PeriPeri's Grow Log 2012: South Africa

stc3248 · Apr 20, 2013

Great review Lourens! Flavor before blisters...but don't forget the blisters! Big plant, big flavor and big burn sounds like that's one for the grow log next year! Keep them coming, can't wait to see you take on the Brain!

PeriPeri · Apr 20, 2013

stc3248 said:
Great review Lourens! Flavor before blisters...but don't forget the blisters! Big plant, big flavor and big burn sounds like that's one for the grow log next year! Keep them coming, can't wait to see you take on the Brain!

Thank you stc3248... you nailed it on the head! This chilli has just the best of both worlds. A definate must for the grow long!

stickman · Apr 20, 2013

Uisge, eh?... Sláinte! Barley's good, but I'll stick with Corn...

PeriPeri · Apr 20, 2013

stickman said:
Uisge, eh?... Sláinte! Barley's good, but I'll stick with Corn...

Stickman I am surprised at you... Before those pesky English came along and commercialized the nectar of the Scots... it was called Uisge. Infact, this is what it should be called. But we now know it as Whisky or Whiskey (if youre a tatty eater). I'm part Celt so i'm allowed to say these things lol

Oh I forgot... Uisge comes from the Haggis... I'll leave it to your imagination to figure that one out lol

stc3248 said:
Great review Lourens! Flavor before blisters...but don't forget the blisters! Big plant, big flavor and big burn sounds like that's one for the grow log next year! Keep them coming, can't wait to see you take on the Brain!

Your wish sir, is my command!

DocNrock · Apr 20, 2013

Wow, I guess it has been a while since I saw a Joburg update! That last one a couple of pages ago was really good. Love that Hong Kong chile. I was thinking, on the thick skinned chiles like that one and the Bulgarian Carrot, I wonder how roasting them first, then peeling off the skin before using them for whatever (evil) purpose you have in mind would work.

Plant shots are great. I wouldn't judge the Brain just on that one pod. The heat can vary; it sounds like you had a relatively mild one. Those things can be hotter than Douglahs. But glad to hear how much you love the King Naga. I have the Black Naga growing, which is supposed to be an unstable variant of the King Naga. So I should get one or the other, lol!

Keep up the grow, bro!

sicman · Apr 20, 2013

dig the logo :dance:

have a great weekened!

wait do you african dudes have weekends? :rofl:

PeriPeri · Apr 20, 2013

DocNrock said:
Wow, I guess it has been a while since I saw a Joburg update! That last one a couple of pages ago was really good. Love that Hong Kong chile. I was thinking, on the thick skinned chiles like that one and the Bulgarian Carrot, I wonder how roasting them first, then peeling off the skin before using them for whatever (evil) purpose you have in mind would work.

Plant shots are great. I wouldn't judge the Brain just on that one pod. The heat can vary; it sounds like you had a relatively mild one. Those things can be hotter than Douglahs. But glad to hear how much you love the King Naga. I have the Black Naga growing, which is supposed to be an unstable variant of the King Naga. So I should get one or the other, lol!

Keep up the grow, bro!

Hey Doc, thanks for popping in! Things have slowed considerably in the pepper patch. But work continues chopping and de-seeding and making sauce.

I think you are right, could be the first pod was a mild one... so this means another taste test - yay me!

I love them Indian chillies. We have got some real damp and chilly weather at the moment... me thinkst a curry is on the books lol Oh twist my rubber arm... guess what we are having tonight? lol

Only thing left to decide is what pods are going into the curry... hmmmm difficult choices... Naga King sounds awesome lol

stickman · Apr 20, 2013

PeriPeri said:
Stickman I am surprised at you... Before those pesky English came along and commercialized the nectar of the Scots... it was called Uisge. Infact, this is what it should be called. But we now know it as Whisky or Whiskey (if youre a tatty eater). I'm part Celt so i'm allowed to say these things lol

Oh I forgot... Uisge comes from the Haggis... I'll leave it to your imagination to figure that one out lol

I know Lourens... That's why the drinking toast in reply.

Uisge is made from Barley in the old countries of Scotland and Ireland, but I'm thoroughly assimilated here in America, and prefer Bourbon, which is made mostly from Corn (at least 51% as per US tax laws... I had an uncle who was a BATF agent for the Treasury Department). Bourbon whiskey was developed by the Scots/Irish emigrants to America. You might be interested to check out the chapter of US history called the Whiskey Rebellion.

