PeriPeri's Grow Log 2012: South Africa

GA Growhead · Mar 19, 2013

I had a douglah that grew long pods last season. Not the desired shape, but it does show up so i read/was told. Was the only brown podded one out of the three plants i had, the other two ripened red. Still crazy hot pods. I actually like the shape. Will post a pict if you would like. Growing the long pheno seeds again this season to see if they grow out the same. I also am growing more douglahs from two different sources along with some next generation red douglahs.
I'm not sure the bhuts are true. They are shaped different, but brown is good! I love them brown pods. Interested in how those turn out. Choc bhuts do have a great flavor, from what i have grown. And the naga morich look a bit suspect from what i have seen too. Maybe that's why they are not tasting the best. I'm growing them for the first time this season, so i have no real experience. But have heard they are great flavor wise and nice producers. Hope mine grow out true or atleast enjoyable!
Take Care Lourens!

PeriPeri · Mar 19, 2013

PjPEPPERS said:
It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered ~ Aeschylus

Amazing update pictures again Lourens. Exciting to see some of the other peppers you are growing.

After my recent cull of plants it turns out I’m growing a few that you have going also, though mine as no way nears as ready as yours are. 2 that come to mind are the Naga Kings(although mine is classed as the morich - more on this in a minute) and the Nagalah. The Nagalah is very popular over here being a cross of a naga and douglah people seem to get real hyped about it. I have not tried it myself yet but after seeing yours grow out I am looking forward to seeing some bright oranges pods.

The Naga Kings you have I think are the same as what I have (at least I hope so) Mine are called King naga morich and I think there is a variety called the King naga Jolokia. The lime green colour of your pods, I believe is to be correct to how they should be. From what I understand the lime green King Nagas are a hybrid of the morich and Jolokia. As always though it’s just my opinion and don’t take as gospel. I hope mine do actually turn out to be lime green though, I think the colour would go really well in a rub or powder, the obvious choice would be sauce but I think a lime green rub or powder is something a bit different.

Ahh soo much good stuff to mention and don’t want to ramble on so:

- The colouring on the Bhut Jolokia, I reckon that’s a choc bhut jolokia you have there.
- 7 pot’s look really freaky, I love the 7 pots and brain strains just because of the way they look, very unique
- Red Fatali pods look cool, can understand my micky mouse likes them so much. I have 1 red fatali growing at the moment. The yellow is popular over here and seeds are easy to get hold of but red is not so means good £’s to be made.
- Never heard of the Jonah until I joined THP so interesting to see that grow out. I know SpicyChicken has hundred’s of them growing a the moment - check it out if you haven’t already.
- Glad you still have a purple tiger growing - love the purple plants so different to the super hots.
- Hong Kong peppers sounds interesting, wonder what that will turn out like, looks like it has fairly large peppers
- Mystery peppers is..well a mystery. Very unique looking fruit though. Time will tell.

Great stuff mate, keep up the good work, the peppers gods as rewarding you for the love you show.

Over and out for now
Pete

Hi Pete. Thank you for your quote!

I am sorry to hear about having to cull your plants. That is tough - wow! Sorry man

King Naga Jolokia... I think you nailed it on the head. I got these from my friend in Cape Town and this is true. Your gospel is right. He buys his seeds from a vendor in the UK (nicky's) I think. But you are 100% right. As far as I remember, I did a taste test of these and the pods that I scored the seeds from were a yellow orange colour. I do believe these will still change from the lime green to a yellow/orange colour. The taste of these still haunts me in my sleep. They are very hot with an amazing sweet and orangy naga flavour.... the heat just goes on, and on, and on. In my mind a super super chilli!

