cayenne vs. ghost pepper vs. moruga scorpion

[denemante]

Hey all - I've grown cayennes, ghosts and scorpions under lights from seed. They all sprouted and generally stayed on pace with each other. Once I had about 6 leaves on each, I moved up to 4 inch pots with the ideal soil. Temps got right here in Atlanta, and now they are all outside. Now they are each about 3-5 inches tall - except the scorpions.

A few ghosts and cayennes really took off - and they are now thriving in my garden in the ground.

I've treated every plant 100% the same. The cayennes are tallest with long leaves. The ghosts have wider leaves and the plants are shorter - but both look healthy. Yet the scorpions - they are going the other direction. Each day, they seem to look worse. I've got about 20 scorpion sprouts left and fear I'll lose my crop. The leaves are still green, but the plants are tiny - like an inch high. I want to salvage them!

It's blatently obvious that these peppers must somehow be cared for differently.

I'm wondering perhaps if this is 100% normal - with identical conditions and 20-30 sprouts from each variety - perhaps it's normal that only a few make it into the ground?

[rainbowgardener]

I don't think it is "normal" that plants fail to thrive or don't survive. I think it means that they aren't getting something they need or conditions aren't right for them. I haven't grown any of the peppers you mention, but I do know that different peppers may have slightly different needs. I always grow bell peppers, but this year, I also grew Anaheim (mild) chilis. The chili peppers were definitely slower to start and get going and stayed smaller for a long time, though by now they seem to have caught up.

[imafan26]

Trinidad scorpion is classified as c. chinense. So it grows more like a habanero than a jalapeno. It is going to be slower and probably shorter too. I have not grown scorpions, but I have grown habanero. If you have grown habanero successfully treat them that way. I find habanero's actually like a little more shade than the frutescens for some reason.

[dave103069]

Extreame hot peppers like the Ghost and Trinadad are very late season plants. Late August to early Sept before you will be able to pick anything.. They will take time.. Cayenne are more mid season. For the ghost & Trinadad, I would suggest plucking off any flowers until mid June. This will help to get a more plentyful crop out of them..

[vinyl217]

I had the same issue last year with my Bhut Jolokias, tiny plants that seemed too small to go out in the garden. This year, however, I started the seeds about 6 weeks before starting the rest of my peppers to enable them to get more sizeable prior to planting out. I must say, it worked well as my Bhuts this year are the largest pepper plants going into the garden. That said, I still wouldn't plan on harvesting much until end of August as they just take forever here in IL. Haven't tried the Trinidad, but I imagine it's like the Bhut Jolokia or other extreme hot pepper...slower growing out of native habitat and later harvest.