PeriPeri · Apr 20, 2013

sicman said:
dig the logo have a great weekened!

wait do you african dudes have weekends?

lol thanks Sicman! What's a weekend? lol You too!

stickman said:
I know Lourens... That's why the drinking toast in reply. Uisge is made from Barley in the old countries of Scotland and Ireland, but I'm thoroughly assimilated here in America, and prefer Bourbon, which is made mostly from Corn (at least 51% as per US tax laws... I had an uncle who was a BATF agent for the Treasury Department). Bourbon whiskey was developed by the Scots/Irish emigrants to America. You might be interested to check out the chapter of US history called the Whiskey Rebellion.

Damn Rick you just always full of knowledge. One day I will know something you dont lol Bourban... hmmm give me a smokey Uisge any day... I like to lick the soot off the rind stone by the fireplace lol

Bet you didn't know that Uisge comes from the elusive Haggis thou? I made that part up lol

stickman · Apr 20, 2013

PeriPeri said:
Damn Rick you just always full of knowledge. One day I will know something you dont lol Bourban... hmmm give me a smokey Uisge any day... I like to lick the soot off the rind stone by the fireplace lol

Bet you didn't know that Uisge comes from the elusive Haggis thou? I made that part up lol

Don't be too impressed Lourens... when I was in the service they wanted to make an officer of me until they found out I couldn't turn my mind off and I kept asking awkward questions like "why"?

I actually do know what's in Haggis... I went on a backpacking trip in the western Highlands with some English Venture Scouts back in the early 80's and we ended up camping on a farmer's sheep pasture for 3 days waiting for the 2 girls in the group to heal up enough to get back on the trail. They hadn't broken in their hiking boots well enough and had 3 cm blisters. The farmer was butchering a sheep while we were there and asked if any of us wanted to help make Haggis. The English kids didn't want to, but I jumped at the chance. After helping him make it, I helped he and his family eat it too, with potatoes and turnips boiled together and mashed and a dram of Scotch to wash it down with. That's what I call "cultural exchange"!

PeriPeri · Apr 20, 2013

Yes I can imagine "why" is not a word that goes down well in the army!

Well there's a bit of Scottish hospitality for you... being invited to slaughter a sheep. That is an honour lol!

WalkGood · Apr 20, 2013

Lourens nice videos on the Naga King J and 7 Pod Brain … you definitely take dem manly and I enjoy how you describe the flavor. Best be careful, continued use of pure chili’s can cause your hair to turn green

Only kidding, keep up the great work …

Sanarda · Apr 20, 2013

Great reviews. Whats the difference between the Naga Morich, Naga King Jolokia, Bhut Jolokia ect ect.?

Devv · Apr 20, 2013

Very nice videos!

I could tell that burned some!

Like your logo, and good luck with your venture!

PeriPeri · Apr 21, 2013

WalkGood said:
Lourens nice videos on the Naga King J and 7 Pod Brain … you definitely take dem manly and I enjoy how you describe the flavor. Best be careful, continued use of pure chili’s can cause your hair to turn green Only kidding, keep up the great work …

What hair? I was hoping eating superhots would make my hair grow :rofl:

Sanarda said:
Great reviews. Whats the difference between the Naga Morich, Naga King Jolokia, Bhut Jolokia ect ect.?

Well now there's a question

! Thank you Pia

Well, they all in a rough essential kinda generic way (covering myself legally here - I know Stickman going to give me stick here lol)... they are all part of the Ghost Pepper land race chilli group. I think (call it this). In my investigations I discovered that they are actually all pretty much one and the same just grown in different parts of the Asian continent. Different soil, different climates - end result: slightly different chillies with different names (due to the different languages or nick names).

Now the Naga Morich has two varieties. Interesting... there is the name given to the Ghost Pepper in Bengal and Bangladesh. BUT, there is also a European strain of the Indian Naga Morich, which (I am growing) and does look different, smoother and more teardrop shaped.

Naga King Jolokia is a European adaption of the Naga Jolokia which originates from Assam, south of the Brahmaputra River. Named after the warriors who inhabited the plains and the hills of Nagaland. The Europeans added the King bit... and quite rightly so! I seem to think my Naga King Jolokia has much bigger pods than the standard Nagas, but this could be as a result of all that expectation being projected on the plant while it is growing.

Bhut or Bhoot Jolokia. Is also from Nagaland, Assam and also Manipur region of North East India and also Bangladesh. Contrary to common belief the name Bhut is not as a result of the chilli coming from the Bhutan. In fact the temperate climate there is not suitable for the chilli to be cultivated there.