Cool - I didn't know I had a chocolate bhut... bring it on!
Yea, those 7 pods look gnarly and vicious. I actually harvested a big old pod last weekend when I did my Reaper taste test... but after having taste tested the Reaper, I just really had no will power to eat that gnarly looking 7 Pod lol
I will be happy to taste test the red FAtalii in comparison. I can not imagine the flavour being better or being able to match the combination of flavour and colour of the yellow Fatalii... they are a hard act to follow. But yea, I will keep the red ones and harvest the seeds for sure.
The Jonah is an interesting one. It is severly hot and a big pod. Good flavour... but for me (and I have only ever tried a dried pod of one) it is the freakiest chilli. I call it the Cujo chilli. No pod has ever made me drool like the Jonah... it was like a scene out of thet 80's hrorror movie - Cujo. I think it was a Steven King movie... man that drool just ran and ran and ran. Eventually I just had to put my head over the sink and let it run lol
Yea, in my opinion it's not just about the super hots... I love the little guys too! The Purple Tigers will be a great addition to the line up (thanks Conor)
The hOng Kong I got from a lady who (from what I understand) is a lady who gets free flights to India I think on missionary flights or the red cross. Every time she goes she brings back seeds from India. These were some. We all know INdia for their chillies... well these are the chillies they sell over there in packets. Why it's called Hong Kong I have no idea lol Also interested to see the outcome. I wonder if they will be tasty hmmm... go read already damn it!
I love the fact there is mystery peppers... makes it all the more exciting! All these great surpises I have had this season. The Brown Bhut... Peach Haba... Datil... ButchTxBhut... Awesome

!

Thank you for your feedback Pete, it is much appreciated! The pepper gods have been very rewarding this season and I have not given it much thought yet, but there does need to be a Thanks Giving feast! In honour of JA... so this will need to be soon!

GA Growhead said:
I had a douglah that grew long pods last season. Not the desired shape, but it does show up so i read/was told. Was the only brown podded one out of the three plants i had, the other two ripened red. Still crazy hot pods. I actually like the shape. Will post a pict if you would like. Growing the long pheno seeds again this season to see if they grow out the same. I also am growing more douglahs from two different sources along with some next generation red douglahs.
I'm not sure the bhuts are true. They are shaped different, but brown is good! I love them brown pods. Interested in how those turn out. Choc bhuts do have a great flavor, from what i have grown. And the naga morich look a bit suspect from what i have seen too. Maybe that's why they are not tasting the best. I'm growing them for the first time this season, so i have no real experience. But have heard they are great flavor wise and nice producers. Hope mine grow out true or atleast enjoyable!
Take Care Lourens!

Hi GA Growhead. Please do post pics... would be great to see. From what I understand th thinking out there in nagaland, is that the Douglah is in fact a Brown/Chocolate 7 pod... which does tie up geographically as the 7 pods are from the Carribean. And as we know a Douglah is a name given to people who are of mixed race in the Carribean (or so I am told). And if my 7 pod plants are anything to go by... their shape is as varied as pebbles on a seashore. I think the main thing is the colouring... needs to be brown/rusty red/brown colour... but I have also heard that it can happen thet some of the pods come out red

None of my Bhuts have turned out as expected so far. I do have more plants coming along and I am hoping they will grow true. The Naga Morich I am quite happy with, although the last lot of pods coming along are less Naga Morich like. The first pods were more Naga Morich like. The heat is def there... but as I say I am not a fan of the taste. Hugely popular in the UK... and I can confirm that they are great producers. My one plant has had a steady stream of pods and was one of the first to get pods (very quick)... even though its a small plant. Taste wise, they do not taste like Naga Jolkia's at all... but it's all cool... everything is good. This is mother nature we are talking about and she has the perogative to change things as she wishes

Which brings me to another point I feel very passionate about. There is zero regulation as far as chillies are concerened. Everyone is jumping on the band wagon to sell seeds and we are dealing with plants that are hybridizers delux. More and more poeple are selling seeds and more and more seeds are flooding the market and I see and hear more and more people growing plants that are not true to their namesake. How often have you walked into a nursery and found chillies that just say "Capsicum"... well at least here in South Africa. It makes me so angry. You wouldnt label roses as "Roses"... each one has a specific name. So do us the bloody favour and at the very least give us the hybrid name! But don't just call it "Capsicum". I do believe there does need to be regulation before all the heirloom seeds disappear from this planet. Not sure, but I fear a time will come when there will no longer be a true. As a very basic, I feel vendors out there do need to indicate whether seeds are grown from open pollinated or are "heirloom" chillies grown in a sealed environment. Anyway... a topic for another time maybe...

