PeriPeri's Grow Log 2012: South Africa

AzoreanRuister · Mar 4, 2013

They boil the peppers first? i don't think I have tried that yet. I just wash them, grind them up and let them ferment. No cooking at all. I find that the pepper's taste really comes through nicely, and I am looking forward to trying some different varieties in this way.

Plus, for some reason, I just love taking a big spoonful of this paste, spreading it on a slice of bread, and toasting it in the toaster oven. I am sure putting them on any bread would be delicious! Great snack

They actually sell this pepper paste in any Portuguese store you are able to find. I know South Africa has a lot of Portuguese nationals - as well as Angolans and Mozambicans. If there are any Portuguese grocery stores, you will definitely find this paste there. I am sure you are able to sell pepper sauce without first having to cook it, as I find this sauce here myself.

Thanks for the info on the Peri Peri. I haven't tasted the super hots yet - first year growing them, but my favorite sauce and pepper is the Peri Peri. Might change this year, but definitely my favorite. I am going to try and find some Mozambican seed somewhere. Thanks for the info on them!!

PeriPeri · Mar 5, 2013

Hi AzoreanRuister. Well, not boil exactly, they cooked them in a large cast iron pot.

I'm with you on the same page. I love eating my chilli raw and preserved naturally, oil, salt lemon juice. I understand your method does not use the latter. Which sounds interesting. I would like to try this.

Interesting what you say about the paste and selling it in Portuguese shops. If this is a market I can tap into... I'd rather do that than boil my chilli. Last year I made a batch of salsa out of my mixed harvested chillies. It was different in that I used lemon juice, but it was divine. Pure heaven. And kept a really long time too.

I have the Mozambique PeriPeri seeds. Please PM me your address and I'd be happy to send you some. I have Malawian (larger PeriPeri), MOzambique and locally collected PeriPeri from South Africa - Durban area. Thank you for your contribution!

megamoo · Mar 5, 2013

I viewed your glog early at about page 3 but didn't comment so it didn't show up my content. You are getting some amazing poddage! I'm jealous of the fataliis, mine are just starting to make baby pods now. I'll have to go through it properly tonight when I have time.

PeriPeri · Mar 5, 2013

megamoo said:
I viewed your glog early at about page 3 but didn't comment so it didn't show up my content. You are getting some amazing poddage! I'm jealous of the fataliis, mine are just starting to make baby pods now. I'll have to go through it properly tonight when I have time.

Hi Megamoo. Thanks for stopping by! It's been busy, as I know you have been. The Fatalii's are tasty man... I just can't rave enough. Really loving them. Enjoy the read...

MisterNo · Mar 5, 2013

Beautiful blog PeriPeri

Nice pics and great pods

Although it made me sad looking at this because I didn't start any Yellow Fataliis or Peri Peris this year

PeriPeri · Mar 5, 2013

MisterNo said:
Beautiful blog PeriPeri

Nice pics and great pods

Although it made me sad looking at this because I didn't start any Yellow Fataliis or Peri Peris this year

Thank you MisterNo. Busy chopping everything up at the moment. I planted 66 varieties this year and I am also sad, because I would have wanted to plant them all lol But on the bright side, it leaves new varieties for the next year

MisterNo · Mar 5, 2013

PeriPeri said:
Thank you MisterNo. Busy chopping everything up at the moment. I planted 66 varieties this year and I am also sad, because I would have wanted to plant them all lol But on the bright side, it leaves new varieties for the next year

I have 50 varieties planned this season, too much peppers too little time and space

Good luck with season, I'll watching this blog

PeriPeri · Mar 5, 2013

MisterNo said:
I have 50 varieties planned this season, too much peppers too little time and space

Good luck with season, I'll watching this blog

Thank you MisterNo... you too. 50 is a lot of peppers... I know how much time that is going to take lol

Ok Just spoke to Grant from junglerain, whom i got most of my seeds from... the mystery plant is in fact a TS ButchT X Bhut Jolokia.

Which would explain the trip to Painsville when I ate it

megamoo · Mar 5, 2013

Like it

Wow great glog! Didn't read every word but saw all the pics and got the main gist of it. I've always dreamt of having a large dedicated stretch of land for chillies, and helpers to do some of the work! You are living the dream!

