate. This is pretty long by any standard.

To keep things simple, for the first batch of Jolokia, I did not use a seed starting mix. Instead, I used my own mix of potting soil. It is a 50-50 mix of farm soil and compost. I wanted to add some coco peat but I didn't have any. For the next batch, I might use 4 parts compost, 2 parts coco peat and 1 part Vermiculite/Perlite. I will try different compositions for different batches to see what Jolokia loves the most.

I took a big rectangle planter for the first batch. I also took 8 disposable plastic glasses and punched 3 holes in each glass. Two bigger holes on the side and one drainage hole at the bottom. After filling the planter with potting mix, I filled these glasses with potting soil and inserted them into potting mix inside the planter. I kept these glasses in such a way that they would stay 2cm above the top surface of the potting mix in the planter.

I inserted 3 seeds (1/4" deep) in each glass and covered them with potting mix. After watering these glasses as well as potting mix in the planter, I moved planter to my balcony. Jolokia seeds require constant temperature around 30 C to germinate. Seeds will get enough air, sunlight and temperature in the balcony. Although temperatures in open reach up to 48+ C, the temperature in the balcony stays around 32-35 C. I planted my first batch of Jolokia seeds on 18 August 2020 and would plant the next batch after two weeks. I will keep tracking the progress of this amazing pepper and also share pictures with you folks.

In case any of you are interested in growing Jolokia and require seeds for it, then feel free to write to me and I will try to send you some seeds. Since my supply of pods is limited, I cannot guarantee seeds to everyone.