Thank you for your feedback!

Vegas_Chili · Mar 19, 2013

You dirty bud teaser Lmao! Awesome pics! *ahem* I mean pods

. I been through most of your glog and I still can't believe the size of those pods. Very impressive.

I think I have some seeds of something you don't have I'll let you know thru PM and if you like I'll send them.

,Vegas

megamoo · Mar 19, 2013

I've only got one Douglah plant that is producing pods and they all have the same single lobed pinched shape.

Only gotten a handful of pods but today I found one hiding in there!

Sawyer · Mar 19, 2013

Hey Lourens, I agree with your concern about naming conventions and maintaining genetically "true" strains. My opinion, though, is that government regulation is the wrong way to go. Just look at what happened to "organic" here in the US once the feds got involved. I think the pepper community should be self-regulating, maybe even to the point of establishing a certification process/committee/organization overseen by responsible volunteer chiliheads. Just my opinion, I'm sure others will differ.

On the matter of heirloom seeds, here in the US there is a strong, relatively unorganized, volunteer effort on the part of hobbyists, organic farmers (certified and otherwise), commercial seed producers, "preppers", and so forth, to maintain the traditional, distinct lines of non-hybrid vegetables and improve on these through traditional breeding practices. While "heirloom" generally implies a variety that has been around awhile, most people I know are not opposed to more recently-developed non-hybrid varieties (which sometimes are derived from someone's pet hybrid that they've taken the time to stabilize).

Increasingly, I shy away from the unqualified term "open pollinated". In my experience, in the community of heirloom vegetable growers here in the US, "open pollinated" is used practically as a synonym for a "non-hybrid", genetically consistent, but not entirely homogeneous variety. It's understood these strains need to be isolated (among themselves, but not from each other) to maintain the integrity of the strain. The use of the term here on THP is ambiguous. To some, "open pollinated" means non-hybrid; to others, it means non-isolated. The former sense, non-hybrid, as noted above, derives from the understanding that in order to maintain the genetic viability and consistency of a particular non-hybrid strain, individual specimens must freely cross-pollinate with other individuals of the same strain, i.e., the strain must be "open-pollinated" amongst like individuals. In the case of Capsicum, according to Bosland, "HORTSCIENCE 28(10):1053. 1993", by reference to Ellis, et. al. "Handbooks of seed technology for genebanks, 1985"(18MB), 60 plants are required to maintain the genetic diversity of heterogeneous accessions (such as the original Bhut Jolokia or the original Trinidad landraces). In this case, even the term "isolated" becomes ambiguous. Isolating a single plant to ensure self-pollination sacrifices some of the genetic diversity of the original landrace. Hence the proliferation of so many sub-strains of many of our favorite original strains... every one is selected for a particular subset of the original genetic profile. (I'd like to elaborate on this point, but, as you say, this is a topic for another time.)

The second sense of the term "open pollinated", to mean non-isolated, is certainly technically correct. However, and again, this is just my opinion, using the term unqualified leaves a lot of room for uncertainty. It makes no distinction between hybrid, stable selected strains, or landraces. It gives no information on where the "open pollen" may have come from. If it comes from other individuals of the same strain, that's a good thing for strain preservation. If it comes from the loosey-goosey bell next door, then not so much. Like you, I think this is a topic best left to another time, and possibly its own thread. Sorry for the wall of text.

PeriPeri · Mar 19, 2013

Vegas_Chili said:
You dirty bud teaser Lmao! Awesome pics! *ahem* I mean pods . I been through most of your glog and I still can't believe the size of those pods. Very impressive.

I think I have some seeds of something you don't have I'll let you know thru PM and if you like I'll send them.

