See my other listings for Carolina Reaper based Hot Sauces, BBQ Sauce, Ketchup and Dry Rub
March of 2019, I went to The Puckerbutt Pepper Company, in South Carolina, which is the entity that created the Carolina Reaper Pepper and I purchased seeds that are certified as authentic by them; I planted those seeds in my home garden in 2020. The seeds that you are purchasing, came from the second generation of peppers that were harvested from the plants that germinated from those seeds (see 3rd photo)
The link below shows a video of the process that I follow to select the seeds https://www.instagram.com/tv/CJjbQ_uBHkS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
If you're not planting these right away, please put them in the refrigerator and they will be ready when you decide to plant them
I have been planting Carolina Reaper Peppers in my home garden since 2015 and, after much trial and error, I have found a system that will help other hot pepper enthusiasts get their plants up an running
Here is what has worked for me:
1. I live in Georgia, so I plant the seeds for the following year's crop, 5 months before the last frost
2. Use Jiffy Natural and Organic Seed Starting Mix. If you don't find this in your area, another alternative is Miracle Grow Seed Starting Mix, but I've had the most success with Jiffy (see 7th photo)
3. Get a good size container and fill it with the Seed Starting Mix (see 8th & 9th photos)
4. Add water to the container and start mixing until the Soil turns darker and is wet to the touch (see 10th photo)
5. I use 9oz plastic cups from Sam's for this step, you can use a similar size cup (see 11th photo). Take a screwdriver or similar metal object, heat it up in the stove (see 12th photo)
6. After the tool has heated up, make 3 holes at the bottom of one of the cups (see 13th photo). After making the holes, insert that cup inside another cup that has no holes in it (see 14th photo)
7. Fill the cup with the wet Soil and compact it, by using a teaspoon (see 15th photo)
8. After compacting the soil, open a ridge about 1/4 inch deep in the middle (see 16th photo) and drop 5-6 seeds in the ridge (see 17th photo)
9. Cover up the ridge and compact the soil
10. After this is done, place the cup in an area inside the house where the temperature is consistent. If you can find a cable box or another object that slightly heats up, you can place the cup on top of it and that will help speed up germination
11. After 1 week to 10 days, take a look at the cup every 3-4 days and, if you see that the soil looks dry (going back to the original light brown color); take the cup with the holes out of the cup with no holes and add about 1/2 inch of water to it. Then place the cup with the holes inside of it again
12. You will see the seeds start to germinate anywhere between 1 week and 1 month
13. As soon as the seeds germinate; place the cup in a window that gets sun all day
14. Follow the same watering instructions as provided on step number 11, but water the cup every 4 days. The ideal is for the surface to be dry and the bottom of the cup to hold the water. This will prevent mold to form on the surface
15. Once the seeds start to germinate and they all have at least 4 leafs, remove the weaker plants and repeat this process until you're left with the strongest plant of the batch
16. These plants grow very slowly, so be patient. Once you see that the roots are coming out of the bottom of the cup; it's time to move them to a bigger cup. I use 16 oz cups from Sam's but you can use any other in that similar size (see 18th photo). Follow the same instructions from when you planted the seeds, fill the bigger cup with Mixing Soil and transplant the plant with the soil from the smaller cup to the bigger one. This might happen around 90 days from planting
17. At this time, if desired, you can start adding fertilizer to the water you use for the plants. You can use Miracle Grow and add 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water (see 20th photo). If you use another fertilizer, use half of the recommended portion on the label
18. Once you start to see the roots come out of the bottom of the big cup, the plant is ready to be transplanted to a bucket or into the soil; before doing this, the plant must get used to the outdoors, so put them outside for some time during the day and increase the number of hours day by day; this process should take about one week. Once you get to this point is just a waiting game until you start to see your plant start to yield results
Based on my climate, I don't plant them outside until Tax Day (April 15th), at the earliest
Thanks for looking at these seeds, take a look at the other items in my store and let me know if you have any questions. You can also follow me on Facebook & Instagram @ PepperFuego (one word) to see the progress of these seeds from planting to harvest
