I'd say it's within the range....the one above, not pictured, looks better. If you intend to harvest seed, I would recommend harvesting only from pods with the desired phenotype. As someone else said, We have to stabilize this pepper for Ed :-)

Good example of a pepper that probably hit the market a little too soon....

Josh

Definitely save seeds form the one above with the tail! Listen to Josh.......He's pepper smart!

Tim

I'm getting pods that look just like that on my "improved reaper 1" plants, so I think that is a decent one. You can tell by the bumps on that larger pod that it's going to be really hot. Keep in mind that there are hidden genetics in each plant. If that is the only plant you have, take seeds from a good pod and you will get some plants that produce even better looking pods with longer tails, etc.

Thanks folks! Yup any new strain is going to be a little quirky for several generations..... Saving seeds prolly not a good idea here due to the fact that I'm growing several Butch T's next to these without netting them......

Here's a better pic of the pod (with a tail) that Josh mentioned.....

Yah, that tail looks good. My reaper is more like your other pods. No real nice defined stinger on any of them though. I am likely not going to be growing the "Reaper" any longer until the strain is better stabilized. The problem is that it seems the original seed was released too early and with everyone growing it now, it is going to be tough to weed out the bad seed. It is too bad they didn't keep the original strain in the laboratory for a couple more generations to nail down the purity a little better. Now we have dozens of variations that are going to keep making their way back into the overall seed stock.
Bruce

Thanks Bruce! Yeah I've been doing some research on this pepper & the masses concur with your take.........

It's all about money........