Bhut Jolokia Arrives

It's like Christmas in April! The much anticipated Bhut Jalokia (aka, world's hottest pepper) plants have arrived. When you order from a nursery you've never dealt with before, you never quite know what to expect. These folks, Cross Country Nurseries, far exceeded my hopes and expectations. The plants are top quality, ready to plant in the garden. They shipped promptly, just like the promised, and their packaging is some of the best I've ever seen.
Often when I order from a plant nursery, the plants have lost their tags in shipment, or come wrapped in plastic wrap and rubber bands, soggy and too wet. These folks know how to ship.

Check out the photos of their shipping cartons, how the pots fit the cartons, how the pots are both taped in, and the soil held in place with a little cardboard collar. They arrived moist, but not wet, and the name tags are attached, AND taped in place. A big THUMBS UP to these folks for their care in shipping. I'll be posting some thumbs up and thumbs down to other plant nurseries in the days ahead, my own rating system of the good, the bad and the ugly in plant handling from the professionals.

And look at the size of the pepper plants in the photo. Check out Cross Country's website, they grow hundreds and hundreds of varieties of peppers, tomatoes and eggplants.
More information about the world's hottest pepper is here.

Bhut Jolokia, The World's Hottest Pepper

(The photo to the left shows the peppers I'm growing, but none of them are the Bhut Jalokia, yet).

One of the hot new plants this year (ok, it's not new, it's centuries old, but we in the West have just "discovered" it) is the Saga Jalokia. Also known by the names of Naga Jalokia and Bhut Jalokia, this so-called “new” pepper, comes from northeastern Assam, India, near the Equator (where all of the hottest peppers originate around the globe), and is also known by the names, “ghost chile,” and Bhut Jolokia.

The University of Mexico has been testing this new pepper and proved beyond a doubt in 2007 that this was, indeed, the world’s hottest pepper. (In India, according to my friend Puneet, who comes from New Delhi, this pepper is called "tatayyia mirch," which translated from Hindi, is "wasp chili," because he said, it is like having a very big wasp sting your tongue).

To read my complete article about this amazing pepper, and how it will keep elephants from trashing your garden this year, go to my Columns link on my website.