,Vegas

Hey Vegas! Thanks for dropping in and cheking things out! Was chopping up some more of the Brown Habs today and was thinking how massive they are. I think out of all the pods, they have been the biggest. Anyway, really having loads of fun this season. Lots of graft, but fun! And the reward of it all is sharing the glory! Look forward to your PM... let me know, always keen for a swap

Sawyer said:
Hey Lourens, I agree with your concern about naming conventions and maintaining genetically "true" strains. My opinion, though, is that government regulation is the wrong way to go. Just look at what happened to "organic" here in the US once the feds got involved. I think the pepper community should be self-regulating, maybe even to the point of establishing a certification process/committee/organization overseen by responsible volunteer chiliheads. Just my opinion, I'm sure others will differ.

On the matter of heirloom seeds, here in the US there is a strong, relatively unorganized, volunteer effort on the part of hobbyists, organic farmers (certified and otherwise), commercial seed producers, "preppers", and so forth, to maintain the traditional, distinct lines of non-hybrid vegetables and improve on these through traditional breeding practices. While "heirloom" generally implies a variety that has been around awhile, most people I know are not opposed to more recently-developed non-hybrid varieties (which sometimes are derived from someone's pet hybrid that they've taken the time to stabilize).

Increasingly, I shy away from the unqualified term "open pollinated". In my experience, in the community of heirloom vegetable growers here in the US, "open pollinated" is used practically as a synonym for a "non-hybrid", genetically consistent, but not entirely homogeneous variety. It's understood these strains need to be isolated (among themselves, but not from each other) to maintain the integrity of the strain. The use of the term here on THP is ambiguous. To some, "open pollinated" means non-hybrid; to others, it means non-isolated. The former sense, non-hybrid, as noted above, derives from the understanding that in order to maintain the genetic viability and consistency of a particular non-hybrid strain, individual specimens must freely cross-pollinate with other individuals of the same strain, i.e., the strain must be "open-pollinated" amongst like individuals. In the case of Capsicum, according to Bosland, "HORTSCIENCE 28(10):1053. 1993", by reference to Ellis, et. al. "Handbooks of seed technology for genebanks, 1985"(18MB), 60 plants are required to maintain the genetic diversity of heterogeneous accessions (such as the original Bhut Jolokia or the original Trinidad landraces). In this case, even the term "isolated" becomes ambiguous. Isolating a single plant to ensure self-pollination sacrifices some of the genetic diversity of the original landrace. Hence the proliferation of so many sub-strains of many of our favorite original strains... every one is selected for a particular subset of the original genetic profile. (I'd like to elaborate on this point, but, as you say, this is a topic for another time.)

The second sense of the term "open pollinated", to mean non-isolated, is certainly technically correct. However, and again, this is just my opinion, using the term unqualified leaves a lot of room for uncertainty. It makes no distinction between hybrid, stable selected strains, or landraces. It gives no information on where the "open pollen" may have come from. If it comes from other individuals of the same strain, that's a good thing for strain preservation. If it comes from the loosey-goosey bell next door, then not so much. Like you, I think this is a topic best left to another time, and possibly its own thread. Sorry for the wall of text.

Sawyer thank you for your feedback on this. Great info there and thank you for the time and effort in compiling this. I agree, that government would be the wrong direction. An association founded by Chilliheads would be - in my opinion - the way to go. By "open pollinated" I meant to mean grown in the open ie not in isolated tunnels. I had not taken into consideration the debth of that term. I think the purpose of such an association would be to protect and guardian the original strains of chillies, such as: the Bhut Jolokia, Jalapeno, Serrano, Bishops Crown etc etc etc... otherwise I fear, that we will loose those true bloods forever. Hybrids will take over. And by that I don't dissapprove of hybrids - let those too be protected, but let them first be stabalized and shown to be a strain in their own right. But if nothing else, an Association to govern and protect those special chillies.

megamoo said:
I've only got one Douglah plant that is producing pods and they all have the same single lobed pinched shape.

Only gotten a handful of pods but today I found one hiding in there!

Hi Megamoo... thank you for sharing! That looks the part for sure. Great colouring in that pod... bet that was hot! I have about three or fur plants coming along... will be interesting to see how the pods turn out! Also those Bhuts of mine... I have quite a few plants and they all look different

GA Growhead · Mar 19, 2013

Nice pod mega! Lourens, here is my douglah pods, long pheno, from last season. The seeds came from pepperlover.

