swamper
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Posts: 208
Joined: March 2011
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Post by swamper on Apr 12, 2015 18:49:58 GMT -5
I successfully overwintered two Capsicum Frutescens pepper plants, variety: Diente de Perro (Dog Tooth) They are similar to tabasco peppers but make a fatter pod, like a small top shape that starts green and ripens red. The frutescens plants tend to grow a long single stem, then start to bush out, so they look a little top heavy.
They survived with light from a window, which i supplement for 3 weeks staring in late February with a single cfl bulb in a small desk lamp. The ended after about 3 weeks when the cat knocked the lamp off the table but it was enough to help stimulate new growth, I dipped the entre plants several times in an ivory soap / water solution to control aphids.
They went out in full sun today, and will get shuttled in and out until night temps are near 50.
I had also dug 2 dwarf demon chile plants in the fall but they quickly perished. in the low light of december. the room i had them in also has a wood stove so is not an optimal growing environment.
I'm wondering if others have overwintered peppers with just natural light? and if anybody has a variety that flowers and sets fruit through the winter with limited light?
I've done this before and had a nice dwarf purple thai type, that flowered in winter, but have since lost those seeds.
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Post by spacecase0 on Apr 12, 2015 22:36:00 GMT -5
I have overwintered a few, always using only natural light once inside in a window, and again with an unheated green house the trick seems to be to keep them not to far below the freezing point
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Post by Gianna on Apr 27, 2016 20:53:51 GMT -5
I tried over-wintering some chilies maybe a decade ago, but did not have any success. We don't have frost here, and I tired just pruning and leaving them in the ground. Did not work.
But since then, I've found much more information and really want to try it again this coming winter. This time I'll dig up, pot, prune, and start by putting them on the deck in front of a south-facing window with sun all day. If there is a cold snap, I can bring them inside by the windows and hopefully only natural light. I'll have a lot of plants to experiment with, and I'm not growing any special varieties.
They grow fast when in the ground here (I have some well over a foot tall now, and a few anchos with young pods 3 inches long), but one still has to wait months for fruit maturity after starting early from seed.
What appeals to me about over-wintering is not even having to wait that long for mature fruits. And the freezer is empty, gasp!
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Post by september on Apr 28, 2016 0:09:25 GMT -5
I've overwintered peppers three or four times, but won't do it again. No matter how careful I am to clean off and soap up each leaf before bringing in, I always end up with aphids in the house which eventually spread to my other house plants during the winter, and then to my new seedlings in the spring. It may take a month for them to show up, but they always have.
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Post by daylilydude on Oct 21, 2017 17:06:55 GMT -5
I'm bumping this thread up as I have some sweet cayenne pepper plants that I really would like to over-winter here and have absolutely no idea of how to do it...HELP!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Oct 22, 2017 12:37:05 GMT -5
Here you go: www.fatalii.net/Bonsai_Chiles_BonchiYou don't have to go to the extra effort to make pretty bonsai out of your plants, but the photo-tutorial on pruning and potting peppers to grow inside is still very applicable to what you want to do.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Oct 22, 2017 17:32:15 GMT -5
The tutorial Laura posted is spot on. It seems absolutely crazy to hack down that pepper plant to practically nothing, and THEN do the same thing to the roots, but it sure works great!
Overwintered peppers produce exponentially the second year. I love doing it and wish I had a sunny spot that I could put one in the house.
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Post by september on Oct 22, 2017 23:41:34 GMT -5
Loved the bonchis! I may try that sometime.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2017 16:41:55 GMT -5
I'm thinking of over wintering some peppers next year, but how bright and how warm do they need?
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Post by ladymarmalade on Dec 1, 2017 21:20:01 GMT -5
I'm thinking of over wintering some peppers next year, but how bright and how warm do they need? They need surprisingly little during the winter months. My brother overwintered a pepper with one plain old light bulb in his basement. I think temps above 60 would be best and 6 hours of light would be enough to keep them going.
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Post by spacecase0 on Dec 1, 2017 21:26:41 GMT -5
I'm thinking of over wintering some peppers next year, but how bright and how warm do they need? from what I can tell, anything over 32F is good I take mine inside below 34F
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Post by Gianna on Dec 19, 2017 22:49:42 GMT -5
Oh goodie... another plant project. I've got 9 late season serranoes in 5 gallon pots that are starting to look a little peaked. Maybe tomorrow, time permitting, I might bonchi them. That is a verb, isn't it?
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poppopt
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Posts: 89
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Post by poppopt on Dec 20, 2017 11:18:39 GMT -5
Have a son-in-law that overwintered some peppers right in his garden. He lives in south Louisiana. I kinda think it was unintentional but it happened anyway. They were long and leggy but they produced peppers that second season. I don't know what variety. And I was a bit surprised by it. But hey, it works!
