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New Mexico State University

Chile Pepper Institute Chile Shop

Contrary to what a recent article stated, we will not be shipping any plants. We do ship seed packets, but we do not ship plants.

BHUT JOLOKIA IS HERE!

  • 2009 Catalog
    Our catalog updates and adds and deletes book titles frequently, if you have visited our site in the past or visit it frequently, be sure to clean the cache files on your computer before you download the most recent version of our catalog. Seed prices are on pages 14 & 18.

    Our catalog updates and adds and deletes book titles frequently, if you have visited our site in the past or visit it frequently, be sure to clean the cache files on your computer before you download the most recent version of our catalog.

    THERE IS A MINIMUM $15.00 ORDER ON ALL DOMESTIC ORDERS, BEFORE S/H is added & A $30.00 MINIMUM ORDER ON ALL INTERNATIONAL ORDERS - see 2nd page of catalog, downloadable below

    If you have a question about ordering or our catalog please call 575-646-3028 or e-mail hotchile@nmsu.edu


Many individuals have contacted us recently regarding flower drop on their Bhut Jolokia plants. This is a very common occurrence with this particular species, we do not know why but the Bhut Jolokia does not seem to set fruit well. There are several other factors that will affect fruit drop. Some of these include:

* Air temperatures over 95°F will cause the pollen to abort and subsequent flower drop

* Too much Nitrogen will cause excessive foliage growth and flower drop

* Certain disease or pests will cause flower drop

* Even the smallest amount of plant stress will cause flower drop

Bhut Jolokia is extremely hard to grow and we DO NOT recommend it for the novice grower/gardener.

SPECIAL BHUT JOLOKIA TIPS

  • Please read the how to start your seeds provided very carefully and closely follow the directions.
  • Bhut Jolokia require soil temperatures to be between 80 and 90 degrees F for proper germination. You may need to supply bottom heat with the aid of a propagation mat.
  • Soil must be kept moderately moist, never being allowed to completely dry out and never allowed to become soggy. This will destroy the embryo in the seed and they will not germinate.
  • The Bhut Jolokia can take up to 36 days just to germinate and have a very long growing period, up to 160 days before harvest.
  • The Bhut Jolokia is extremely hard to grow and we do not recommend it for the novice grower/gardener. We have a very low supply of seed and cannot replace seed packets of this particular variety.

After extensive field trials our analysis revealed that the variety possessed an extremely high heat level, 1,001,304 SHU. That's a heat level you normally see only with ultra-hot sauces using pepper extract (capsicum oleoresin). For a more complete and in-depth story please refer to the link below.

To order seeds please download our pdf Chile Pepper Institute Chile Shop catalog.

Seeds are $5.00 per packet plus shipping & handling - SEE MINIMUM ORDER DETAILS($2.00 for the first pack and .15 per additional pack on domestic orders only, see catalog for International instructions) with 10 seeds per packet. We cannot offer bulk or wholesale, and there are no discounts on this seed.

Seeds seem to germinate better (77%) when treated, please refer to the Guidelines for Chile Crop Seed Production link below on how to treat seeds.

AT YOUR OWN RISK WHEN SENDING YOUR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION THROUGH E-MAIL OR FAX

If you have a question about ordering or our catalog please call 575-646-3028 or e-mail hotchile@nmsu.edu