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Quick Answer: How To Care For Carolina Reaper Plant

How do you take care of a Carolina Reaper plant?

You will want to plant your Carolina Reapers in well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter. 5-10-5 fertilizer is recommended. Plant the seedlings approximately 4 feet away from neighboring plants. Plants should be given at least 2 inches of water per week, but take care to avoid overwatering.

Are Carolina Reapers hard to grow?

The pepper is no harder to grow than any other pepper plant, but it needs an extremely long growing season and, in most cases, must be started inside well before planting out. The plant takes 90 to 100 days to maturity and should be started indoors at least six weeks before planting outside.

How long does a Carolina Reaper plant live?

These can become impressive bushes and can produce all year long in the right environment. Includes the hottest peppers in the world, Habaneros, Scotch Bonnets, Trinidad Scorpions, the Bhut Jolokia Ghost Peppers, Carolina Reaper and the new Dragon’s Breath Pepper. These peppers can live between 3-5 years.

Do Carolina Reaper plants come back?

Yet these hard-working plants are perennials that, given the right conditions, will happily overwinter to next year.

Why are my Carolina Reapers not hot?

Crops of chili peppers not hot may be a combination of improper soil and site situations, variety, or even poor cultivation practices. Chili pepper heat is borne in the membranes surrounding the seeds. If you get healthy fruit, they will have a full interior of the pithy hot membranes and a higher heat range.

How many Carolina Reapers are in a plant?

Known as the hottest pepper in the world, Carolina Reaper will need utmost care during planting and harvesting. With the right growing conditions and proper care, a mature Carolina reaper will produce between 20 and 30 chilies per plant at any one time. Over a season, expect a yield of 50 to 70 chilies.

How do you overwinter a Carolina Reaper?

To finish your pepper winter care, about a month before your last frost date, bring your pepper plant out of the cool location and move it to a brighter, warmer location. You may even want to use a heating pad under the pot to add additional heat. Resume watering, but make sure not to over water the pepper plant.

How often do you water hot pepper plants?

We recommend watering after the soil has dried somewhat. During the longest hottest days of summer, that may be every day. During cooler weather and during spring and fall you may only need to water them every 2-3 days.

Will pepper plants keep producing?

If you continually pick the peppers before they mature, the plants will continue to produce fruit in their quest to develop viable seed. Allowing fruits to fully ripen enhances flavor, often at the sacrifice of yields. Peppers are warm-weather fruits and do not store well in cold temperatures.

Do you need to prune chilli plants?

Pruning to re-shape a plant may be needed if it has grown a little too much towards a bright window, or to remove dead growth while over wintering a plant. As long as you provide good spacing and good light, chilli plants usually develop into a natural bush shape.

Why are my pepper plants dying?

So, why do your pepper plants keep dying? Over watering is the most common reason that pepper plants will wilt and die. Over watering will cause root rot in a pepper plant, and too much water can also wash away vital nutrients in the soil. Always check to make sure you are watering correctly before doing anything else.

How do you keep pepper plants warm at night?

So keep pepper plants cozy indoors until it warms up in the spring, or, you could also protect them with hoop houses, greenhouses, water walls, or other season extenders to keep them warm if spring temperatures get cooler than 50-60˚ F at night.

How do you prune a pepper plant to produce more fruit?

To top pepper plants, prune off all of the growing points about 3 to 4 weeks prior to the arrival of the first expected frost. This forces all of the remaining peppers to mature and develop to their full color. Use a pair of pruners to trim off the topmost 3 to 6 inches of every branch and side shoot.

Should you refrigerate Carolina Reaper?

Using and Storing Hot Peppers Don’t wash them after picking, but brush any dirt off them. Store them immediately in the produce bin of your refrigerator. The University of California says they store best at temperatures between 40 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. When stored this way, they should last for two or three weeks.

Can you dehydrate Carolina Reaper peppers?

Step 2: Dehydrate your Carolina Reapers You can slice and dry them on a tray the sun, or you can use a Dehydrator to dry out your peppers. Here are other clever ways to dry peppers without a dehydrator. We recommend slicing up Carolina Reaper peppers to help them dry out faster.

How do you make peppers hotter?

To make your peppers fiery hot, give them a dose of sulfur in the soil. You can put unlit matches into the hole before planting your pepper plant. Since match heads contain sulfur and available at cheap rates, they can be used to add extra fire (sulfur) in your peppers.