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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:
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Inside Area:
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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
 
Hey Sicman, I hope you capture it all on a blog! We need more members glogging their ground efforts.

THanks Pic1 what you say about regular watering makes perfect sense. The staff have been watering more regularly... but now that they are on holidays it will be less regular. I have to travel 60km every time to go there and water. The outside area does get watered less and now that the plants have taken root, they do seem to be doing much better. As you say, the roots have probably grown bigger and gone deeper as a result. I will be going through tomoroow hopefully... so i will take some more pics.

Happy Holidays to you too!
 
Here's wishing all you Chilliheads a wonderful blisteringly hot Christmas. May your Christmas be filled with super hot chillies and an endless supply of freezer chilled quadruple ply toilet paper... ho ho ho!
 
Going to the farm today for boxing day... so exciting... have not seen my babies for over two weeks... man theres going to be changes for sure! I will post pictures when I have them...
 
Peri Peri,
You have one awesome grow operation....and what a list.
It's bigger than our phone book listings here in little Myrtle Beach.
:P
PJ
 
lol thanks PepperJoe - just a few! I think I possibly over did it... its been tough at times, but soon it will be paydirt time :) Your Caroline Reapers, Ring of Fire & Pasilla Bajio's have come on nicely. Awesome seeds by the way, they all seeded really fast and pretty much all germinated. Unfortunately about 4 of the Carolina Reaper's fried in the sun. African sun is a wee bit hectic... but the rest have taken now - looking forward top munching on those beauties!

The courgettes (Zucchini) are coming along just great... seem to love this soil lol Real tasty too!

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Outside area has really taken now. Plants branching out. About hip height now. Lots of flowers and pods coming on. Big Jim, Baby Belles, PeriPeri's, Bishops Crown's, Habanero's, Tabasco's, Long Thai, California Wonder's... transplanted Brown Habanero's there today...

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inside.jpg


Cool picture stitching, I always like to see a trace edge ...
Thanks WalkGood, yea makes for a great graphic effect and much quicker!

Big Jim's...

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Love these guys...

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Loads of new growth and branching out. Did another dose of Monster Seagrow today... hand full of pellets at stem of every plant... should kick in over the next week or so

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Chopped some bamboo down by the river to build supports for the bigger plants. They are all showing lots of flowers...

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PeriPeri...

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Cherry Bomb...

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One of my favourites... the Black Pearl... love these guys...

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Fish Pepper's podding...

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Heaven Facing Chillies... that's a firmative... starting to change colour... looks like a rusty/chocolate pod coming up...

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Cheyenne's podding up... even the smallest plant has pods coming on... amazing little chillies these and tasty too...

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Habanero's... looks like browns...

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Thai Dragon's...

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Thaibo...

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Hi Lourens
Excellent shots of really healthy-looking chiles! Keep up the good work. Hope you had a good holiday with your family.
 
Lourens,

I take it back... you won't be picking for days... you'll be picking for months! My god your plants look fantastic. I just came in from clearing 10cm of snow from my freaking long driveway. Lousy Canadian weather... the first European to truly settle here was Samuel de Champlain, a Frenchman in 1608. When I die and go to heaven (if there is such a place) the first person I want to see is not my deceased father or grandparents, cousins, etc., it is Monsieur Champlain so I punch him right in his big Gallic nose for deciding that Canada was a good place to settle... he could have sailed just a bit further south and named what is now Florida, Canada.
 
Ya nice grow Peri, your peppers look great and that Zuke is a monster. You should look at Baker"s Creek Seeds for some great winter/summer squash and other plants, Jere has a large list of peppers also. Fitting the photo's of the pepper area is a good idea as it shows how it all fits together.
Looks like you will have a quite a time when it come to harvesting everything.
 
Hi Stickman, thanks.. the old phone amazes me sometimes. Had an amazing holiday with the kids thank you. Will definately be doing a cruise again. Kids loved it! It's starting to really gother momentum now... loads of pods coming up! Hope you had a good Christmas...

Lourens,

I take it back... you won't be picking for days... you'll be picking for months! My god your plants look fantastic. I just came in from clearing 10cm of snow from my freaking long driveway. Lousy Canadian weather... the first European to truly settle here was Samuel de Champlain, a Frenchman in 1608. When I die and go to heaven (if there is such a place) the first person I want to see is not my deceased father or grandparents, cousins, etc., it is Monsieur Champlain so I punch him right in his big Gallic nose for deciding that Canada was a good place to settle... he could have sailed just a bit further south and named what is now Florida, Canada.
lol we need to work on this... lets hybradise chillies so they grow in winter... may be easier! Sorry about not getting any PeriPeri seeds. Man I was pissed when the captain cancelled shore leave. All I wanted was to get to that market! Anyway... I have PeriPeri a plenty coming on. I will make sure to send you a handfull.

wildseed57, lol you know, I was standing amongs the chillies and looked at all the pods I had coming and thought the very same thing lol - how the hec am I going to manage harvesting. And they all appear to be coming along at different times.

The other thing is we have a thing here called Monkeys - not a problem for most of you... but when those milder chillies ripen - I had best have a plan. I am thinking of mixing up some superhots in water and spraying the plants - as a deterrent... I'm hoping this may work... anyone have any experience with this?
 
When we had Raccoons pulling down stalks of sweet corn to get at the ears my Dad mixed Cayenne pepper with vegetable shortening and smeared it on the ears of the outer stalks. Do you think Monkeys would be smart and persistent enough to check the whole patch?
 
Tons of progress in your pepper patch. The Black Pearl, amongst others are really bushing out.................cool!
 
Impressive!!! Really there isn't much more to say! We have a lot to deal with here ... pests diseases and animals ..... but we can't say we have to deal with Monkeys!! They would be no doubt a fairly crafty foe to have I would imagine and persistent if they got a taste for them ... what do people who grow commercial crops of anything in the area use??
 
Thanks guys... we have two types of monkeys in the area. Baboons and Vervet Monkeys. I could peg a Leopard or two in the garden... that would sort them for sure lol

It would have to be some kind of pepper spray to make them think the peppers are all too hot. The monkeys have not been around yet... but I fear for when they do. I imagine putting everything inside a shade netting enclosure is first prize... but that would just be too expensive. Good question about the commercial growers... I think they use permanent structures... dogs and most farms are out in the open. The farms I am growing on is situated in the bush more, nestled up against mountains... so monkeys are pretty much all around. Not sure scarecrows would do the trick as monkeys are not that stupid...
 
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