Pepper variety Carolina Reaper (Carolina reaper)
Carolina Reaper, also known as "Carolina Reaper" or HP22B, refers to the Capsicum Chinense pepper, which was officially recognized as the spicy pepper in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records in 2013. The average pungency of Carolina Reaper is about 1,569,300 Scoville (however, some fruits can reach pungency up to 2.2 million Scoville). The previous record belonged to Trinidad Scorpiowho also made the Guinness Book of Records in 2012. This variety was obtained by crossing the Naga Jolokia pepper with the red Habanero. The author is an American gardener Ed Curry.
The variety is very popular with both amateur and professional gardeners. However, the fruits are even more interesting for spicy lovers, who every year organize competitions in eating this fruit for time and quantity. At the moment, the world record belongs to a certain Wayne Algenio, who managed to eat 119 grams of fruit in 60 seconds. Imagine: eating the fruits of the Reaper is like sprinkling a gas can of pepper into your mouth.
Variety characteristics
The plant can grow up to 130 cm in height and 120 cm in width. The fruits are mostly red in color, however, plants with other fruit shades are currently being bred. Carolina Reaper fruits are very similar to Trinidad Scorpio fruits. The main difference between Reaper is the long, stinging tip of the fetus. On a plant, up to 30 - 40 fruits can ripen at the same time. Fruit length varies from 3 to 7 cm; weight - from 5 to 10 grams. The wall of the fetus is up to 2 mm, colorless juice is released at the fracture. There are few seeds - up to 20 pieces. It smells like Trinidad Scorpio, but with a more pronounced pungent aroma. Pepper blooms in 100 - 110 days from germination, fruits ripen in another 30 - 40 days. The plant is perennial.
Fruit taste
To taste - in the first few seconds, you can make out the fruity aftertaste, after you the pungency covers. However, the pungency is not the same as that of chili peppers, it is different in perception. Your mouth does not burn, but it burns - it's like taking a hundred small hot coals in your mouth, there are constant tingling sensations. After the stage of anesthesia comes, you partially get numbness in the oral cavity, your face turns red, breaks through in sweat. The effect of the fruit lasts about 30 minutes.
Remember! There have been reported cases of death of people suffering from heart disease when eating Carolina Reaper fruits from cardiac arrest.
If you have the courage to taste the pepper and realize that the pungency is too hot for you, try neutralizing the effect of the pepper with milk, yogurt, or ice cream. It helps, but not as much as we would like.
Growing features
Step 1... Growing from seeds or a small sprout (if from a sprout, then go to Step 3).
Carolina Riper constantly needs warmth and light. So we strongly recommend that when germinating seeds, create special conditions for them with constant humidity and a temperature of 23 - 25 ° C. To do this, you need to make an insulated mini-greenhouse.
The seeds are planted in a prepared container, at the bottom of which expanded clay is laid out for drainage, after which soil with a pH of 5.5 - 7.0 is poured (ideal pH 6.0 - 6.5). After watering, the seeds are planted. Embedding depth - 5 mm. The distance between the seeds is 3 cm. The container is tightly covered with foil and placed in a warm place.
Step 2... Germination of seeds.
Seeds usually germinate in 10-14 days. If possible, move them to a sunny place or illuminate them with lamps. During this period, it is not worth feeding the plants with mineral fertilizers. Remove the foil every 2 days to give the plants fresh air. The moisture of the ground should be monitored, it should be constantly wet, but do not overfill.
Step 3... Picking.
When 3 - 5 true leaves appear, it is required to pick the plants - plant them in separate containers of a larger volume. When diving, do not damage the root system of the pepper. The transplanted plants should be placed on the sunny side. It should be remembered that Carolina Reaper is a sun-loving variety.Water the plants as needed.
Step 4... Growing.
Now that your plant has been transplanted into a larger container, it will start to grow rapidly. At this time, it is necessary to carry out one feeding with nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers. The air temperature should be 23 - 30 ° C.
Step 5... Flowering and fruit setting.
Now the plant requires constant feeding, as it has reached a large size and begins to bloom. Potassium and trace elements must be added to the diet. Carolina Reaper pepper produces a lot of flowers. But many of them fall off. To prevent falling flowers, the plant can be sprayed with 1 - 2% boric acid solution. In principle, the plant itself determines how many fruits it can pull out. When treated with boric acid, more fruits will be set, but they will be small in size. An untreated bush will have less fruit, but they will be larger. Do not water the plants too much, as the fruits may begin to crack. You can pick the peppers when they are completely red.
If you want your own quality seeds for this pepper, then harvest the ripe fruits, cut them in half and take the seeds that are closer to the stinging tip. They will have 100% germination, the remaining 90%.
Conclusion
As you can see from the above, everyone can grow Carolina Reaper pepper. Another question is that not everyone will be able to eat it, although if a little, then you can get used to it over time.
Reaper is a terrible pepper. For my second year, one bush grows, it has grown a meter in width and the same amount in height. In two years, it bore fruit three times. In the first year there were few fruits (10 pieces), but in the second year it was already 22. It smells great, but I can’t say anything about the taste, capsaicin immediately clogs the receptors, the fire in the mouth and lasts about 30 minutes. under the root and on the leaves once a month. Pepper is very responsive when flowering on potash fertilizers. Many flowers fall off, even if you treat the leaves with boric acid solution. In principle, what is ripe for me is enough for a long time. My advice: Carolina Reaper should be used with care.
Vitalik, can I buy seeds from you?
In that year, I got hold of the seeds of this pepper. I treated them with Epin's solution for better germination. From 5 seeds sprouted 3. In the spring I planted two sprouts in a greenhouse and left one on the windowsill. A month later, I noticed that in a greenhouse, plants develop faster than at home. At home, I also had to pollinate the flowers myself, a lot fell off, in the greenhouse they were pollinated by insects. At the end of August, the first red fruits appeared in the greenhouse, on the bush there were about 30 fruits. And now the most important thing is that this pepper is the hottest in the world and even take the fruits in your hands with caution. The smell of pepper is citrus, the taste is as if an ember is smoldering on your tongue - super hot even for me. There were 15 fruits on the windowsill, the bush is still growing as a home plant for beauty.
but nothing worked for me. The pepper grew and grows like a tree, but for the year did not give a single flower and fruit, respectively. What could be?
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