Why we like to over winter peppers

[drew51]

Yeah, the orange habanaro is from a guy I think in Ohio. They need as much light as possible, and even light feeding.
Everybody has their own methods. This genetleman told me to trim roots down a touch and all foliage off. Put it in a smaller pot for indoors. Do this a week or two before you bring it in. Let it grow out some outside in smaller pot then bring it in. The plants will lose leaves if brought in without trimming off, so best to remove them. But with smaller ones, you can just grow it under lights. it may even produce fruit during thee winter. They will keep growing. I plan to try both methods. With the smaller one I will bring it in slowly exposing it to less light. Softening off I guess??

[Salsacharley]

Thanks to this thread I dug up 2 Santa Fe Grandes's, 1 Giant Jalapeno and 2 Red Habaneros this fall and put them in containers in my garage. So far they are still producing fruits...much smaller than outside fruits...and they are keeping their leaves. It gets down to the mid 20's in my garage so I put a couple of spot light type grow lights on them to keep them from freezing but the overall light is very low. I have them with a Boston Fern that has lived several years by overwintering in my garage. I'm very hopeful to have big productive pepper plants next spring!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

Thanks to this thread I dug up 2 Santa Fe Grandes's, 1 Giant Jalapeno and 2 Red Habaneros this fall and put them in containers in my garage. So far they are still producing fruits...much smaller than outside fruits...and they are keeping their leaves. It gets down to the mid 20's in my garage so I put a couple of spot light type grow lights on them to keep them from freezing but the overall light is very low. I have them with a Boston Fern that has lived several years by overwintering in my garage. I'm very hopeful to have big productive pepper plants next spring!

How would you compare the taste of a red Hab to an orange Hab?

Worth

[Salsacharley]

For me Red Hab is very similar, if not the same. It is supposed to be hotter but at this heat level I really can't tell the difference. It's like what feels hotter....120F or 125?

[taboule]

Last year was my first OW'ing peppers. I simply brought in everything that was in a pot, ~20+ plants. I housed them in a separate room that was very well lit (7 windows on 3 walls), but closed off and unheated from the rest of the house. I wasn't willing to spend any $$ on heat,but gave them everything else.

Most lasted a very long time, well into march, some continued production for a bit.They got aphids which I tackled with mixed results. But last winter wouldn't quit and that room stayed cold for too long. Then I ran out of steam with health issues, and cleaning snow and ice dams, so neglected the plants at the end. By the time I took them back out, only one had survived, a Jalapeno. It produced well this summer.

It is the only one I brought in this fall (year 2), DW made it clear she didn't want a greenhouse with bugs in the house.

In hindsight for last year, if I had continued the care and prevented cold for that last month (march/april) I bet many more would have survived.

[heytony]

I overwintered a potted red tree habanero this year - and I usually kill any plant that I bring indoors from neglect. It's doing wonderfully even with the neglect and being stuck in a darkish corner for the winter. I kept mine at about 5ft tall including the pot. Looks a lot like a regular house plant. The pods are pretty small and seedy, and not very hot, but they have a really nice flavor. I love dropping half a pepper into a lager or light ale during summer.

[taboule]

Heytony, welcome to T-ville.

I only kept one plant from last year, a Jalapeno, about 1.5 ft tall. It lost all its leaves, kept a few pods that turned red. Just recently, I noticed some new growth, tiny leaves shooting out here and there.

[Ricky Shaw]

Fascinating thread, I'll be trying this. heytony welcome and nice first post, you should come around more.

[heytony]

Haha, thanks -- I figured it was about time for a first post after lurking for so long. The limited access finally got to me. Looking forward to seeing all the attachments!

[taboule]

Jalap-year3.jpg

[gardengeekgirl]

This is so interesting. Last year I started some ghost peppers, but they were just flowering about the time I was closing up my garden.

I had thought about bringing them in but got caught up in all the other first-year-garden stuff I needed to do, and then it was too late.

I'm definitely going to try to overwinter them this year now that I know it can be done. I've managed to keep my lemon and lime tree alive for three years now despite a vigorous battle with scale every year, so I can certainly try this.

[berryman]

I have a seven year old pepper in my greenhouse and so far it bears more peppers each year! Bought the seed from Baker Creek and it was so long season for me (Z5b outside) that I put it in the ground in late fall and there it's been. It's about 8 ft high.
I took the pic about two weeks ago-you can see some frost damage on the plant on the far side. The darn thing blooms a lot and bears two times a year...sort of.

I have the seeds from all of those fruit if anyone is interested.

This is my first post as a Tomatovillian!

[ScottinAtlanta]

Berryman, is that some kind of sweet cherry pepper?

[ScottinAtlanta]

Folks, Here is another tale of renaissance and rebirth. Your overwintered peppers look like sticks by January. Leaves have fallen off. You fear mass death. But then, in February, you will see new growth like in those photos. And the new year begins again, but with higher production for the older plants.

[berryman]

Scott, the Latin name is C. Pubescens, common name rococo pepper. From Mexico and western S America. Takes cold better than other peppers and will form a "tree". 50,000 to 250,000 Scoville units
My greenhouse is unheated and outside this winter we had three weeks where it didn't get above freezing. The pepper is sending out new shoots all over and will be flowering soon.