Frankles:
They will set fruit when they are ready. My Nagas last year dropped blossoms by the dozens every day last summer and then all of a sudden, pods started appearing and they were all setting. The plants wound up with about 100 pods on them all at once. Here is a picture of the blossoms dropping.

If the plant looks other wise healthy, it is probably just not ready. It could be as simple as too much heat.

Flower drop probable causes:

1. Day temp too high >95F
2. Night temp too low 3. Too much nitrogen fertilizer
4. Too much water
5. Low light levels (reduces fertility).
6. Very low humidity (reduces fertility)
7. Poor air circulation (air circulation contributes to pollination).
8. Lack of pollinating insects.
9. Size of pot

10. Too much mineral in feedwater.
11. Too much grower attention.

If you try to mess with all the possible causes, you may wind up making things worse. You have a long growing season in KY. Patience. In two months, you will probably have more Bhuts than you can use.
Bruce

Thanks a lot...great site. (my first post)

We had a few really hot days and I had exactly what your picture showed. Good I didn't want to mess with too much because the seemed healthy. I'm in no hurry.

I agree Bruce about messing with the plants. Letting them do their own thing seems to be the best policy.

In reading recent posts, stuff like a leaf or two yellowing for instance is such a minor problem - yet the grower still gets concerned and wants everything perfect. It isn't being realistic.

I think the art to caring for hot pepper plants is primarily the watering. Watering when needed and not to a set schedule seems to produce massive growth and lush, healthy plants. Simple.

The sunshine you can't do anything about - apart from selecting a spot where the sun is not impeded. A string of rainy days is out of your control. It sucks, but that's the way it is.

Pest control is the only other work. You don't want ants using your plants as an aphid farm.

I am also finding that not every plant seems capable of huge, sun-gorging leaves. While this is nice for getting a bushy high-yielding pepper factory, the little guys hold their own quite well.

Yeah, they're just really slow to set and mature fruit. Rule of thumb, the hotter the pepper, the longer it takes. And it doesn't get much hotter than a bhut.

Mine just finally set fruit last week, and it was overwintered.

I had same problem when starting out. What I found that I had to do was get a fine tip painters brush, wet the tip and pollinate all the flowers one by one to get mine to start setting fruit. after they set fruit once they keep on setting fruit, imo. had the same plant since last year and it hasn't stop producing since. just be careful not to damage the flowers or push to hard inside the flower.

I use a Q-tip.

Yep, I simply "flick" individual blooms or even branches with several blooms on them. That is enough to dislodged the pollen enough to pollinate the flower. Seems like plants go through a stage where most of the blooms will drop no matter what you do. It is just a phase and after a week or so, they start producing pods right and left with little to no drops. I dont know if it is just a normal phase or some environmental reason but it seems to coincide with a stretch of excessive heat. If you have wind, bouncing your plants around, that is all that is necessary most times. Best case is to see insects darting from bloom to bloom though.

Bruce

Funny, a week after I posted this I now have 3 or 4 peppers forming on 2 bhut plants.

Yes, and my guess is you will soon have dozens.
Bruce

and then hundreds.

They are very productive if your season is long enough for themn to mature.

DarJones

I would assume, I'm in Lexington ky and they are already a couple feet tall.