I agree that automated watering is the way to go. Not only does it save your own time manually watering but the plants respond with better growth when they get used to a consistent watering schedule.

Have you found a solution to the monkeys pushing down the plants?

That small plant you're so fond of.. are you sure its meant to be small or could it be sick and stunted? Never seen anything like that.

You need to take some piles of harvested chilli pictures. You probably mentioned it but what is your processing method? Halve and deseed... then do you freeze or dry them?

I get a steady yellowing and dropping of the older leaves. A lot of the time the necrosis affects half the leaf first. I think it's a nutrient deficiency, or overwatering. I've cut back on their watering now the hottest days are over and if something's been depleted from the soil, I can supplement it with liquid ferts... but it doesn't seem to be a big problem. More new green leaves are made than old leaves drop so I just remove them when I see them. That way the next time I'm there I know all the yellow leaves are newly formed and I can gauge the loss rate.

I see a lot of stuff in your grow that I recognise, like sometimes the stem of the chilli is chewed by something. It makes the pod ripen prematurely but doesn't affect it too badly. One of your habanero pictures looks like it has a tiny a hole that mine have when there was an eggplant moth maggot thing inside. I hope you don't have them move into your crop because I've lots buckets of pods to them.

How long does your season go for?

Everything looks great

PIC 1 · Mar 5, 2013

That Trinn-India cross looks mighty oily................. :fireball:

................do most of the pods have that elongated shape or do some have the pointed tails ?

Stefan_W · Mar 5, 2013

That definitely looks like it would hurt to eat it.

PeriPeri · Mar 5, 2013

megamoo said:
Like it Wow great glog! Didn't read every word but saw all the pics and got the main gist of it. I've always dreamt of having a large dedicated stretch of land for chillies, and helpers to do some of the work! You are living the dream!

I agree that automated watering is the way to go. Not only does it save your own time manually watering but the plants respond with better growth when they get used to a consistent watering schedule.

Have you found a solution to the monkeys pushing down the plants?

That small plant you're so fond of.. are you sure its meant to be small or could it be sick and stunted? Never seen anything like that.

You need to take some piles of harvested chilli pictures. You probably mentioned it but what is your processing method? Halve and deseed... then do you freeze or dry them?

I get a steady yellowing and dropping of the older leaves. A lot of the time the necrosis affects half the leaf first. I think it's a nutrient deficiency, or overwatering. I've cut back on their watering now the hottest days are over and if something's been depleted from the soil, I can supplement it with liquid ferts... but it doesn't seem to be a big problem. More new green leaves are made than old leaves drop so I just remove them when I see them. That way the next time I'm there I know all the yellow leaves are newly formed and I can gauge the loss rate.

I see a lot of stuff in your grow that I recognise, like sometimes the stem of the chilli is chewed by something. It makes the pod ripen prematurely but doesn't affect it too badly. One of your habanero pictures looks like it has a tiny a hole that mine have when there was an eggplant moth maggot thing inside. I hope you don't have them move into your crop because I've lots buckets of pods to them.

How long does your season go for?

Everything looks great

Hi Megamoo, thanks for checking out the glog! When you said you would read the glog from page 3 you were not kidding! I think without the guys to do the watering in my absence, I would never have managed! I don't think I would ever have had so much success with pots. Plants in pots and I just don't work out.

Next season watering will be sorted before anything gets started, and I will make sure to plant inside. This is as far as I can tell the safest and surest safeguard from monkeys!

I don't know the small plant at all. It looks healthy enough and does not appear to be stunted other than being a dwarf plant. Pods are going red now... but I forgot to take a pic last week. Will need to do so this weekend. I can't find info on it anywhere... except that I have been informed it comes from india.

lol I had a good 10kg's of chillies this last weekend. I will try and take pics of the harvest this time round. I am cutting in halves and scraping seeds out. Drying seeds and packaging and chopping and freezing chillies.

Good to hear about the yellow leaves. It does make sense that some of the older ones have to drop. I am also making a point of just removing the odd leaf here and there so sunlight can get at the pods.

I know the problem you have had with the maggots and I have them too

Not hectic... but I have found them in all the milder chillies - Bishops & Big Jims.

