Hey Jay nice to see you come over from the tropicals. The heat is in the placenta. Sounds like that pod just didn't put out. I'm thinking the other larger pods will give you what you're looking for. Lots of chile growers, including New Mexico State Univ, grow in pots. So you have to crack open the other pods to make a better judgment. Please include any crying and screaming in your next report :)

I had similar issues w/ the Bhut this year. I started seeds in February and we had a cool spring and summer. I just saw my first hint of orange 2 weeks ago. Looks like I'll get seven ripe pods. I've got more than 30 nice green pods on the plant that will probably never ripen. It's really frustrating. Hopefully the plant will spring back next year. I think the trick is to start as early as possible under lights or grow the Naga Morich instead. Also, as in the above post, the heat grows nearer to the placenta.

I had a similar result in terms of late ripening.
I started the seeds in feb, and got seedlings by around feb 15, the plant did extremely well all through spring and summer but no blooms until oct 1, then got the first pod in oct 15, the first ripened pod on nov 12th or so. I have 6 pods per plant and the next pod is ripening (still orange so i'm expecting red in a couple of days). Overall took 9 months to go from seedling to pod. Almost 10 months from seed to pod.
Fun stuff, but it was interesting growing it. I still have not tasted this pepper. I gave one to a friend to see what he could do with it, the other I'm planning to try to cook or do something with!
Danny

ohiojay,

In my experience pepper plants can mess with you like that. Although IÂve never experienced a "mild" Bhut (Ghost) chilli, I have had experiences with other varieties.

Worst case; a couple of years ago I purchased a Chocolate Habanero plant from a local farmer who grows peppers. I had read the Chocolates have killer heat so when my first pod ripened I brought it into work to share with my team (all pepper heads). After warning them about the coming pain, we carved the pod and chomped in. I knew right away that something was wrong. They were looking at me like IÂm nuts while I savoured the Bell Pepper taste of my slice.

Two days later I went to the farm and told him what happened and that his peppers were duds no heat, He said what? and grabbed a ripe pod off another plant and said try this one. I bit in and a few minutes later when I got my breath back I said I was wrong. Every damd pod on my plant was a killer after the first dud.

Moral of the story: sometimes peppers shoot blanks too

Bill