Bhi Jolokia also in Assam, which is believed to be an alternate name which means "Poison" in assamese in reference to the chillies heat.

Saga Jolokia on the Indian subcontinent which is believed to mean "Inidan Mystery Chilli" or "INdian Rouh Chilli) Refering to its rough external skin.

Tezpur Chilli named after the Assam city of Tezpur which is North of the Brahmaputra River.

Umorok in Manipur. Which I believe means "Tree Chilli"

She Lan Po in Burma - Apologies my burmese is not great... so I can't translate

Mai Mirris (Cobra Chilli) in Sri Lanka

Apparently there is a Nepalese Ghost Pepper... but the name eludes me.

I am sure there are many more names that I have not covered. But in eseence, in a round about, vague and totally non factual, belief system way...

, I think or am led to think that they are all essentially the same Ghost Pepper land race chilli.

Another interesting fact is that the Bhut Jolokia is in fact a interspecific hybrid. Comprising C. chinense with a little C.frutescens... which is probably why the burn on this chilli is so damn fantastic. If we think of the PeriPeri's and MAlaguetta's of this world... they have a milder burn and one that just goes on forever... so I imagine this is what gives the Ghost Pepper its amazingly gradual but lengthy burn.

I also alwasy thought it was called the Ghost Chilli because the heat just kinda crept up on you. Only to be told that it was actually just a European failed attempt at translation. And it kind of stuck. But having grown these amazing chillies, I must say that I think the reason they are called Ghost Peppers is because of their trade mark pale green colour before turning ripe. Having stood in a patch with Ghost Peppers at twilight... they do glow in the dark a little like Ghosts

That's my theory and I am sticking to it.

I will include a map of my findings. The map is correct, my markings on the map are purely my findings, that are my interpretation of facts rendered from various sources on the net, that have neither been verified nor approved

Devv said:
Very nice videos!

I could tell that burned some!

Like your logo, and good luck with your venture!

Thank you Scot! The Brainstrain was doable... but will need to do a follow up vid to put the record straight. As for the Naga King Jolokia. It was incredibly hot. Hotter than I had imagined. But I think it was the fact I had had a Red Savina taste test and the Brown Bhut just minutes before. So it was just probably too much lol

When I do a taste test I like to warm up with a mild chilli just to get the system going. As you can imagine, dropping a superhot straight off the bat... the stomach will just go - what the f^&*^% and reject the offensive pod. When I did the Reaper I had a Yellow Fatalii with a greasy fry up that morning. Didn't help much, but I would hate to have imagined having eaten the Reaper without the prep work!

stickman · Apr 21, 2013

No grief from here Lourens... I didn't grow any chiles until about 3 years ago, and then it was mainly because I didn't like the gochu powder that was being carried in the Korean market in my area. Instead of being made from sun-dried chiles from Korea, it was made from oven-dried chiles from China and the taste definitely wasn't the same! I came here looking for additional sources of Korean chile seeds and found a whole world I knew nothing about.

Sawyer · Apr 21, 2013

Great information there, Lourens. Thanks for that post.

PeriPeri · Apr 21, 2013

stickman said:
No grief from here Lourens... I didn't grow any chiles until about 3 years ago, and then it was mainly because I didn't like the gochu powder that was being carried in the Korean market in my area. Instead of being made from sun-dried chiles from Korea, it was made from oven-dried chiles from China and the taste definitely wasn't the same! I came here looking for additional sources of Korean chile seeds and found a whole world I knew nothing about.

lol Stickman, I'm just kidding. Your knowledge is in my books amazing and if there is anyone on this site that I would turn to for advice, it is you my friend! I just got back from the farm. It's eight o'clock here and I have an absolute mountain of chillies again. Man, there are too many - I just can't pick them all. I thought lasr week things were slowing down, but I have enough chillies to match that table laden with chillies I did a few weeks back and that is probably today only 20% of what I could have picked! I must try and go through there this week... but I am so snowed under with my work I just down't think I can... I hate to see chillies rot on the plant... but it looks like I have no choice

Sawyer said:
Great information there, Lourens. Thanks for that post.

It is a pleasure Sawyer... PM me. lets chat about our ideas. I think it needs discussing. Right now I have chillies coming out of my eyeballs. Is that a bad thing?

Sawyer · Apr 21, 2013

The burdens of wealth. Lourens, when you pick the peppers do you notice that some varieties come off the plants more easily than others? I wonder if it would be possible to develop a strain amenable to automated harvesting.

Sanarda · Apr 21, 2013

Thanks Peri. Very informative. Appreciate that!!!!