I agree about nature taking is course in whatever direction in wants. Either through floating pollen, insects, recessive genes, or just human error you never know what you are going to get. I like the surprise of seeing what and how each plant pods up. It can be a bummer if you don't end up with what you wanted or something not favorable. But that's usually far and in-between, being that is usually still something that you would eat anyway.
That's good new about your morichs. I thought they were doomed to being powder.
Your naga king pods are certainly nice looking. May have to give them ago next year.

Sanarda · Mar 19, 2013

Your grow is so phenomenal. Love the pod porn. It's getting me through this long hard winter here in New Jersey. So awesome. Everyone takes such nice pictures of their pods. I must step up my game. Well done guys. And thanks for the info.

PeriPeri · Mar 20, 2013

GA Growhead said:
Nice pod mega! Lourens, here is my douglah pods, long pheno, from last season. The seeds came from pepperlover.

I agree about nature taking is course in whatever direction in wants. Either through floating pollen, insects, recessive genes, or just human error you never know what you are going to get. I like the surprise of seeing what and how each plant pods up. It can be a bummer if you don't end up with what you wanted or something not favorable. But that's usually far and in-between, being that is usually still something that you would eat anyway.
That's good new about your morichs. I thought they were doomed to being powder.
Your naga king pods are certainly nice looking. May have to give them ago next year.

Woa those Douglah's are massive! Ouch ouch ouch... what a mouth full of heat they must have been... I like it!

Sanarda said:
Your grow is so phenomenal. Love the pod porn. It's getting me through this long hard winter here in New Jersey. So awesome. Everyone takes such nice pictures of their pods. I must step up my game. Well done guys. And thanks for the info.

Well, I promise your spring is on its way. Things here in the south are a cooling off... the nights are getting cooler, the days are getting cooler and shorter... the sun has lost a lot of it's ooomph! As we bid the last of our summers rays goodbye... I know it is on it's way to you guys in the North! I am looking forward to a rest in the garden. It has been fun, sad and everything inbetween. It has been all consuming.... but I long for the grow to come to a close now like I long for my bed after a long exhausting day!! And I send it to you with content and happiness and all the best wishes in the world... cause now I get to sit in our winter watching my screen and reading all about what your glog and everybody elses glog is doing! I think this North / South thang is awesome! Thank you for watching and following my glog... you turn is imminently on its way

DocNrock · Mar 20, 2013

Lourens, your grow continues to amaze. I have a feeling that last harvest you posted is probably going to be your smallest, hahaha! Looks like there are many, many more ripening or on their way to ripening. That not-PdN is interesting. Not black/dark purple and looks very chinense.

Sawyer · Mar 20, 2013

PeriPeri said:
Sawyer thank you for your feedback on this. Great info there and thank you for the time and effort in compiling this. I agree, that government would be the wrong direction. An association founded by Chilliheads would be - in my opinion - the way to go. By "open pollinated" I meant to mean grown in the open ie not in isolated tunnels. I had not taken into consideration the debth of that term. I think the purpose of such an association would be to protect and guardian the original strains of chillies, such as: the Bhut Jolokia, Jalapeno, Serrano, Bishops Crown etc etc etc... otherwise I fear, that we will loose those true bloods forever. Hybrids will take over. And by that I don't dissapprove of hybrids - let those too be protected, but let them first be stabalized and shown to be a strain in their own right. But if nothing else, an Association to govern and protect those special chillies.

Looks like we're on the same page here, Lourens. I agree with everything you wrote, especially on the point of preserving the genetic and phenotypic identity of the original strains. Like you, I have nothing against hybrids and, in fact, plan to experiment with some of my own. To the extent they lead to new stable varieties, they're great.

One useful thing I can see coming out of this discussion is the development of a protocol for maintaining the original strains. Since few of us can grow and isolate 60 plants of any given strain, we need to figure out a way to exchange and utilize germplasm in a way that maintains the genetic identity of the original strain. Simply trading seeds from self-pollinated pods won't do, there needs to be some degree of cross-pollination between the various individual plants. It's something to think about.

