PeriPeri's Grow Log 2012: South Africa

chilli whisperer · Jul 13, 2013

Wow,that's a lot,last time it whas 66 if I remember?
So now it must be like 136 if I'm right?

PeriPeri · Jul 13, 2013

No, this was my 2013 Vintage Chilli Sauce, it had 66 different types of chillies in it lol. I think I had 78 different varieties last season. But yea... looking at about 140 I think. Time will tell. Its a blank canvas at this stage and I am still waiting for my largest shipment of seeds to arrive from Aus

chilli whisperer · Jul 13, 2013

Awesome!

can't wait till harvest time comes,just know a certain someone will be veeeeery bust on your website

stickman · Jul 13, 2013

Holy Cow Lourens! You've got the nucleus of another killer grow going with your OW plants. Some of the folks in OZ have started their seeds already, but they're closer to the equator than you are unless they're in New South Wales or Tasmania. Continued success brother... I'm looking forward to seeing what new varieties you grow this coming season. Cheers!

Stefan_W · Jul 13, 2013

Wow, great looking pods from your overwinters!

The pods on your thai dragon look very different from the ones I had on mine a couple of seasons back. Yours seem longer, and almost cayenne like.

chilli whisperer · Jul 13, 2013

Suddenly I feel super proud to be a South African =D

PeriPeri · Jul 13, 2013

stickman said:
Holy Cow Lourens! You've got the nucleus of another killer grow going with your OW plants. Some of the folks in OZ have started their seeds already, but they're closer to the equator than you are unless they're in New South Wales or Tasmania. Continued success brother... I'm looking forward to seeing what new varieties you grow this coming season. Cheers!

Thanks Rick! I hope it will be a bumper year. But this year more variety than quantity I think.

Stefan_W said:
Wow, great looking pods from your overwinters!

The pods on your thai dragon look very different from the ones I had on mine a couple of seasons back. Yours seem longer, and almost cayenne like.

Hi Stefan, this was the second wave of pods that carried over from last season. The pods are quite long. I also remembered the first batch being shorter lol Maybe a bit of change there for the next season? All good as long as they taste as good as the original!

chilli whisperer said:
Suddenly I feel super proud to be a South African =D

Hi ChilliWisperer - nice one!

PeriPeri · Jul 24, 2013

Hi Guys,

Things still slow here at the mo. Temps still fluctuating. We have fairly good day time temps in the 20's (ºC). Night time temps seem to be dropping again. But we are good. Plants that are overwintering are doing really great and the germination process is well under way. But I'm not even going to go there... I think we have all seen hooks and seedlings by the millions before. So my next glog will begin with planting or at least seedlings. Besides, I am still in holiday mode

Ok, so I spoke of a Greenhouse I managed to score from a mate who rescued this from a demolition site. Job well done, because this greenhouse is really nice and in great nick too... all the parts are accounted for too. It has taken some time to figure out what goes where... (no instruction manual) and what is proving to be the most difficult part is trying to put all the parts in their original places. But as the say Rome was not built in a day!

Very excited to get this greenhouse completed and should be just in time for the seedlings that are currently germinating... which should be a major plus on last years grow

The frame is up. Seals need putting in and the perspex panels as well as the glass... and then the covers for the frame. Of the whole greenhouse, the only part that was missing was one piece of glass on the front louvres. Not a bad size either I think!

Trippa · Jul 24, 2013

Nice work lourens!! Great looking glasshouse for those seedlings!! Nice score

PeriPeri · Jul 24, 2013

Trippa said:
Nice work lourens!! Great looking glasshouse for those seedlings!! Nice score

Hey Trippa, thanks man! Should help those seedlings early on!

PeriPeri · Jul 24, 2013

Helmet Head Tip

So here's the thing... you have that special chilli you have struggled to germinate and grow. It gives you one hook and this one precious seedling has a seed pod attached to it - that just won't come off and the thought of the head of the seedling snapping off while trying to pry off the seed casing with tweezers is just driving you insane. But leaving the seedling case attached to the seedling means the leaves will just rot and wilt in the case.... Sound like a familiar story?

In a blinding moment of brilliance I thought of the simplest solution!

