South African Pepper Addicts
- Thread starter Van
- Start date
Hi
Well there is a few of us, PeriPeri I would say is the biggest grower ( lots of envy :-)) Check out his glog, very impressive.
Also there is Chillie Whisperer, which is a chilihead in the making.
Me, after a 10 year break, I started growing some 7pod's, ghost's, rocotos, tabasco and peppadews....
What are you growing?
D
Well there is a few of us, PeriPeri I would say is the biggest grower ( lots of envy :-)) Check out his glog, very impressive.
Also there is Chillie Whisperer, which is a chilihead in the making.
Me, after a 10 year break, I started growing some 7pod's, ghost's, rocotos, tabasco and peppadews....
What are you growing?
D
Hi there good to know there are fellow country men out thereWalti72 said:
here s a list
Tabasco
Jalapeno
Habanero
Red Habanero
Caribbean red
Twilight
Peruvian purple
Cheyenne
seedlings:
Tabasco
Habanero orange
Habanero Red
Sweet Hungarian wax
Peppadew
Thai Yellow
Bird eye
Cherry sweet
Cherry Hot
Hi, not from South Africa, From Namibia. but i would love to trade some seed.
if you can give me Peppadews and Cherry sweets, I can give you TS Moruga and Bishop's Crown
. I've got those growing and they do well in the hot weather
if you can give me Peppadews and Cherry sweets, I can give you TS Moruga and Bishop's Crown
. I've got those growing and they do well in the hot weather
Hi everyone, Port Elizabeth grower here.
I'm not new to gardening, but this is my first time really focusing on growing hot peppers. My orangs habs, jalapeños, Rajahs and Peruvian White Lightning habs are fruiting at the moment. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion has flower buds. I've already harvested some (green) pods and there's nothing like eating a chilli from a plant you grew from seed.
I'll be able to trade seeds closer to the end of my growing season. Peppers are still ripening.
Irshaad, what help do you need? This forum is the best place to ask for advice, so feel free to ask any time.
I'm not new to gardening, but this is my first time really focusing on growing hot peppers. My orangs habs, jalapeños, Rajahs and Peruvian White Lightning habs are fruiting at the moment. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion has flower buds. I've already harvested some (green) pods and there's nothing like eating a chilli from a plant you grew from seed.
I'll be able to trade seeds closer to the end of my growing season. Peppers are still ripening.
Irshaad, what help do you need? This forum is the best place to ask for advice, so feel free to ask any time.
Irshaad said:
@Prazzie, those Morugas are realy hot and flavourful, ive been harvesting since December, the are realy productive, especially if you give them a little bone meal while they are fruiting. they also like to be pruned after every harvest.
@ Irshaad, welcome to pepper growing. its good to ask specific questions. one bit of advice i can give is. use well draining soil. also for a stronger plant, you shoul hard prune your pepper plant when it forks out, you wanna cut just below the fork. that encourages side branching, which gives you more peppers later on.
@ Irshaad, welcome to pepper growing. its good to ask specific questions. one bit of advice i can give is. use well draining soil. also for a stronger plant, you shoul hard prune your pepper plant when it forks out, you wanna cut just below the fork. that encourages side branching, which gives you more peppers later on.
Hey thanks for the welcome .
I have different types of pepper seeds Trindad 7 pod,cerry bomb,orange habnero and 10 other types. Need help in how to plant them I have read most web pages and most of the guys not from S.A .
Please can you'll give me tips on how to plant the seeds and look after them
I have different types of pepper seeds Trindad 7 pod,cerry bomb,orange habnero and 10 other types. Need help in how to plant them I have read most web pages and most of the guys not from S.A .
Please can you'll give me tips on how to plant the seeds and look after them
Irshaad said:
There are many ways to go about it and achieve success, but I'll tell you what I think is easy and inexpensive, but will still give you complete control.
Take a piece of paper towel (tissues or toilet paper are too flimsy) and place your seeds on it. Spread them out so they are not touching. Fold the paper over to contain the seeds and spritz the paper towel with water using a spray bottle with a fine misting nozzle. It should be moist, but not soaking wet, so spritz, let the water absorb, spritz again until it's just damp. Place the damp paper towel inside a plastic bag and seal it. You can write down the type of seed inside on the plastic bag or stick a sticker on it. Just make sure to mark it somehow so you know what's in it.
Do this for all your different seeds and then place the plastic bags in a warm spot, like on top of the fridge. It doesn't have to be boiling hot, just between 22°C and 28°C. If seeds aren't germinating, I find that a bit more heat (closer to 30°C) usually does the trick.
You can check your baggies as often as you like by holding them up to the light. What you're looking for is the tap root emerging, which will be easy to spot. It will look like a line sticking out from the seed. Once they've germinated, or "popped" in chilli grower lingo, you can carefully plant them in your growing medium.
For growing medium, I recommend buying a seed starting soil mix, if you're willing to spend money, or make your own. The reason I suggest buying it is because it's very cheap and weed free. It's different from potting soil, it's a lot finer. I've made my own from a mix of vermiculite/perlite, sifted compost and coco coir, but frankly, in future I will go back to buying because it's convenient and affordable. Ask at a nursery, they'll have seed starting soil.
Place your medium in seed trays or plastic/styrofoam cups with drainage holes, moisten the soil (I use a spray bottle) and plant your seeds. You don't need to make sure the taproot is facing down, it will find its own way, but I aim for that to give it the best possible start. Cover the seeds lightly with soil. General rule of thumb is to not bury the seed deeper than twice its own width. Remember to mark your seeds, so you know which is which.
Now you wait. Keep the soil moist, but not sopping wet. Your seeds will grow. You'll be tempted to fiddle with them and interfere and think they're stuck in the seed helmet. Resist tampering, just keep them moist.
