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PeriPeri's Grow Log 2012: South Africa

Hi All,

So I'll give it another try this year. God knows I love chillies and I would love nothing more than to have a bumper harvest... but I suspect the truth of the matter is I do not have green fingers. In fact, give me a chilli and I will be pretty guaranteed to kill it lol That's not negativity talking, that's reality based on last years experiences lol

Last year it was pots. This year its a farm east of Pretoria, here in South Africa. My reasoning for this madness is pretty much like a hunter hunting with a machine gun... out of the thousand seedlings I plant... I must walk away with something lol (I hope).

So I have a pice of land. Good soil down by a river in the african sun.

The planting area has been divided into two sections. An enclosed area (±40mx40m) with shade netting and an open area (±40mx40m). Water is limited, but there is borehole water.

Outside Area:
outside.jpg


Inside Area:
inside.jpg


Temps this time of the year are in the mid to high 30ºC. It's the rainy season, so there is rain and it comes in buckets and hail-stones!

So here are the pics I took of the inside and outside areas Saturday 6/10/2012. It was 37ºC that day. I have a video as well which I took last Sunday when I started the planting (to come). Luckily we have a cold front at the moment, so since monday it has been overcast, cool and we have rain (magic). I think its about 23/25ºC at the moment. I planted on Sunday (36ºC) early morning (24/25ºC) and late afternoon and pretty much watered for the rest of the day. Didn't look like rain at all... but it's here and could not have come at a better time really!

As you can see I have laid out the beds in rows. Planting is at 45-60cm intervals. I am doing a little experiment also with double planting and single planting. I suspect the yield will be lower with the bushes that have been double planted... but who knows. A different climate... maybe results will show different.

On the grow list:

Bishops Crown
PeriPeri (naturally)
Hotazel
Hot Pixie
Thaibo
Thai Dragon
Baby Belle
Cal Wonder
Yellow Scorpions
ButchT
Black Pearl
Naga Viper
White Hab
Orange Hab
Brown Hab
Red Hab
Big Jim
Long Thai
Cayenne
Cheyenne
Jalapeno
Carolina Reaper
Serrano
Pasilla Bajio
7 Pod
Bhut Jolokia
Naga King
Scotch Bonnet
Hungarian Sweet Wax
Cherry Bomb
Boriya Mirch
Brain Strain
Ring of Fire

Still to come...

Angkor Sunrise
Devils Tongue White
Barrakpore
Douglah
Jonah
JonahxButchT
Primo
Naga Morich
Infinity
Goronong
Devils Tongue Choc
Hab Choc

One or two other... but I can't remember.

First lot I planted on Sunday 7/10/2012.... details will follow...

Over and out for now!

PeriPeri
 
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I think they turn red when ripe don't they? Most of the purple and black varieties do turn red. Eat a purple one and leave some to see what happens :)
 
Hi MegaMoo, thanks! Yea, seems to be the rule of thumb. Never had a purple chilli... they are kind of pretty - would be a shame to loose the colour. Yea... taste test :D
 
PeriPeri said:
Hi All,

Has anyone grown Purple Tigers before? Does anyone know when they are ready for picking??
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Taken from thechileman.org :

PURPLE TIGER (TRIFETTI)

An extremely attractive medium/hot ornamental pepper that produces good yields of stumpy 1" long by ½" wide hot purple fruits which mature to red.

The foliage is also tri coloured (green, purple and white) and the plant has an open bush habit. Note that the plant size can be restricted by the pot size.

An Ideal pot plant for sheltered areas. Very unusual and onewhich will lighten up even the dullest greenhouse.

Also called Trifetti and Variegata.
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Hope this helps.
 
They will mature to red, but having grown and tried them in the past, they aren't very tasty. More like dirt than most other peppers. Mostly ornamental.
 
locopao said:
:P

i just started some new purple tiger seeds. Hope this time will make it
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Hi locopao, good luck with those! For me, the seeds were quick to germinate and took no problems. Truly beautiful plants!

millworkman said:
They will mature to red, but having grown and tried them in the past, they aren't very tasty. More like dirt than most other peppers. Mostly ornamental.
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Hey MillWorkman! Pitty they don't taste great... but hey, they look amazing!
 
Nice update, I see you're still cranking them out!

Now that pot of sauce was huge!

Those Purple Tigers are way cool!

Beautiful grow this year!
 
Wow all those peppers, if I can get 50 to 100 pods I will be really happy, I can't imagine cooking up that much sauce at a time, you must have a very large kitchen to be able to cook that much sauce and not get fumed out.
Tomarrow will be warm enough to set out my plants, I'm missing some that I was sure I had, I thought a I had 5 red Primo's but only found two, no Butch T's eighter along with all my yellow Primos and yellow brains all gone.
I'll get some seeds this fall so I can have them for next year.
Louren Where did you get the Naga King if I may ask?
 
Devv said:
Nice update, I see you're still cranking them out!

Now that pot of sauce was huge!

Those Purple Tigers are way cool!