Take the top of the seedling with the seed casing still attached and simply bend it over and stick the head back into the ground - water as usual. You guys probably all know this... but it only occurred to me the other day lol

This seems to be working for me... thought I might just share this with others who don't know!

stickman · Jul 24, 2013

PeriPeri said:
Hi Guys,

Things still slow here at the mo. Temps still fluctuating. We have fairly good day time temps in the 20's (ºC). Night time temps seem to be dropping again. But we are good. Plants that are overwintering are doing really great and the germination process is well under way. But I'm not even going to go there... I think we have all seen hooks and seedlings by the millions before. So my next glog will begin with planting or at least seedlings. Besides, I am still in holiday mode

Ok, so I spoke of a Greenhouse I managed to score from a mate who rescued this from a demolition site. Job well done, because this greenhouse is really nice and in great nick too... all the parts are accounted for too. It has taken some time to figure out what goes where... (no instruction manual) and what is proving to be the most difficult part is trying to put all the parts in their original places. But as the say Rome was not built in a day!

Very excited to get this greenhouse completed and should be just in time for the seedlings that are currently germinating... which should be a major plus on last years grow

The frame is up. Seals need putting in and the perspex panels as well as the glass... and then the covers for the frame. Of the whole greenhouse, the only part that was missing was one piece of glass on the front louvres. Not a bad size either I think!

Nice score with the greenhouse Lourens! That should help with getting the seedlings started and out of the house as soon as possible. Good thinking with your method for dealing with "helmet head"... let us know if it works. Cheers!

WalkGood · Jul 24, 2013

Hola Lourens, I see you are waking the dead … great job mon! I gotta tell ya when my Jamaican Habaneros read your line “I know it’s just a Red Haba” they were extremely disappointed and started texting their African brethren so watch out mon, lolz.

They all look great, love da colors on the Butch T pod, almost identical to the color changes my JA Habs go thru. Naga King looking great too, I’m sure there are many others you didn’t picture.

Awesome greenhouse mon, can't wait to see the finishing shots with it all loaded up with plants busting at da seems

I too have had good luck with re-burying helmets … although your method seems a little different than mine. Good luck with the 2014 grows and when does the new glog begin?

Have a great week brethren ^_^

PeriPeri · Jul 24, 2013

stickman said:
Nice score with the greenhouse Lourens! That should help with getting the seedlings started and out of the house as soon as possible. Good thinking with your method for dealing with "helmet head"... let us know if it works. Cheers!

Hi Rick... man you got the mother of all grows going on your side - nice one! Yea, the helmet head thing seems to be working for me!

DocNrock · Jul 24, 2013

Dude, great job putting the greenhouse jigsaw puzzle back together! Looks like a great score. That g-house is going to be so awesome when you are ready to move your seedlings out of their sprouting environment and into it. I got my little greenhouse up just in time, and it alone is what made my grow this year possible.

I have a feeling your grow for this upcoming season will be leaps and bounds ahead of this past season's already awesome grow. The transition time spent in the greenhouse between the sprouting environment and plant-out is going to give your plants a major boost. FWIW, and I certainly am no expert, I'll just share with you one experience I had with the g-house. It is an easy place for pests to thrive as there essentially are no predators. Fungus gnats and aphids were the two I encountered, but I understand that mites love greenhouses, too. Once all of your panels are in I would recommend washing everything down on the inside with bleach two or three times before putting the plants in there. I don't know your tolerance to insecticides, but one use would be to spray down all the crevices and tiny openings to the outside perhaps once a week. The chemicals would not be on your plants with that approach. Yellow sticky paper in/around every few pots will alert you to any bugs present, and will do a lot to control fungus gnats. Finally, even with all of those approaches, I still got aphids on a few plants. I then used an insecticide (acetamiprid) very judiciously, as in just the areas that were too infested to simply brush off. This approach worked very well for me. YMMV.

In any event, looks like you are primed for a fantastic season. Good luck (not that you need it)!

meatfreak · Jul 25, 2013

That is a great looking greenhouse, Lourens. Your really gonna kickstart your seedlings with that! The tip about the helmets I've been doing for 2 seasons now, it works most of the time but sometimes brain surgery is still needed :lol:

PeriPeri · Jul 25, 2013

WalkGood said:
Hola Lourens, I see you are waking the dead … great job mon! I gotta tell ya when my Jamaican Habaneros read your line “I know it’s just a Red Haba” they were extremely disappointed and started texting their African brethren so watch out mon, lolz.