Maybe we should start a thread on this in a different subforum. Any thoughts on which subforum is appropriate? Hot Pepper Talk, maybe?

PeriPeri · Mar 21, 2013

DocNrock said:
Lourens, your grow continues to amaze. I have a feeling that last harvest you posted is probably going to be your smallest, hahaha! Looks like there are many, many more ripening or on their way to ripening. That not-PdN is interesting. Not black/dark purple and looks very chinense.

Would not surpise me if it was something else... I have managed to do some mix ups along the way. Oh well, another surprise awaits!

Sawyer said:
Looks like we're on the same page here, Lourens. I agree with everything you wrote, especially on the point of preserving the genetic and phenotypic identity of the original strains. Like you, I have nothing against hybrids and, in fact, plan to experiment with some of my own. To the extent they lead to new stable varieties, they're great.

One useful thing I can see coming out of this discussion is the development of a protocol for maintaining the original strains. Since few of us can grow and isolate 60 plants of any given strain, we need to figure out a way to exchange and utilize germplasm in a way that maintains the genetic identity of the original strain. Simply trading seeds from self-pollinated pods won't do, there needs to be some degree of cross-pollination between the various individual plants. It's something to think about.

Maybe we should start a thread on this in a different subforum. Any thoughts on which subforum is appropriate? Hot Pepper Talk, maybe?

I think it is wonderful that one can buy seeds from all around the world and grow them locally. Here in Africa, we have but a few chillies that might be considered indigenous. But in other countries where chillies are indigenous, I would imagine this global trade of seeds is quite a threat to indigenous species. Yes hybrids are great and fun to experiment, but it is those indigenous and original strains that need protecting the most I think. It is very difficult - as we know - to keep chillies appart and prevent hybradisation accross species.

Yes, I think it would be interesting to start a forum on this... Hot Pepper Talk for sure. Get some ideas going and get input from others!

PeriPeri · Mar 21, 2013

Hi Guys,

I am heading for the farm to do some more picking. It's a public holiday here today... so might just take a long weekend. There are soooo many chillies to chop, its rediculous! So guess what I will be doing tonight! lol

One thing I wanted to mention is that I have noticed quite a few chillies now with holes bitten into the skin. Perfect circles cut out of the thin skinned chillies. That would be Nagas, Fataliis and the likes...

When I cut them open, there are spider webs inside and obviously spiders.

So this is my theory... spiders biting holes into the thin skinned chillies or holes bitten by rodent, spiders build nest inside. Smell from inside the chillies attract insects into the pod via the holes in the skin... and once inside the insects get cought up in the spider's web - lunch time!

Now I think that is so bloody clever! ISn't nature just so frigging clever at adapting and doing this! I think its just brilliant. Anyway, will try to take some pictures of this and post later. Not sure if anyone else has come accross this kind of a thing... spiders look very much like button spiders. Small shiny skin and round abdomen... so far I have found a lovely green one and a black one that looked like a brown widow of sorts. Cool!

WalkGood · Mar 21, 2013

PeriPeri said:
... There are soooo many chillies to chop, its rediculous! So guess what I will be doing tonight! lol ...

A bunch more Reaper videos

»» Foobar2k ::: Black Uhuru - Positive (1987) - 01 - Fire City ::: 0:52/4:13 (•••••••••&bull

::: 471 kbps ««

megamoo · Mar 21, 2013

I get tiny webs in the folds of some of my chillies, and also a lot of the time across the grubs large exit holes. I first thought it was something like the grub's cocoon to change into a moth after it had ruined my chilli but its not there all the time and I've seen lots of tiny spiders near the webs. I think the spiders are attracted to bug activity, or something similar like your theory. They are very welcome in my garden!

PeriPeri · Mar 21, 2013

WalkGood said:
A bunch more Reaper videos
»» Foobar2k ::: Black Uhuru - Positive (1987) - 01 - Fire City ::: 0:52/4:13 (•••••••••&bull ::: 471 kbps ««

Ramon my friend... NO! No Reaper videos... well, maybe lol

megamoo said:
I get tiny webs in the folds of some of my chillies, and also a lot of the time across the grubs large exit holes. I first thought it was something like the grub's cocoon to change into a moth after it had ruined my chilli but its not there all the time and I've seen lots of tiny spiders near the webs. I think the spiders are attracted to bug activity, or something similar like your theory. They are very welcome in my garden!

