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The Great Kiwi Pepper Thread

nzchilligirl said:
Thanks very much for welcoming me into the group. On the subject of sourcing seeds, I noticed from previous posts that the rules relating to importing seed are becoming tighter and it is becoming increasingly difficult to purchase seed from outside the country.  On this point, in the vege growers group on FB that I belong to, a lady had a terrible experience which instilled great fear into those who ordered, or like me were thinking of ordering, seed from abroad. She had apparently ordered some gourd and another Asian vegetable from Asia (I think it might have been Thailand).  She received the seeds and as they were not intercepted at the border, did not think anything of it anymore.  Then a couple of days later, she said that she was visited by a MAF inspector who then seized the seeds and also demanded to inspect her garden for other items. She felt really shaken by the experience and incredibly guilty.  I don't think she was making it up. This kind of scenario frightened me and made me reluctant to order from overseas companies. At the moment I can trace or legitimately account for everything I've grown so I have no reason to fear being audited by MAF.
 
I have made an effort to save some seed from the best chilli from each plant (and other veggies from the garden for that matter) and am happy to share them with people in the group.  
 
In terms of sourcing seed for exotic items, where is the best place to start?
 
I will keep an eye on Trade Me (though I must admit I'm not such a fan). I've also purchased seed from Kings Seeds and was happy with the quality. Egmont and Franchi are also good.
 
Any thoughts? 
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Well i have had a nasty letter from MAF and 2 parcels destroyed. I don't believe they would allow seeds to get through and then spend time calling in on the person who ordered them...too risky for them and too much like hard work as well. Easier just to intercept the seeds at the border and destroy them.
We were looking into placing a group order with a supplier who supplies the phytosanitary certificates now required but have yet to find someone who has what we want and will issue the cert. Luckily many of us have seeds from the last few seasons to keep us going. If you have something specific in mind just ask.....
Some guys are still getting parcels through without problems....there are ways and means of getting it done!
 
Hi, I'm Anita Kundu in the vege growers group on FB. Anthony referred me here.Hi Darin!  I thought some of the photos looked familia so guessed your identities based on that! Please keep me in the loop regarding the group order. To be honest, I'm fairly new to growing chillis and only just starting to become curious about the more unusual, exotic varieties after seeing how cool my Jamaican Gold looked (thank you Anthony!). So I don't have a wish list of must haves for the garden. Happy to just go with the flow. And thanks re the offers of seeds. Other than the standard varieties I listed as having grown I don't have exotic chilli seeds to trade but am happy to trade other veggie seeds if those are too boring. I'm not sure if everyone is dedicated to growing only chilli plants, or if they have broader veggie gardens.
 
Hey I have heaps of spares now after this season, can share at least 30 varieties. All open pollinated although half are indoor ones where there isnt much air movement so less risk of cross pollination. Also have a bunch of ones that I bought from pepperlover.com and I got given a bunch of spares, so all these are pretty much guaranteed to be mint. Let me know if you want you can have a look through my stash.
 
Next season should be awesome!
 
Wow, thank you. That's very kind of you. Yes please! And let me know if there's anything you're searching for in return - I think I have most veggie seeds.
 
It felt like Christmas last night! I found a parcel of seeds from Peter at Semillas that i had forgotten about...woohoo! Looks like my grow this year is not going to be as small as i had planned....sounds like what happened last year as well! This year i am ready for battle when the aphids,fungus gnats and psyllids arrive....no destroying my crop again!
 
Rush35 said:
It felt like Christmas last night! I found a parcel of seeds from Peter at Semillas that i had forgotten about...woohoo! Looks like my grow this year is not going to be as small as i had planned....sounds like what happened last year as well! This year i am ready for battle when the aphids,fungus gnats and psyllids arrive....no destroying my crop again!
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Hey Darren I've ordered these guys here: http://www.bioforce.co.nz/shop/products/hyper-mite/x_sku/Hyper-Mite.html so hopefully will get them next week. I've got a bunch of fungus gnats flying around my greenhouse, heaps are getting trapped but still. So I'll see how these mites will cope with them.
 
Those fungas gnats are a pain in the ass but after the psyllids everything else seems tame! Let me know how the hyper-mites work. I used yellow stickies for the flying gnats,soapy water for the leaves and diluted hydrogen peroxide as a soil drench....toasted the little buggers in the soil which are the biggest problem.
 
I had thousands of fungus gnats in my polytunnel and gave up on them in the end.I really think they are only a problem for very small plants.When the plants are bigger they have zero effect
 
Swampy_NZ said:
I had thousands of fungus gnats in my polytunnel and gave up on them in the end.I really think they are only a problem for very small plants.When the plants are bigger they have zero effect
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Hopefully aye. I didnt see much impact last year but then again I did have terazila which has neem powder in there to keep them out
 
The tiny grubs of the gnats can eat the tender roots of new plants.As the plants get older the surface roots get bigger and stronger and the grubs cant do shit.unless your plants are seedling dont worry about them
 
For me they showed up with the seedlings were very young and so the grubs were a threat until i peroxided them. Wish psyllids were so easy to nuke!
 
Swampy_NZ said:
Getting cold now.Plants are doing their final thing.
Doing a bit of an experiment with some Reapers with 4 different potting mixes.
 
1: Daltons potting mix 
2: Daltons potting mix + Yates dynamic lifter pellets
3: Daltons Organic compost
4: Daltons Organic compost + dynamic lifter pellets
 
Will be interesting to see how they go overwinter under lights.   :)
 
BigJim

 
Plants doing their last dash

 
Under lights
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Are you going to be watering with hydroponic nutrients as well? I am also trying a couple of different options for soil this year, but intend using diluted hydroponic nutrients as well with the watering under the lights over winter.
 
Now I've read through 23 pages of this thread and I still haven't found out where to get seeds for those Kiwi Peppers, what color they are and if Kiwi Peppers really tastes like kiwi :rofl:
 
Nulle said:
Now I've read through 23 pages of this thread and I still haven't found out where to get seeds for those Kiwi Peppers, what color they are and if Kiwi Peppers really tastes like kiwi :rofl:
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You have to have live in NZ for 10 years and be able to sing our national anthem by heart then you get the seeds.Thems just the rules  :)
 
Nulle said:
Now I've read through 23 pages of this thread and I still haven't found out where to get seeds for those Kiwi Peppers, what color they are and if Kiwi Peppers really tastes like kiwi :rofl:
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 What i want to know is.... how the hell you know what a kiwi tastes like?
 
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