Bhut Jolokia Ghost Pepper Seeds – Extreme Hot Heirloom Seeds

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🚚 Ships from Melbourne, VIC — domestic & international shipping available.

Backyard Garden Seeds · The Original Legend

Bhut Jolokia Ghost Pepper

The pepper that started it all

CONFIRM_QTY Seeds · Heirloom · 1M+ SHU

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Ships Australia-wide & internationally

Digital Growing GuideDownload the full PDF Growing Guide VideoWatch it step by step

Heat check

The First Pepper to Break a Million Scoville

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Legendary ◀ Deadly
Very hot
Hot
Mild

Native to Assam, Nagaland and Manipur in Northeast India, Bhut Jolokia was measured at 1,041,427 SHU in 2007 — the first chilli ever officially confirmed over one million Scoville Heat Units. It held the Guinness World Record for six years, from 2007 to 2011, longer than any pepper that came after it. Beneath the heat sits a genuinely smoky, earthy, fruit-forward flavour that's kept it a favourite of serious chilli growers long after it lost the crown.

1,041,427 SHU, confirmed by India's DRDO and Guinness World Records in 2007

Handle with gloves at all times. Never touch your eyes, face or skin while preparing this chilli, wash hands and utensils thoroughly afterward, ventilate the kitchen when cooking with it, and keep well away from children and pets.

Australia-wide

When to sow, wherever you are

Cool & Mountain

Tasmania · VIC highlands · Canberra

Sow Jun – Jul indoors, on a heat mat

Plant out Nov – Dec, after last frost

Temperate

Melbourne · Sydney · Adelaide · Perth

Sow Jun – Jul, indoors on a heat mat

Plant out Oct – Nov

Subtropical

Brisbane · Northern NSW

Sow May – Jun

Plant out Sep – Oct

Tropical

Darwin · Cairns

Sow Feb – Apr, dry season

Close to its native climate — can persist as a genuine perennial here

Arid & Semi-arid

Alice Springs · inland regions

Sow Jun

Plant out Sep, with afternoon shade in peak heat

Growing in a pot?

Any zone

A large pot, 20L or more

Bring under cover over winter to try keeping it as a perennial

A general guide only. Bhut Jolokia is a genuine tender perennial in frost-free climates — most Australian gardeners grow it as an annual, but in warm, sheltered spots or a greenhouse, a plant can sometimes be kept and cropped for more than one season.

Seed to harvest

What happens next

Sowing

5mm deep in seed-raising mix. Soil temperature is critical — aim for 27–29°C, ideally on a heat mat.

Germination · 14–28 days

Slow, even for a superhot — genuine patience is required. Cold soil is the single biggest reason this variety seems to "fail."

Growing on indoors

Start 8–10 weeks before your last frost date. A tall, bushy plant — give it room as it grows.

Plant out

Only once nights stay reliably warm. Full sun, free-draining soil, 40–45cm spacing.

Flowering & fruit set

Small white flowers give way to thin-walled, wrinkled pods tapering to a point, ripening from green to deep red.

Harvest · 100–120+ days

Pick with gloves once fully coloured for maximum heat and flavour. A genuinely long-season pepper — the earlier and warmer the start, the better your harvest.

The details

What's in the pack

Seeds per pack10 Seeds

Seed typeHeirloom · Non-GMO

Grown inMelbourne, VIC

Germination rate90%

Days to harvest100–120+ days

Heat level~1,000,000+ SHU

The pepper that changed the game

Limited seed each year — once it's picked, it's picked.

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Enjoy Gardening