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Post by ladymarmalade on Dec 20, 2017 14:08:27 GMT -5
Oh goodie... another plant project. I've got 9 late season serranoes in 5 gallon pots that are starting to look a little peaked. Maybe tomorrow, time permitting, I might bonchi them. That is a verb, isn't it? Pictures. Or it didn't happen.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Dec 20, 2017 14:20:30 GMT -5
Have a son-in-law that overwintered some peppers right in his garden. He lives in south Louisiana. I kinda think it was unintentional but it happened anyway. They were long and leggy but they produced peppers that second season. I don't know what variety. And I was a bit surprised by it. But hey, it works! If given the right growing conditions, peppers are perennials. Here is a picture of a 4 year old trinidad scorpion cardi plant: I have seen it where a four year old plant has died and the person cut a cross-section of the trunk. Surprisingly, it had rings! Just like a tree- and you could clearly count all four of them.
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poppopt
Junior Member
Posts: 89
Joined: May 2017
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Post by poppopt on Dec 20, 2017 17:50:00 GMT -5
That is really cool, ladymarmalade!! It almost looks like it's been pruned, the pepper version of bonsai! LOL!!
In all seriousness, I wonder what some of the techniques are for keeping a plant like this from season to season. My SIL's were close to 4' tall and the vines weren't nearly so stout. But I don't think they got anything other than a tomato cage and a little water from time to time.
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Post by Gianna on Dec 20, 2017 18:27:04 GMT -5
Nice plant, LadyMarma.
I've seen 2 large plants of (probably) serranoes in the ground, outside, with no special treatment. They each were robust and about 4 feet tall, with many fruits. One was in a front yard border. The other was in front of a ag store. I'd guess they would have been at least 3 years old. ??
Today I was able to prune all 9 of my serranoes. And transplant 5 into smaller 1 gallon pots. These were not very artistic, but rather practical. These were from a late season planting (probably around mid August)so the main stems were not old enough to have any real character.
The root systems were in good shape, and were easy to trim. I can easily understand how peppers could be made into bonchis. I do have 3-4 nice bonsai pots. Maybe next year when I grow a wider variety of peppers there will be better candidates.
Serranoes are Capsicum annuum, and in spite of their name, are perennials. Perhaps shorter lived ones. I've read that unlike some other species of peppers, annuums do not overwinter as well. Next spring, if any of these survive, they'll go into the ground. I only put them in black pots to be warmer because it was so late in the season, and I wanted some pods with some heat.
The fruit, both red and green, weighed 30 ounces. This is more than I had hoped to get - and there were other pickings too.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Dec 20, 2017 18:34:03 GMT -5
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stone
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Zone:: 8
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Post by stone on Dec 21, 2017 16:40:28 GMT -5
I over-winter peppers every winter... without cutting back, or worrying about bugs.
at my house, the anoles and ladybugs usually find their own way inside, and they deal with any aphids (if necessary).
I have tried trimming the tops, and that is best done a month (or 2!) before digging and potting... this gives them time to recover from the rough handling, and put back some of what was removed.
I want peppers on the plant for winter consumption, and cutting back the top before potting... removes the peppers!
Usually, I replant the plant (in the garden) in the spring, and come next winter... dig a new seedling. so... no bonsai for me.
I have had plants come back from the roots in my zone 8 garden... the plants just need to be in a protected location... like under a tree.... and I did NOT cut those plants back for the winter, either.
Edit: As far as heat and light requirements? I set the plant in a south facing window, in an unheated room. The plants start growing and blooming and setting new fruit in February.
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aqua
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Post by aqua on Dec 22, 2017 7:40:04 GMT -5
Here in Florida, they lived thru the winter BUT the root-knot-nematodes destroyed their root system. I think planting them in pots is the best idea. ladymarmalade, gorgeous healthy happy plant.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Dec 22, 2017 9:10:17 GMT -5
Oh, that is not my plant. I borrowed the picture from a pepper forum.
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Post by Gianna on Dec 22, 2017 12:51:04 GMT -5
Here in Florida, they lived thru the winter BUT the root-knot-nematodes destroyed their root system. I think planting them in pots is the best idea. Root-knot nematodes are also here. They'll sometimes get into pots too, but probably because I've not been too careful about putting pots directly on the soil. If it happens, and the mix still looks good, I'll solarize it to fry the little %#$%#@2s.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Dec 22, 2017 13:39:23 GMT -5
Root-knot nematodes are why I started planting all of my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants in Earthboxes.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2017 19:29:34 GMT -5
I shall have to think over how to do this and use my greenhouse room during the winter. I don't especially want peppers in the winter ( though that would be nice!) but more to get a bigger, more highly productive plants for the following year. Lots to think about.
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Post by tomike on Dec 27, 2017 18:47:29 GMT -5
Energy costs and the space required to overwinter peppers up NORTH are not economical nor practical here.... Our energy costs are high, our interior space is limited resulting in starting all over every year.....
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Post by Gianna on Jan 25, 2018 0:51:49 GMT -5
About a month ago, I moved 9 serranoes from 5 gallon to 1 gallon pots. They don't seem to understand that this is winter and they are supposed to be resting now. Instead, after being trimmed drastically, both branches and roots, they are simply continuing with their growth. Guess it's what they want. I wont plant them into the ground till it gets warmer - it's still January!
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Post by spacecase0 on Jan 25, 2018 20:39:43 GMT -5
I have peppers that I over winter, I keep them as house plants in the winter it does not take any extra energy at all on warm days I set them outside in the daytime seems to work pretty well so far
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 25, 2018 20:54:48 GMT -5
I tried one year and the dang thing up and died on me.
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