Over the last few years the Carolina Reaper chilli has found fame as its scorching 1,569,300 score on the Scoville scale found heat seekers from all over the world wanting to see if it’s heat is really as hot as it’s famed to be.
There was that famous Carolina Reaper nacho challenge, but there are also multiple videos of people trying the chillis themselves, if you’re in the mood for seeing some suffering!
Since it found fame, the amount of people growing Carolina Reaper has soared, as gardeners old and new look to grow the world’s hottest chilli at home.
If you’re thinking of growing Carolina Reaper, there’s a lot to know to make sure your Carolina Reaper plant grows successfully.
To help you, we’ve created an easy guide to growing Carolina Reaper well, so you can enjoy your very own scorching hot chilli peppers at home:
Why Grow Carolina Reaper Chilli Pepper?
Growing Carolina Reaper plants is a great idea if you want to create a plant that is a bit of a legend. If you truly want the hottest of fruits, it is the plant to choose.
If you’re still not sure, here are some benefits to growing Carolina Reaper plants:
Gardening Is Good For You
Many studies tell us that gardening is incredibly good for us. Physically it gets you stretching and moving. Mentally it can decrease stress and anxiety, give you hope and help you with mindfulness. Growing Carolina Reaper plants is just as beneficial as nurturing a whole veggie patch too, because it’s still gardening.
Chilli Peppers Are Good For You
Chilli pepper, like those grown on the Carolina Reaper plant, is known to be really good for you, offering benefits such as; reducing headache pain, helping reduce non-allergic rhinitis symptoms, boosting your metabolism and even soothing arthritis, to name a few.
If You Want To Grow The Hottest Chilli Pepper, This Is The One
The reason that we know Carolina Reaper plant pepper is the hottest is because it is measured with the Scoville Scale. The Scoville Scale was named after Wilbur L. Scoville who made the test whilst trying to find a chilli to use in a warming topical skin cream.
The scale actually focuses on how much Capsaicin is in a chilli pepper, which is the part of the pepper that causes the sweating, burning and general discomfort.
As Carolina Reaper reaches on average 1.5 million on the Scoville Scale, it is currently the hottest pepper currently grown and requires latex or plastic gloves to handle it safely.
There Are Multiple Recipes To Enjoy With Carolina Reaper
You can use Carolina Reaper plant pepper as it is in recipes, but it is generally best used in preserves and sauces. We particularly love this 25 year old hot sauce recipe and this Carolina Reaper plant chilli recipe. You can also experiment integrating it into meals and sides you usually make.
You’ll Probably Do Well Selling Them
The Carolina Reaper plant pepper is still famed for being the hottest pepper, which means many people still want to try it. So if you do intend to sell your produce locally, or even do produce swaps, your Carolina Reaper chillies will probably do really well. Everybody wants to try the famously hot chilli!
Top Tips For Growing Carolina Reaper Peppers Well
If you do feel ready to start growing Carolina Reaper peppers, here are some useful tips to help you grow a healthy Carolina Reaper plant:
Start Indoors First
You should grow your Carolina Reaper plant indoors in potting soil for the first six weeks (in a poly tunnel, greenhouse or at home) before you put it in its permanent growing position.
Don’t worry if the seeds haven’t germinated right away as it can take up to a month or more with the Carolina Reaper plant.
To speed up germination, some people swear by freezing the seeds a few days before planting, which mimics the winter to spring temperature change and can spur the seeds to start growing. Another great tip is to soak the seeds in tepid brewed black tea for half an hour before planting, as it softens the seeds up and again makes it more likely for the germination process to happen.
Keep Your Seeds Safe
Carolina Reaper plant seeds can sometimes cost a lot of money, and you may well want to keep some aside until you have your own fruits to take seeds from. To keep unplanted seeds safe, keep them in a dry, dark place that doesn’t see any huge temperature changes.
Ensure Good Drainage
All plants do well with good drainage, but it is especially important when growing a Carolina Reaper plant. A clear drainage hole, lots of horticultural grit and regularly emptied trays are important to prevent root rot and disease.
Pick A Sunny Spot
Whether indoors or outdoors a Carolina Reaper plant requires full sun for 10-12 hours a day and temperatures 20 degrees Celsius or higher in the day and no lower than 10 degrees Celsius at night. Most people grow chillies indoors so that they get the warmth and sun that is needed.
Fertilise With Consideration
So many gardeners disagree over when and how much to fertilise a Carolina Reaper plant. The fact is that they don’t need to be fertilised more than twice. Once when the seedlings are planted in their final space, and once when the fruits begin to appear.
However, many gardeners swear by using special types of fertiliser at different times and they get good results.
For that reason, when you start growing Carolina Reaper plants it is best to do your own research on fertilisation so that you can decide the best approach for your particular plants.
As long as you fertilise sparingly and with consideration, you’re at a much lower risk of burning your plants through fertilising too much.
Prune With Fruit Abundance In Mind
There are certain pruning methods that tend to produce better yields of peppers when growing Carolina Reaper plants, or other hot chilli peppers.
This video takes you through the process of pruning your Carolina Reaper plant step by step to get the best possible fruit yield.
Are You Ready To Start Growing Carolina Reaper Peppers?
If you now feel ready to start growing Carolina Reaper in your home, follow our tips above and have fun! If your first attempt at growing Carolina Reaper fails, you can always try again.
Soon enough, you’ll have plenty of scorching hot Carolina Reaper fruits to enjoy in your recipes keeping things truly spicy in your home kitchen!