The first frost usually hits around first week of May. Day time temps in winter are usually around 21/23ºc but night time temps can drop as low as -5ºc. I am planning to pot and move some of the special plants indoors. It will be fun to continue the process under artificial lighting. Will be a challenge I think.

When does your season end?

Chat soon

PeriPeri

PIC 1 said:
That Trinn-India cross looks mighty oily................. ................do most of the pods have that elongated shape or do some have the pointed tails ?

Hi Pic1. They all are pretty much the same with that elongated tear drop shape. No stingers. But I have seen some of the more recent pods looking more like Bhuts. I recognised the ButchT mix in the pods right away... as I have tried it and that ulcerating scorpion stinging around the tongue is unmistakable.

Stefan_W said:
That definitely looks like it would hurt to eat it.

Hey Stefan, you get the hot pods and you get the ones that are just plain painful like the ButchT... and this is one of those. I can cope with the hot coals at the back of the throat... but that ulcerated stinging around the tongue just makes my eyes well up lol

megamoo · Mar 5, 2013

I'm giving up on pots for next season and converting all available space into raised garden beds. Some people grow well in pots but I can't get the hang of it.

I think my climate is milder than yours, we're basically at sea level and 5 minutes to the coast, (in fact if I walk out to the highest point at the edge of the road and stand up on your toes you can see a tiny gap of ocean through the distant hills so my house can be listed as having `ocean views`) :rofl:

We only get about one frost a year so the growing season is long. Probably when winter starts, production will stop and I'll cut everything down, A poly tunnel or something similar would keep everything going through winter.

AzoreanRuister · Mar 5, 2013

PeriPeri said:
Hi AzoreanRuister. Well, not boil exactly, they cooked them in a large cast iron pot.

I'm with you on the same page. I love eating my chilli raw and preserved naturally, oil, salt lemon juice. I understand your method does not use the latter. Which sounds interesting. I would like to try this.

Interesting what you say about the paste and selling it in Portuguese shops. If this is a market I can tap into... I'd rather do that than boil my chilli. Last year I made a batch of salsa out of my mixed harvested chillies. It was different in that I used lemon juice, but it was divine. Pure heaven. And kept a really long time too.

I have the Mozambique PeriPeri seeds. Please PM me your address and I'd be happy to send you some. I have Malawian (larger PeriPeri), MOzambique and locally collected PeriPeri from South Africa - Durban area. Thank you for your contribution!

I wonder if you can find this brand near your place:
http://p6.storage.canalblog.com/64/54/336500/59580258.jpg

This is fairly typical tasting, though I find home-brews always much better. But these are non-cooked and fermented pepper pastes with only salt added. Something to try. I am planning on trying on making this with some of the nuclear peppers I am attempting to grow, but not sure I can handle nuclear heat yet

I really love the taste of lime/lemon with peppers. Give me a loaf of fresh bread and a side dish of crushed peppers with some lime juice, and I will consider it a wonderful meal!

Thanks for your offer for the Peri Peri seeds. I am actually quite excited now! The REAL stuff!! hehe I will send you a PM with my address, as well as what I have for seeds. I am betting you have probably everything I have, but hopefully there is something you are missing and that I can send to you!

WalkGood · Mar 6, 2013

I like the coloration and picture of your TS ButchT X Bhut Jolokia! Now describe dat pain mon

meatfreak · Mar 6, 2013

Those Condom chillies have a really funny shape

How does it taste? The rest of the plants/pods looks top notch! Great job :clap:

PeriPeri · Mar 6, 2013

megamoo said:
I'm giving up on pots for next season and converting all available space into raised garden beds. Some people grow well in pots but I can't get the hang of it.

I think my climate is milder than yours, we're basically at sea level and 5 minutes to the coast, (in fact if I walk out to the highest point at the edge of the road and stand up on your toes you can see a tiny gap of ocean through the distant hills so my house can be listed as having `ocean views`) We only get about one frost a year so the growing season is long. Probably when winter starts, production will stop and I'll cut everything down, A poly tunnel or something similar would keep everything going through winter.

Hey Magamoo I'm with you on that one. I can't do pots. Take my hat off to those who do... but after trying the plants in soil... that is doable for me.