Beautiful grow this year!
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Thank you Scott. It's all overwhelming me at the mo... peppers are ripening faster than I can harvest them at the mo... and I have just piles and piles of peppers to process every day. That pot will need filling several times yet still lol OMG what have I done! lol

wildseed57 said:
Wow all those peppers, if I can get 50 to 100 pods I will be really happy, I can't imagine cooking up that much sauce at a time, you must have a very large kitchen to be able to cook that much sauce and not get fumed out.
Tomarrow will be warm enough to set out my plants, I'm missing some that I was sure I had, I thought a I had 5 red Primo's but only found two, no Butch T's eighter along with all my yellow Primos and yellow brains all gone.
I'll get some seeds this fall so I can have them for next year.
Louren Where did you get the Naga King if I may ask?
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Hey wildseed57... it's a small kitchen and its open plan living... so its the lounge that gets fumed too. So far we have been ok as we have only cooked up the very mildest chillies.... but it's going to be time for the supers soon :) Biohazard gear is in order me thinkst!

I have had some confusion too this season. A couple of plants got muddled up. Some I thought I had I did not... some I thought I didn't have magically appeared (no complaints there lol).

I harvested the Naga King Jolokia seeds from a pod that a mate of mine sent me. He got his seeds from Nicky's nursery in the UK. I recommend them... they have quite an interesting variation of seeds. I can't even begin to tell you how tasty and amazing those pods are. Hands down, the tastiest super I have ever tasted! Simply awesome!

There is a chill in the air here this morning. The rains came... it rained good here in Joburg. Whether it rained at the farm is a different story... I pray it did... it has been bone dry there - and a good soak would certainly be a blessing. Nothing permiates that claggy soil better than a day or two of rain. And once it has soaked in... it lasts for days!

The clouds are moving fast today... its eight in the morning and the sun is still low and temps are around 15ºc... winter is approaching rapidly now. Leaves are falling off the trees. Could be this is the last of the rain. Our winter usually goes from May to August. Every month without an "R". We only get rain in months of the year with an "R" lol Which is true to the bone!

I'm feeling good and content. I have given the season my best and reaped the rewards. The end is in sight and with the closing in of winter I am almost happy things are being forced to a close. But my head is being filled with ideas of how I will extract some of the special plants for overwintering :D grafting :D cloning :D getting ready for the next season (hunt for seeds)... and reading all your glogs :D :D
 
Can't help on the Purple Tigers, but holy hell man, what a load of sauce!!! You could run your car on that for a week! Seriously though, it's amazing how much these things reduce down. But if you think the sauce is a reduction, try powdering them.

Most excellent. Love the pics, especially the King Naga.
 
DocNrock said:
Can't help on the Purple Tigers, but holy hell man, what a load of sauce!!! You could run your car on that for a week! Seriously though, it's amazing how much these things reduce down. But if you think the sauce is a reduction, try powdering them.

Most excellent. Love the pics, especially the King Naga.
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Thanks Doc! Yea, I love them Naga Kings... going to do another taste test for my new site! Looking forward to it :)
 
As I said on page 2 of this glog...

"Absolutely wonderful pepper patch you got there! That is a lot of man hours worth of picking though... do you have lots of help?"

You poor bugger.. off to bed with you!
 
DocNrock said:
Wimp! Get those pics posted! :rofl:
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Yes Sir! lol
saugapepper said:
As I said on page 2 of this glog...

"Absolutely wonderful pepper patch you got there! That is a lot of man hours worth of picking though... do you have lots of help?"

You poor bugger.. off to bed with you!
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lol You saw the writing on the wall... and I thought it was just graffiti :)

megamoo said:
It's not a hobby.. its a lifestyle!

You know you're a chillihead when you wake up, find chilli seeds in your bed and can't remember how they got there ;)
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Hell no moo... the other day I thought it was my grilfriend Caroline the Reaper and it turned out it was Carolina the Reaper :shocked:

Never again!

Talking of which, I have been doing all these wonderful taste tests... most of them while wading through plants in the field lol... but this day I decided to tackle the big boys... and seeing I had so many to do, I decided to do some back to back. Well I started with a Red Savina... took a while to get going... but great to settle into the seat nice and easy. Then came the Brown Bhut... small pod... slow creaper that was. Just kept on going... was really creating a stir... then came the biggest mf Naga King you ever saw in your life.... it was like Mike Tyson on steroids. Took three mouth fulls to get the sucker down. Man it was like the devil's freight train ripping through my digestive system. Tasty as hell (excuse the pun), but man I wrestled two hours with that aftermath... it was an absolute warzone inside me! Man... not going to do that in a hurry again... it was Naga King 1 PeriPeri 0 :)

And there I still had the Brainstrain and NAga Viper lined up... oh how dillusional was I ? lol
 
Dude! Shouldn't you be cleansing your palate between peppers?... like spacing them out a day or two apart... :mouthonfire: I bet Caroline laughed her a__ off! Good on ya for being "game" though. Any video taste tests in the works?
 
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