I'm growing some Carolina Reapers this year for the first time. Anyone familiar with them and can give me any pointers?

[SnakeCharmer]

Oh, my. You are brave. I haven't grown them, but have grown some very hot Thai peppers, too hot for me, a little way down the heat scale from Carolina Reapers. I think Carolinas are in the current top spot.

A very pretty little pepper with a funny tail at the tip. A cute ornamental. If you intend to eat them, I have several suggestions.

1. Wear rubber gloves when you process them. Unless you're looking for a heat record, remove the white ribs and seeds from the inside of the pepper because that's all heat and not flavor.

2. Be careful to not touch your face, not the slightest touch, especially to the lips, eyes, or nose. The burning can last for hours. It's easy to touch your face without even thinking about it, so stay in the moment while processing.

3. If possible, process them where there's a lot of ventilation because the fumes can get through your entire house causing eye and throat burning.

4. If you're making sauce, slow cook with a lid to prevent the fumes from getting into everything.

5. If you want just a taste, cut off the tiniest sliver, wearing gloves, and try it, but have liquids ready. Some people say water, some say beer, some say milk. Nothing much ever helped me.

6. Do not ... do not under any circumstances ... give it to anyone who doesn't know what it is and isn't a willing volunteer. With me, the heat in the mouth was not the problem. It went through my entire digestive system and set off a chain reaction that had my system upset for days. Famous last words: I should have known better.

7. Best use in my opinion .. ornamental plants because they're pretty, and as deer and bug repellent, for your plants not for humans. There are recipes on-line.

8. If you grow them as ornamentals, snip back a few of the branch tips and that will make the plant grow bushier and give you a lot more peppers. That also works if you're going to eat them, but it will delay your crop.

9. Good Luck and Have Fun

10. Come back in September and tell us how it went. You are a brave person. Far more brave than I am. These days I grow only sweet peppers. I was careless with the really hot ones and developed rash/burn on my skin that took a week to go away. Truly miserable. I touched my face unconsciously and had red marks for a few days that looked like I'd been slapped around. So take care and keep your pets and little kids away from them. They're such cute little peppers, kids find them very attractive and want to touch and taste.

[seeker1950]

Whoa! You guys are brave gardeners! I grew some very generic hot peppers many years ago, then hung them to dry. Using them should have been handled with care thereafter, which I did not know! Burned myself!

Thanks for info. They are growing so slow compared to my Tobasco and Habs. I will try a sliver or to, but will dry and crush/grind them. I have 4 or 5 spice bottles and 10-15 jars pickled of Tobasco and Cayennes. I will never eat them all. I just enjoy growing them. I haven't tried the Thai, but was going to until I found out about these reapers. There's a you tube video where 3 dudes each eat a whole one. They all start barfing into a bucket. I am very experienced with habs, so I know to be careful. That's why I love the Tobasco so much. They are small, so you can eat them one by one with no waste, but they are fairly hot when they are bright orange right off the plant.

Ooh, I may make some jelly with them. Haven't done that in a while.

[hvert]

I wonder if some just need warmer weather than others? My habanero looks tiny and awful, but some of my other peppers are finally starting to grow.

How interesting. I grow mine in pots to move around for different sun positions throughout the year, and this year I stepped up from Miracle Grow Potting Mix up to the Moisture Control Mix. My hab is twice as large as any I've ever grown in the past.

Probably right about warm weather. The reapers are a hybrid from overseas native species so that's probably what it is. One of them is now about a foot tall now that it's hit the 90's for the last couple of weeks.

[MotownJohnny]

My only advice is ... Be afraid, be very afraid.

I grow Anaheim, Ancho, and peperoncini, all of which are about 1500 Scovilles max. Those are as hot as I can stand them.

Those things are rated like 1.5 to 2 MILLION Scovilles. I would almost be afraid to have it in my yard.

[Slamjammer]

I have grown various hot and sweet peppers in those "Topsy Turvy" things which are normally used for upside down tomatoes. I like to make Jalapeño jelly, or combine hot peppers with citrus to make an excellent marmalade. ;-)