Yea, our coastal areas are warmer. Durban never drops below 15/17ºc at night in winter. Daytime temps are about 25ºc or so. But here in the highveld (PTA & JHB) we are at about 4000 Ft from sea level. So night time temps plummet. We get a good month or so of night time frost.

WalkGood said:
I like the coloration and picture of your TS ButchT X Bhut Jolokia! Now describe dat pain mon

Actually me too if I may say so myself. Its not actually red, although it looks it. Its a very irridescent red/orange colour.

You know that ulcer on the underside of the tongue. Or imagine twenty scorpions stinging you around the tonge top and underneath... hmmm makes them eyes well up. It's that kind of a pain - unmistakably ButchT! lol

meatfreak said:
Those Condom chillies have a really funny shape How does it taste? The rest of the plants/pods looks top notch! Great job

The Condom chilli is actually very pleasant. Thin skinned. Hollow inside. Fruity with a peppery afterburn. I would say its about 30,000 - 50,000 SHU. Could possibly be more. But I think the shape is so funny - I agree with you. Would go very well with the Peter's peppers lol

AzoreanRuister said:
I wonder if you can find this brand near your place:
http://p6.storage.ca...00/59580258.jpg

This is fairly typical tasting, though I find home-brews always much better. But these are non-cooked and fermented pepper pastes with only salt added. Something to try. I am planning on trying on making this with some of the nuclear peppers I am attempting to grow, but not sure I can handle nuclear heat yet

I really love the taste of lime/lemon with peppers. Give me a loaf of fresh bread and a side dish of crushed peppers with some lime juice, and I will consider it a wonderful meal!

Thanks for your offer for the Peri Peri seeds. I am actually quite excited now! The REAL stuff!! hehe I will send you a PM with my address, as well as what I have for seeds. I am betting you have probably everything I have, but hopefully there is something you are missing and that I can send to you!

Always keen to share with a fellow enthusiast!

SichuaneseFoodFan · Mar 8, 2013

I'm so glad your grow is going so well! Those pods look fantastic. It's probably like choosing a favorite child, but which are your favorite flavors?

PeriPeri · Mar 9, 2013

Hey Nate! Oh wow, difficult question... which child do I love more than the other lol Theres the Calapeño Thunder (As I call it now - cross between the CAlifornia Wonder and the Jalapeño) An amazing chilli. Big sweet juicy with a good Jalapeño zing. I never thought I would ever say I like a Thai chilli... but have really grown to like the Thai Dragon. I love the Cherry bomb great flavour, juicy and lots of zing. I love the Yellow Fatalii - it has the most amazing unique flavour - boiled sweets/toffee/banana/citrus/orangeblossom. I tried the Nagalah the other day and I must say the Naga King for me is still king. I have not tried a fresh Douglah... but I have tried it as a dried pod and I really like it... so still waiting to try those pods and the Jonah... really like that pod.... gosh, to choose one! It would have to be between the Yellow Fatalii and the Naga King. Both are so unique in their flavour. One is considerably hotter than the other... they both have long burns and the flavours linger really for a long time which I love. It's a hairs breadth between them, but at this stage I would have to say the Naga King. Sweet, citrus undertones. Strong burn. Long burn. Flavours that go on and on... sweet orange flavour.... yea I would say the Naga King. Ofcourse this may change as I am trying new pods every day. So many still to come that I have only tried the dried pods of. I think there is a big difference in eating the dried pod and a fresh one. I hated the Jawala at the beginning of the season and just last night I was munching a beautiful red ripe pod while chpping my chillies and I actually thought - wow this is really nice and fruity... sun dried tomatoes and peppery... almost spicy - which made me appreciate why this is such a saught after chilli in India for making curries. I am having a whale of a time though tasting all the different chillies. I am busy doing a taste test of all of them... which is proving to be a mega fun exercise lol

What is your favourite flavours?

Stefan_W · Mar 10, 2013

PeriPeri said:
Hey Stefan, you get the hot pods and you get the ones that are just plain painful like the ButchT... and this is one of those. I can cope with the hot coals at the back of the throat... but that ulcerated stinging around the tongue just makes my eyes well up lol

As luck would have it, I'm growing butch Ts for the first time this year. I'm afraid. Very very afraid.