Once they stick their heads out of the ground, you can start exposing them to sunlight. Place them in a window or outside in a protected place (where wind/animals can't knock them over). Just make sure they don't dry out! If you want to keep them inside, that's fine, but if you eventually want to move them outside, you'll have to harden them off. Lots of advice on this forum about hardening off, it applies worldwide. It's just a slow exposure to the new environment.
The most difficult phase is germination. These suckers can take 28 days or longer to pop. Just be patient.
The second most difficult phase is when they are seedlings. Because they look like "babies", the tendency is to want to pamper them. They're plants and they already have everything they need to grow, they don't need anything other than water and light in this phase. I mean, sure check for pests or that they're getting enough light, put a fan on them to simulate a breeze if they're inside, but no need to transplant them or feed them or try to pull off the seed helmet. If a seed casing is really stuck on there, spray it with water to moisten it. If that doesn't work after a couple of days, you can very very gently try to pry it off, but if you damage the seedleaves (cotyledons or "cots"), that's on you.
Once they have 2 or 3 sets of true leaves, you can start feeding them. How you do that is up to you, depending on whether you want to be organic or not. If you're happy using commercial fertilisers, tomato fertilisers are suitable to pepper plants. If you want to encourage foliage growth, feed with a fert high in Nitrogen. If you want to encourage blossoms and fruit, feed with a fert low in Nitrogen. You'll see on the package or bottle it breaks down the N-P-K percentages, just look for high or low N depending on your goal.
At first, dilute the fertiliser a lot. Full strength fertiliser can burn and harm your plants. I actually start with 1:10 strength, which might be going overboard. Just don't start with stronger than 1:4. I use Starke Ayres Nutrifeed and Nutrisol.
I vary my fertiliser routine depending on the plants, between once every two weeks, to once a month. You have to monitor your plants and check that they still seem healthy and they're not stalling or experiencing issues like blossom drop, wonky leaves etc.
Every now and then you'll notice your plants need a bigger pot. You can repot or transplant to outside into the garden. Signs of needing a bigger pot include stalled growth and roots sticking out of the drainage holes in the bottom.
I think that covers the basics. Honestly, pepper plants are very hardy. You don't have to do much to look after them. Just make sure they don't dry out in the beginning and once they're established, they can be allowed to wilt a bit before watering. I prefer not to let them wilt myself, but if they do don't panic! That's normal, it happens, it's not a bad thing. A good tip for knowing when to water is to pick up (or weigh if you're really serious) your watered pots. Then feel how light they are (or weigh them again) when it's time to water them. You'll soon get a feel for when to water simply by picking up the pot. Heavy it's got enough water, medium it's still damp enough, light it's time to water.
Again, this is by no means the only way to grow chilli peppers. I've tried 3 different ways myself (straight into the ground, Jiffy pellets, paper towel) and recommend paper towel because you get to keep an eye over the process. It's an exciting time!
I hope this helps you a bit! All the best with your grow.
- Mandie
Hi there send me your adress and i will send you some7Eyechillifreak said:Hi, not from South Africa, From Namibia. but i would love to trade some seed.
if you can give me Peppadews and Cherry sweets, I can give you TS Moruga and Bishop's Crown
We South Africans should start getting more South Africans to join in on pepper growing :p
JHB here. Ive been growing some plants from someone I bought from in PTA. Mostly seem like duds with almost no heat or lame heat. Dorset Naga, Moruga, 7 pot, Trinidad Scorpion.
Where are you sourcing your seeds from? Some local prices are a little retarded R20+ for 1 seed. Hopefully this market isnt going to be exploited like all the industries in this country...
I was going to try find some international people on these forums to import my seeds considering I can probably import 20 varieties at the cost of 4 variants locally.
O, and I gotta say being a first time gardener its quite difficult getting these plants stable (I purchase flowering plants).
For 3 months 1 of my choc Habanero has been thriving and started giving me 7 pods. Now all of a sudden this week the leaves have just withered. While its neighbours are continuing fine.
My first Dorset Naga just deteriorated from day 1.
How are you guys climatising your plants? How are you going to handle winter? Is our winter to cold for outdoor plants or is a frost net sufficient?
Where are you sourcing your seeds from? Some local prices are a little retarded R20+ for 1 seed. Hopefully this market isnt going to be exploited like all the industries in this country...
I was going to try find some international people on these forums to import my seeds considering I can probably import 20 varieties at the cost of 4 variants locally.
O, and I gotta say being a first time gardener its quite difficult getting these plants stable (I purchase flowering plants).
For 3 months 1 of my choc Habanero has been thriving and started giving me 7 pods. Now all of a sudden this week the leaves have just withered. While its neighbours are continuing fine.
My first Dorset Naga just deteriorated from day 1.
How are you guys climatising your plants? How are you going to handle winter? Is our winter to cold for outdoor plants or is a frost net sufficient?
SA's a great country,even though there are few chilliheads,its nice to see others parts of SA...I'm in PE here for 4 days with my girlfriend,and as I can recall,Prazzie lives here??? 
its a great place! 
its a great place! Ha, did YOU bring the rain then? We've been experiencing heat waves like nobody's business and then bam, rain rain rain.chilli whisperer said:SA's a great country,even though there are few chilliheads,its nice to see others parts of SA...I'm in PE here for 4 days with my girlfriend,and as I can recall,Prazzie lives here???
Oddly enough, I've been waiting on some pods to ripen and then didn't go out to check on them for two days due to the rain. When I checked today, fully red and orange pods. It's like the sudden cold and rain made them hurry up.
Orange habs
Rajah F1
Heatwave
Have a great time in PE!
Hahahaha maybe! nice looking pods! 
thanks,I will
nice looking pods! thanks,I will