I've been noticing a lot of different looking peppers all going by the name Naga Morich. Do you have any preferred strain of this amazing pepper? Pics if you have them handy would be nice too!
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favorite Which is your favorite Naga Morich strain?
- Thread starter Spicegeist
- Start date
Here are two types:
http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/veg-chilipepper-hottest-peppers.htm#VEG590
http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/veg-chilipepper-hottest-peppers.htm#VEG590
was unaware of there being different strains, so on that note, I like the strain I grew this year.
EDIT: I lied. I received some chocolate Naga Morich from Cappy awhile back, so I know of 2(?) strains.
Sent you some "Bombay Morich" awhile back...
Greg
Its just a naga morich given a fancy new name, just like this European naga morich. I've been selective breeding my naga morich plants for 5 or 6 years but it is still just a naga morich, not a Canadian naga. If everyone who grows a plant for several years would re-name them, there would be so much confusion
My Israeli Naga would go all krav-maga on your Canadian Naga's ass!
Ok again I have been corrected. They are in the freezer awaiting their time to shine. I did notice they weren't quite as hot as the naga morich I grew this year, but they do have a great flavor.
Krav-Maga Naga, yes!
The thing about peppers is that genetics can vary a lot over the years, especially if one ends up getting crossed accidentally. It seems to happen a lot, and the two naga morich varieties on that site were likely both labeled as 'Naga Morich' from two different seed suppliers, but came out as very different looking pods. Those pictures look nothing alike and lead me to believe that most folks here, if they didn't see the name, would call them different strains. For all we know one is a cross.
That being said, the 'Naga Family' as I call it includes any and all superhot varieties whos original genetics came out of India and not Trinidad. This includes the Bhut Jolokia, Bih Jolokia, and Naga Morich. I believe all (or almost all?) others were bred out afterwards. The Dorset Naga, for instance, was made from selective breeding I believe. The chocolate and yellow varieties of the bhut as well as the 'Black Naga' etc are all crosses that were developed out of the original genetics from India and made to form different colors.
As you take genetics from their native habitat and spread them all over the world, and then add a few dozen generations in the mix, you wind up with all sorts of wacky things happening. It is both a natural process (mutation) and a man-made process (hybridization, whether intentional or not) for genetics to vary over time and new 'strains' to emerge. A lot of folks on this site will scrutinize a seed seller for crafting a new name, which is what is being done here. The thing is, two of the same strain from two different sellers could yield two very different results, but still be similar enough to the original strain (in this case Naga Morich) to call them BOTH Naga Morich. Just take a look at the 'Butch T'. It got a new name when Butch Taylor sent his seeds out, even though the strain was traced back to the same landrace scorpions that Trinidad has been growing for decades. We have now adopted that name for that particular type of scorpion, even though it was bred from the same scorpions that all the rest were. To extend it further, if you let a strain be isolated for long enough, it can completely respeciate like C. galapagoense!
Because of this, I am personally a fan of using the form "[Strain] - [Seed Source]" to describe every plant you grow. This allows us all to scrutinize genetics without the stigma of declaring a new strain. Unfortunately not many of us are lucky enough to have the patience and resources to grow the same strain from many sources in order to properly answer your question.
Sorry for the wall of text!
TL;DR summary: Genetics are always changing, but naming is not.
That being said, the 'Naga Family' as I call it includes any and all superhot varieties whos original genetics came out of India and not Trinidad. This includes the Bhut Jolokia, Bih Jolokia, and Naga Morich. I believe all (or almost all?) others were bred out afterwards. The Dorset Naga, for instance, was made from selective breeding I believe. The chocolate and yellow varieties of the bhut as well as the 'Black Naga' etc are all crosses that were developed out of the original genetics from India and made to form different colors.
As you take genetics from their native habitat and spread them all over the world, and then add a few dozen generations in the mix, you wind up with all sorts of wacky things happening. It is both a natural process (mutation) and a man-made process (hybridization, whether intentional or not) for genetics to vary over time and new 'strains' to emerge. A lot of folks on this site will scrutinize a seed seller for crafting a new name, which is what is being done here. The thing is, two of the same strain from two different sellers could yield two very different results, but still be similar enough to the original strain (in this case Naga Morich) to call them BOTH Naga Morich. Just take a look at the 'Butch T'. It got a new name when Butch Taylor sent his seeds out, even though the strain was traced back to the same landrace scorpions that Trinidad has been growing for decades. We have now adopted that name for that particular type of scorpion, even though it was bred from the same scorpions that all the rest were. To extend it further, if you let a strain be isolated for long enough, it can completely respeciate like C. galapagoense!
Because of this, I am personally a fan of using the form "[Strain] - [Seed Source]" to describe every plant you grow. This allows us all to scrutinize genetics without the stigma of declaring a new strain. Unfortunately not many of us are lucky enough to have the patience and resources to grow the same strain from many sources in order to properly answer your question.
Sorry for the wall of text!
TL;DR summary: Genetics are always changing, but naming is not.
That's what I was thinking, thank you for that. I fell in love with a Naga Morich, but none grew true (though not all bad either). This 2012 season if things go right, I'll be growing 3 different strains to see, smell & taste for myself.
In the past many of us chileheads would label seeds with the initials of the seed source IE. Scorpion-BT. This does not neccessarily mean that it is a new or different strain, it just helps us identify seeds from different sources and follow how they travel and grow in different environments.
Once again the Dorset naga was only selectively bred for a few years which is not nearly enough time to develop any real changes. Most of us on this forum could have our own naga version if this were the case
Once again the Dorset naga was only selectively bred for a few years which is not nearly enough time to develop any real changes. Most of us on this forum could have our own naga version if this were the case
I love the one I grew and isolated this year from seed I got from Pepp3rfreak last year. Great flavor and heat. I got one seed from a pod last year he had that was crossed with a 7pot the year before and that plant produced beautiful pods all season. I agree Potawie with the labeling technique.
Yes, that labeling system is smart. I haven't see it a whole lot with Naga Morich, though I will employ this annotation for my own records.
Sounds like a REALLY dirty martial art.....your Naga would then be Krav-Naga!
Okay so I decided not to write a huge paper on this. I take that back, I wrote a ton about genetics and then deleted it because I knew no one would read it and I've had a drink or two
If you don't like the Butch T example, what about the Indian Carbon? It clearly has a common ancestor with the Assam Bhut but was it hybridized? I think not. The only thing is that we don't know the number of generations in isolation it took to develop those traits.
Bottom line is that this comes down to what you would consider to be enough like a Naga Morich to be named one. Is a white 7 pot enough like a 7 pot to be named one? Apparently so, even though the only thing that they seem to have in common is a few 7 pot genes. If we go on naming things like that, there are easily hundreds of Naga Morichs out there that are hybrids and are just waiting for us. If we can breed a new Naga Morich, how dissimilar does it have to be to the original to earn a new name?
Also, genes can change a lot in only a handful of generations. All it requires is luck. A new strain can pop out of the woodwork without being a hybrid after only five to ten generations, but it's obviously not going to happen even 10% of the time. There is no maximum or minimum number of generations required before you see genetic variation. It is like trying to roll a 6 on a die. It might happen first try, or it could not happen for fifty tries. I think this fact and accidental hybridization is what causes some genetic variation between sellers.
I'm going to make a new post on this because I don't want to hijack this thread and I'd love to discuss this with you guys. I'm gonna have to crack another beer to write it though.