Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Chili
Trinidad moruga scorpion (Capsicum chinense) is one of the hottest chili peppers in the world. I’m not sure if I want to taste it, but it’s nice to have such a powerful plant around.
It originates from Trinidad and Tobago. In warm places without freezing temperatures during the winter, it can grow as perennial, but even the lightest frost can completely kill it, so it’s usually acting as an annual plant in temperate climate. Perhaps I’ll try to place it into large pot during autumn and winter and try to keep it alive during the cold part of the year.
[GARD]
Chili was growing slow at first, but got quite vigorous when sun got a bit higher in the late spring. It liked baking in full sun at high temperature, but it also needed a lot of water. I’ve made a mistake and kept it inside the same pot for too long, which resulted in strong and a bit congested root system. When I planted it outside, it took quite some time to actually start growing again – I’m not sure if it was low temperature and excessive rainfall or the fact that it got root bound while still inside it’s pot.
When it started growing again, it soon set up a couple of blossoms, which were pollinated and first fruits started to develop. Trinidad moruga chili has very small flowers, compared to other chilies I’ve tried growing, but in the end, chilies were not small at all. They seem to flower in waves, just as first fruits are starting to turn red, the next wave of small flowers started to emerge. Sadly this summer is one of the coldest and it’s constantly wet, which means that chili didn’t have the best growing conditions, but it seems the second batch of flowers should ripe before cold weather kicks in.