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:

Inside Area:

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

 

[WalkGood]

I use cups of beer to keep my snails at bay, but you'd probably need a keg or two for those bad boys.

lol, that wouldn't keep us away

I'd be surprised if you couldn't get any diatomaceous earth in South Africa since they mine the stuff there... http://www.goldorecr...h-south-africa/ They dig it in several different places in the Olifantshoek area.
Just sayin...

That's cool, thanks for the link ... BTW I just use what I run in my DT filter, cheap and works great.

 

[PeriPeri]

I use cups of beer to keep my snails at bay, but you'd probably need a keg or two for those bad boys.

LOL Now this is a serious pest... I must share my beer with snails? This is war I tell you!!

I'd be surprised if you couldn't get any diatomaceous earth in South Africa since they mine the stuff there... http://www.goldorecr...h-south-africa/ They dig it in several different places in the Olifantshoek area.
Just sayin...

OMG Stickman thanks! I never knew... and they also mine Uranium here in SA... I could lay that down and take advantage of the snails glowing at night to do midnight harvests! Seriously - thanks... this is an amazing find... I will investigate further!

I've managed to find a supplier in Johannesburg. Its about $19 for 25Kg... is this good Stickman?

100% Eco Friendly... I like I like!

Also, good news - I have a shoot on the Devil's White... I am excited about this - I ahve really struggled to get white chillies to do anything for me to date... so I am especially excited about this deveopment!!

 

[stickman]

They also mine Uranium here in SA... I could lay that down and take advantage of the snails glowing at night to do midnight harvests!

There you go... nobody can accuse you of a lack of imagination!

I've managed to find a supplier in Johannesburg. Its about $19 for 25Kg... is this good Stickman? 100% Eco Friendly... I like I like!

Sounds good to me, but you're closer to the source, so you should pay less than I do... just make sure they're selling you the agricultural version, not the food-grade stuff they use to filter things like beer...

Also, good news - I have a shoot on the Devil's White... I am excited about this - I ahve really struggled to get white chillies to do anything for me to date... so I am especially excited about this deveopment!!

Good on ya! I wonder if white chiles are more susceptible to intense sun? Cheers!

 

[PeriPeri]

Hi Stickman, I will keep you abreast of the White Chili/Sun query... sure hope they like the sun... because the sun is vicious here lol

 

[PeriPeri]

While I am waiting for the weekend to get out to my chillies... a little lite entertainment for those who are interested. A few months back I did a back to back with Douglah, ButchT & Moruga pods. Was really interesting to try them all at the same time. I did this with the Orange, Red and Brown Habanero... but this was considerably hotter lol

I had hoped to get a taste of the Carolina Reaper... but I didn't even get a reply lol So I guess that's a no

I will wait till my pods mature!

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Lourens+Notman&oq=Lourens+Notman&gs_l=youtube.3...61461.64977.0.66092.14.14.0.0.0.0.262.2305.5j1j8.14.0...0.0...1ac.1.mvM6yEsiNFA

The link above is for all the videoa I have done... I just cant wait to taste my chillies when they are ready. Going to do a taste test of each and every one ))

 

[WalkGood]

IIRC I pay around $19.89 for 25 lbs.

 

[PeriPeri]

25lbs thats what in real measurements lol 11Kg's? I can buy Uranium here for that price... makes them pods really massive

 

[WalkGood]

25lbs thats what in real measurements lol 11Kg's? I can buy Uranium here for that price... makes them pods really massive

11.3398 Kg's to be exact, lol

 

[PeriPeri]

Hi Guys,

I went to see the chillies today. All looking really good.

There has been a lot of rain. Unusually so. So some of the smaller plants's leaves are looking a little more yellow than I would like. Not really too sure what I can do about this... mother nature will have to take its course I presume.

I managed to plant out all the seedlings that were big enough to go into the nursery from my propogator. All looking good there. I am much happier now that they are in the soil as the seedling trays for me are a nightmare. I can never get the watering right. Too much and the seedlings die... too little and they also die. JUst can't get the watring right on those. I noticed when planting out that some of the seedling tray cells were wet ontop but bone dry further down.

Once I had planted all the seedlings into the nursery, I started transplanting some of the larger plants from the inside area to the outside area. This in turn gave me more space to shuffle things around inside.

I also added some Kelp fert to the inside plants and did another round of cutworm pellets. I just did not have time to do the stick thing... so having had to wait another week before I could get there, I had to choose the quicker option. But I will arrange sticks for next week!

Lots of plants are starting to bud and flower now. We know from last week that the Hotazel has pods... but I did see a pod on the Thai Dragon plant I think it was. So slowly but surely things are happening.

I did not have a lot of time before the skies opened again. There really has been a hell of a lot of rain. I guess I would rather there be too much rain than the usual - not enough rain I suppose lol

Tabascos, Habaneros, Cheyenne, Hotpixie, Thaibo... to name but a few showing flowers.

Sorry theres not that many pics... there just wasn't enough time to do even a fraction of what I wanted to do!

Nursery is looking busy again... 18 more variants planted.

Apologies... some of the pics are blurry. Had to take pics in an absolute rush! I think over the christmas holidays I will get a chance to really take great pics and get material on this glog for you all.

Over and out - PeriPeri

 

[stickman]

Wow! That's a very ambitious grow Lourens! The chiles under your shade cloth area are looking really nice. Keep up the good work and please post lots of pics!

 

[PeriPeri]

Thank you Stickman! There was so much more I had to do and I just never get round to doing it all. I have lost track of what I have planted and have been meaning to do a stock take... see what is in the ground. I really must take time to go through them all and take register of what is growing lol I think that will have to be priority next time.

 

[sicman]

the outdoor grow is going great.

 

[PeriPeri]

Thanks Sicman, good to hear. I am feeling good for the first time too... but I just wish it would hurry up! lol

 

[WalkGood]

The plants outside looking great, it's nice to see the flowering and budding, bet you can't wait ...

 

[PeriPeri]

Oh man! I'm like my kids when they see the present under the christmas tree!

I will be going through there tomorrow morning. I'm also going on a boat cruise with my kids next week, so I will be out of town for a whole week.... not sure how I will survive lol But we will be dropping anchor in Mozambique... so I am going to see if I can't pick up some PeriPeri seeds from there for next year.

My contact at the farm tells me all is looking great... lots of flowers and pods coming through...

 

[WalkGood]

Gone for a week ;o the suspense would be killing me, makes having fun hard ... /me thinks the doctor recommends lots of drinking

 

[PeriPeri]

While I would love to say that I am a die hard chillihead, I will stand up and declare that lying by the pool on a five star cruiser, adrift on the Indian ocean, all those bikini clad ladies at the cocktail bar.... what were we talking about again? Oh chillies - right... yes lol

 

[saugapepper]

Lourens, if you get some periperi seeds from Mozambique can you please send me some? I would love to grow them!!!

Conor

 

[PeriPeri]

Hi Conor, I am going to be going into Maputo and my aim will be to find some seeds. As you will know Mozambique used to be a portuguese colony and if there is one Southern African country that knows about PeriPeri it's Mozambique... Mozambique runs on PeriPeri sauce! If I get, I will certainly send you some. I did collect seeds here in Joburg and Durban as well. Am busy growing both types this year. Failing which I can send you from my stock!

 

[saugapepper]

Lourens, my first mentor when I started teaching a decade ago was Portuguese. He served in Mozambique in the 1970s and taught me how to make wonderful beer and periperi shrimp. He used peppers he got from relatives in Portugal and always wanted seeds from Mozambique. If you do manage to get some, I plan on growing a few plants and driving the 2 hours north to deliver a plant to him!