I'm not positive, it's a little hard to tell from your pic. It may just be in that in between stage when it's going from dark brown to bright red. You should know within a few days. If it's still getting dark around Saturday, it may not be an average bhut. I would say it will start turning red soon though. Someone smarter than I can probably help you more.

Tim

Looks like the NOT Bhut Jolokia I got from the local Nursery.
It was green and turned brown before it got stolen.
It looked like it was going to turn red before it got picked.

Don't think yours is a Bhut.

Hard to see the pod,wilted plant,pointed pod(not Bhut like in my opinion).
Picture doesn't look right in general...
My Habalokia and Chocolate Bhuts never looked like that.

A regular Bhut changes from green to orange to red. Is that the only pod on the plant? Also hard to tell the full pod shape as wilted leaf is covering the top of the pod. Could be a Choclate habanero. Could you take another pic of that pod or another.

Other pods...

Whole plant...

Looks more like a scorpion to me. How is the heat? Very nice plant either way. Love the stingers:)

romy - Haven't tried one yet. I was waiting for them to turn, but I can probably go ahead and try the "chocolate" one. I guess I could also eat one of the green ones, but the heat wouldn't be as high, right?

> "but the heat wouldn't be as high, right?"

Maybe technically, but it should still be enough to melt your soft palate and make it run down over your teeth.

Hmm... so I tried one of the medium sized green ones last night. It was just smaller than my thumb, and I had 3/4 of it. While it had some kick to it, it certainly wasn't "melt your soft palate and make it run down over your teeth" hot (love that description though). Medium burn on my tongue, less on my throat. Didn't need anything (milk, bread, etc.) to help quell the heat, but by eyes did water up, which happens with most really spicy things though.

Maybe its not fully sized or fully developed, and I only had 3/4, so it may be missing some kick that it would otherwise have, but I would have expected more heat if it was a real Bhut Jolokia.

Yeah, if it was a real ghost you'd still be weeping and hiccuping. (Terrible combination that.)

I don't know what it is, but it sure is a pretty pod.

Yeah, I'm like 99% sure they're NOT Bhut Jolokia. Regardless, I do like the look of them, and hopefully they get better tasting(and hotter) as they continue to ripen.

So, it looks like my quest will continue for the real deal. Anyone out there want to swap some seeds or pods? Since I'm new to this forum, I'm not sure what the protocol for trading or swapping, so any constructive criticism is appreciated.

My first thought was some kind of Scorpion also. But heat will likely be in the Bhut range and it may be better tasting anyway...that is if you are able to taste through the burn.
Bruce

Mrandypandy....If you need sees, just shoot me an e-mail. Here's a pic of my bhuts. This is my first year growing them. They have grown great and I really like the flavor. The heat will not let you down!

Tim

Here's a close up of a pod that is ripening.

Tim

@peppernovice - very nice looking pod! I'll shoot you an e-mail.

This is my first year growing Bhut Jolokia's as well. They are growing in a greenhouse. They are about 4 feet tall and loaded with peppers that look like Bhut Jolokia pods. Can you tell me approx how many days from the full grown to the fully ripe stage? I don't live in a warm climate (Alberta) and it's getting quite cool at nights. I'm trying to decide to trim the plant back or give it another few weeks to keep developing more peppers.

I would hold on as long as you can. If you pay attention, you'll notice a pod or two getting darker, almost brown. Once you notice that, it can be as quick as a couple weeks. I hope you get at least a couple pods before the season ends. Keep us posted.

Tim

You can make a little tent with some plastic sheeting and cover the plant at night. That should hold it for a few more weeks (and the plastic will admit plenty of light if you need to protect it during the day.) So long as you can keep the frost from biting the leaves, the ground temperature is the critical factor.

Update: Still not sure what they are, but the ripe chocolates do have much more heat than the green ones. Don't taste particularly good, but lots of heat to me. Also, it appears I may have two separate plants. There are two main stalks, and all the pods on one stalk are the chocolates, and all the pods on the second stalk are turning bright red (see below). Thoughts?

More...

And more...

Very nice, and yes they look to be two plants....if they are on separate trunks, of course.
Nice Chocolates, whatever they are. Seem to have "scorpion" tails, but others here would
be much better at identification than I.

Josh

Where did you get all the zombie mice?