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Growing a Carolina Reaper Pepper

Growing the world's hottest pepper can seem like a daunting task, but it's relatively easy. We will walk you through the necessary steps to grow a Carolina Reaper, also known as the world's hottest pepper. Here's what you'll need.

  • Medium-sized pot with drainage holes
  • Compost
  • Water
  • Room temperature of 29 degrees Celsius.
  • Carolina Reaper seeds.
First, what you're going to want to do is fill your growing pot with soil 5cm below the top. Then you will take your compost and add a light layer on top of the soil, followed by adding your Carolina Reaper seeds on top of the compost. The next step is pushing the seeds down into your compost and soil layer by half a centimeter. Add enough water to wet your soil without saturating the mix and set your greenhouse to 29 degrees Celsius. Continue to water the soil as needed making sure there is always enough moistur. Before you know it, you will have your very own Carolina Reaper!

Capsaicin & Scoville Scales

Capsaicin is the main component that gives Carolina Reaper peppers its famous heat and high Scoville units. The greater the amount of Capsaicinoids a pepper has, the greater the Scoville units will be. Currently, the highest Scoville rating goes up to 2.2million units, which the Guinness Book of World Records recognizes. For reference, pepper spray reaches Scoville units of around 2 to 4.5 million SHU. Now that’s hot!

    You may be wondering if there are any risks or harms in eating peppers this hot; the answer is yes! Peppers such as the Carolina Reaper with high capsaicin content can irritate your gastrointestinal tract causing pain, vomiting, and even burning diarrhea. Eating Carolina Reaper can also cause intense heart, serve eye pain, and nausea. It’s a safer bet to avoid eating bulk quantities of Carolina Reaper peppers unless you are interested in beating the world record of eating 3 in under 10 seconds.