Growing Dorset Naga Peppers: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · October 1, 2026
Dorset Naga was selected by Joy and Michael Michaud of Sea Spring Seeds in Dorset, England, from the best pods of a Naga Morich plant. Sea Spring holds the plant variety rights, so legitimate seed traces back to them.
Heat and harvest
Sea Spring Seeds rates it at up to 1,221,000 Scoville units and describes the heat as coming with a rich aroma. The wrinkled, cone-shaped pods are 4 to 5 cm long and ripen from green to red. Seeds ’n Such lists 95 days to maturity.
A tall plant that needs support
Seeds ’n Such gives plants about 4 feet, and Sea Spring says they can top a metre and need strong support to stop them toppling. Sea Spring recommends growing it in the ground or in a container of at least 7.5 litres. It is flagged as tall in the Garden Designer, so it goes on the north edge.
Start it early
Start seed indoors about eleven weeks before your last frost, the same as our other superhots, and expect slow, uneven germination. The Superhot Pepper profile covers bottom heat for germination, gloves for handling the fruit, and overwintering the plant indoors so you are not starting from seed every year.
The companion guide lists what to plant nearby.
Growing it next to other peppers
Different pepper varieties cross-pollinate easily, hot ones included. NC State Extension notes that when hot and sweet peppers cross, the heat shows up in later generations grown from saved seed, and suggests keeping varieties 20 to 30 feet apart if you plan to save your own. Baker Creek, which grows seed for sale, isolates varieties by at least 500 feet. If you buy fresh seed each year, you can plant different peppers side by side.
Sources: Sea Spring Seeds, Dorset Naga; Seeds ’n Such, Dorset Naga; NC State Extension, Saving Your Own Seed.
Companion planting guide for Dorset Naga Pepper · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 3-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Mature height: 3-4 ft
Method: Start indoors: Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside. It needs a head start most zones can't give it by direct-sowing alone.
When to plant Dorset Naga pepper, by zone
Every zone Dorset Naga pepper grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.
| Zone | Start indoors | Sow or plant out | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3a & 3b | Mar 14–Mar 21 | Jun 13–Jun 20 | Sep 16–Sep 23 |
| 4a & 4b | Feb 27–Mar 6 | May 29–Jun 5 | Sep 1–Sep 8 |
| 5a & 5b | Feb 22–Mar 1 | May 24–May 31 | Aug 27–Sep 3 |
| 6a & 6b | Feb 7–Feb 14 | May 9–May 16 | Aug 12–Aug 19 |
| 7a & 7b | Jan 23–Jan 30 | Apr 24–May 1 | Jul 28–Aug 4 |
| 8a & 8b | Jan 7–Jan 14 | Apr 8–Apr 15 | Jul 12–Jul 19 |
| 9a & 9b | Nov 30–Dec 7 | Mar 1–Mar 8 | Jun 4–Jun 11 |
| 10a & 10bSummer window | May–Jul | Aug–Sep | ~95 days after transplanting |
| 11a & 11bSummer window | May–Nov | Aug–Feb | ~95 days after transplanting |
Harvest dates are about 95 days after the sow or plant-out date, not after starting seeds indoors.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Dorset Naga Pepper plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 3-4 ft.
Soil & water: pH 6-6.5. Needs well-drained soil. Amend with lime if soil pH falls below 6.
Good companions for Dorset Naga pepper
- Basil: Reputed to repel aphids and improve pepper growth nearby, but a controlled garden trial testing this same claim on a related crop found no pest-reduction benefit from basil, and found higher pest counts on the basil-companioned plants. Treat this pairing as unproven, not as a working pest deterrent.
- Onion: Reputed to deter many common pepper pests, though this specific pairing hasn't been tested the way onion/carrot pest-masking has. Treat it as garden tradition.
Full companion guide, including what to keep away from Dorset Naga pepper →
Where to buy Dorset Naga pepper seeds
None of the seed suppliers we list carries Dorset Naga pepper seeds right now. A local garden center or a specialty seed house is the place to look.
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See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing Dorset Naga pepper" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Dorset Naga Pepper: A superhot selected in Dorset, England, from Naga Morich, known for aroma as well as heat.
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