April - Naga Morich Success!

I love this variety and am lucky enough to have saved viable seed for this very rare and scintillatingly hot pepper. In recent weeks the variety (which was virtually unheard of last year outside of the Chillis Galore forum) has achieved almost mythical status after two Chile growers in Dorset submitted there version of the Naga Morich - the Dorset Naga to heat testing laboratories in American and was found to be almost 60% hotter than the current Guinness Book of Records holder - the Habanero Red Savina.

There is a problem however. Not only are seeds almost impossible to come by (the Dorset growers won't part with them for obvious reasons) they are very tricky to germinate. Last year I achieved germination percentages of less than 30 per cent (and even those took six to seven weeks! This year my saved seed has proved a little more successful. 40 seeds were planted on the 12th March in a heated propagator, although it wasn't until the 17th April when I moved them to the Chile house that signs of life emerged when 9 seedlings suddenly appeared. More are starting to germinate on a regular basis and the running total stands at 24 even if they are still very small. I'm so proud!!