They all look great, love da colors on the Butch T pod, almost identical to the color changes my JA Habs go thru. Naga King looking great too, I’m sure there are many others you didn’t picture.

Awesome greenhouse mon, can't wait to see the finishing shots with it all loaded up with plants busting at da seems

I too have had good luck with re-burying helmets … although your method seems a little different than mine. Good luck with the 2014 grows and when does the new glog begin?

Have a great week brethren ^_^

Hey Ramon! LOL you made me split my sides man! Yea... was just dem red habas lol Super excited about the greenhouse... can't wait to get it finished this weekend hopefully. All the glass was custom cut to fit the various openings... so this may prove to be tricky as reassembling the greenhouse... things have changed a little. But we will win in the end!

Such a simple idea reburying the seed... but it only took me three years to think of it lol That brain of mine is slower than the growth on a Brainstrain sometimes

DocNrock said:
Dude, great job putting the greenhouse jigsaw puzzle back together! Looks like a great score. That g-house is going to be so awesome when you are ready to move your seedlings out of their sprouting environment and into it. I got my little greenhouse up just in time, and it alone is what made my grow this year possible.

I have a feeling your grow for this upcoming season will be leaps and bounds ahead of this past season's already awesome grow. The transition time spent in the greenhouse between the sprouting environment and plant-out is going to give your plants a major boost. FWIW, and I certainly am no expert, I'll just share with you one experience I had with the g-house. It is an easy place for pests to thrive as there essentially are no predators. Fungus gnats and aphids were the two I encountered, but I understand that mites love greenhouses, too. Once all of your panels are in I would recommend washing everything down on the inside with bleach two or three times before putting the plants in there. I don't know your tolerance to insecticides, but one use would be to spray down all the crevices and tiny openings to the outside perhaps once a week. The chemicals would not be on your plants with that approach. Yellow sticky paper in/around every few pots will alert you to any bugs present, and will do a lot to control fungus gnats. Finally, even with all of those approaches, I still got aphids on a few plants. I then used an insecticide (acetamiprid) very judiciously, as in just the areas that were too infested to simply brush off. This approach worked very well for me. YMMV.

In any event, looks like you are primed for a fantastic season. Good luck (not that you need it)!

Hi Doc! Thanks man. So many errors and mistakes last season. I think this coming season will be much better too. Knowing what I know now and the added perks of the greenhouse will definitely make this upcoming grow much more efficient. Great tip on cleaning the greenhouse - thank you. I will definitely get the hazteam in there to clean the inside before plants go in and also make sure plants are free from parasites/insects!

Devv · Jul 25, 2013

Been away in Vay-K land. Really glad to see the score on the greenhouse-puzzle.

Hey that's half the fun!

I see it's in semi shade, might be the best place for it!

So are you firing up yet?

PeriPeri · Jul 25, 2013

meatfreak said:
That is a great looking greenhouse, Lourens. Your really gonna kickstart your seedlings with that! The tip about the helmets I've been doing for 2 seasons now, it works most of the time but sometimes brain surgery is still needed

Hey Stefan, thanks for popping in! Can't wait to get it finished and show you guys the final greenhouse with the glass and roof in. lol Everyone knew about the reburying thing... lol - why am I always the last to know lol

Devv said:
Been away in Vay-K land. Really glad to see the score on the greenhouse-puzzle.

Hey that's half the fun!

I see it's in semi shade, might be the best place for it!

So are you firing up yet?

Hey Scott... getting there! Welcome back to reality... germination is happening as we speak. Loads of plants that have overwintered and are starting to shoot... spring is close - I can almost taste it!

WalkGood · Jul 25, 2013

PeriPeri said:
Hey Ramon! LOL you made me split my sides man! Yea...

Yea I thought it was funny stuff too but I guess only you and I liked it :/

PeriPeri said:
Such a simple idea reburying the seed... but it only took me three years to think of it lol That brain of mine is slower than the growth on a Brainstrain sometimes ...

I've only been doing it since I first joined here, read it somewhere on the site. Before that it was brain surgery, lol.