Yea I get those too. Was just saying to my girlfriend today standing in the chillies how much I appreciate all the bugs in the garden. Nature is an amazing machine that when left to its own devices just works. The minute we intervene, we cause an inbalance and shit happens. I say all bugs good or bad are welcome in my garden. If for instance on starts using insectecide to kill aphids... you not only kill the ladybugs, but they will also just move on. So I leave the aphids... which means there are more ladybugs feeding on the aphids and all is under control. Ok, the cutworm are a different situation... but generally I do not medle with spiders or any other bugs. Its all good - one has to have faith in nature I think. Besides, I could have spent plenty money on insectecides and really... I have spent possibly a few dollar on 3 packets of cutworm poison and that is it for the season. Nature has done the rest!

Its been one hell of a day out in the garden. We have harvested about 20kg of chillies and if it had not been for night time setting in... could have bagged at least 30 - 40kgs today. Anyway, got loads of chopping to be done today... and will post pictures if I get a chance... its a mountain of chillies really! Chat later!

PeriPeri · Mar 21, 2013

The outside area... working through the bushes row by row today. Didn't get to harvest any Tabasco or PeriPeri. But will be going back there on Saturday probably to get those in. Every time I go, there is never enough time and I always end up trying to get things done in vain before it is time to go.

stickman · Mar 21, 2013

Man, that really is a pepper jungle Lourens! Love how you can see all the ripe chiles in the montage!

PeriPeri · Mar 21, 2013

We got there today and no watering had been done since Saturday when we also watered. So everything was bone dry and plants were parched... leaves all curled up and wilted. Hell I was the hell in that the guys have not watered for me... not now... not at this vital stage of the season. All my little plants looked like they were tickets... but thanks to Caroline the Reaper and a handy hose pipe, I think we may have saved the day. Very glad we came today though, because if it had been one more day, I think we would have lost most of the plants.

It has been very hot and dry. We are nearing the end of summer now, well into autumn and that means our rains are coming to an end. Our rainy season ends in April and we will see no more rains until September.

stickman said:
Man, that really is a pepper jungle Lourens! Love how you can see all the ripe chiles in the montage!

Hi Stickman! Yes, I was standing in the middle and just had to take a pic... I had at that stage already harvested all the Bishops, Big Jims and Baby Belle Pimentos... so would have looked even more impressive... but with everything that had to be done today... taking pictures was not high on the agenda unfortunately

I did a wee taste test of the Red Fatalii and must say, I was a little disappointed. In my opinion, the Yellow Fatalii is such an amazing chilli. Colour, shape and flavour are totally unique and amazing. So man has tampered and made a Red variation... which looks like a Red Fatalii but has no flavour other than a good dose of peppery burn.... I fail to see the point of this plant. At least my plant has pods that have very little Fatalii flavouring... what a let down

Good grower and good producer though...

Phuli Jyoti... one of the Indian varieties... these serpent like pods are quite attractive. Small plant producing loads of these string like pods hanging down the plant. Pods have a Thai vlavour... but nice! Different... fresh flavour.

The Purple Tiger (courtesy of Conor) is coming along great... pods are forming and I am looking forward to giving these a try.

What was established as a Datil, seems to be producing a fair run of chillies. I did a taste test of these and they tasted very Habanero like. Bit more of a peppery burn... but there was quite a synthetic taste to the chilli I did not like at all. Looks a bit like a Fatalii, but is a much smaller pod and is less gnarly.

Those 7 pods are coming on great. Big gnarly looking pods! Woohoo, those babies are going to have some heat! I'm sensing a taste test coming up

The Bhut tuned out to be a brown Bhut... looking forward to trying that one, I must say... yeeha!

Pics are a little blurry today... apologies!

Someone care to give me a wee bump please!

stickman · Mar 21, 2013

Bump... that brown Bhut could still redden up for you...