Experiment for Next Winter - Indoor Peppers

[greenthumbomaha]

I tried this unsuccessfully a few years ago, bringing potted pepper plants inside to grow during the winter. The pots were too small, the plants had been neglected during the summer, they had bugs, not a great head start. Ready to try again and do it the right way.

Has anyone actually done this successfully?

What peppers did you grow and how did you do it?

Successes and failures welcome.

- Lisa

I do it every year. Some get put at windows in the house, in a room that is rarely heated, and others in my big greenhouse which is usually about 7 C (about 45 F). I've eaten all the peppers, and the plants are now putting out new leaves and flowers. They are mostly in 2 gallon pots

I grow mostly annuums. I have some baccatums that are three or four years old - no point growing these as annuals because they take so long to produce, and produce better in the winter anyway.

[Zeedman]

I brought a couple potted peppers indoors, so the peppers could ripen for seed. They were in a place where I could regulate temperature, and I kept it at 55-60 F. to lessen the shock of going into fluorescent lighting. That worked OK, and I was able to get ripe peppers... but after the harvest, I let the plants freeze. During the time they were growing, there were no new flowers.

In past years, I've brought other potted veggies indoors, and always ended up throwing them outside before Spring. Plants that have been outdoors nearly always have some type of pest on them somewhere. Those pests may be controlled outside - where their natural predators are present - but they can quickly get out of control once the plants are brought inside.

I brought Egyptian spinach indoors to finish ripening seed pods, and while I was able to save seed, it became overrun with spider mites by mid-winter & had to be destroyed. I brought water spinach indoors, hoping to get it to bloom for seed... but it quickly became infested with aphids, and multiple applications of insecticidal soap were unable to eliminate them. So if you intend to bring a plant in from outdoors, inspect it carefully, and treat it as if it were bug infested - because it probably is.

[LindyAdele]

I have a 4 year old chinese 5 color pepper! It comes indoors every year. I cut it back to about 8 inches high in the fall, and it is double that by spring. I usually get 3-4 crops from it per year. Little colourful peppers that are pretty to look at in the deep winters and are a nice fresh splash of colour and flavour in cooking. It has been very very easy to grow and rtake care of!

[peppero]

I bring peppers and eggplants into the greenhouse every year with enough success to continue the practice. Eggplant does not do as well as the peppers. I always cut the peppers back and let them redevelop. and then put out in the spring. In the meantime I get a few peppers. I would likely get more peppers if I kept them warmer.

jon

This blog has a lot on overwintering peppers in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspo.../overwintering

[luke]

I've got a few that I've overwintered for several years in 3 gal pots. Really helps with production.

I cut them back a bit and move them inside. I've done it both inside the house at a north facing window and in an unheated utility room with no windows, moving them outisde on warmer days. The ones inside at a window do best.

Last summer I kept them in the pots, and they didn't do as well. They'll go in the ground this weekend.

Had someone recently tell me that my choice to overwinter peppers was silly. I told him he has obviously never dehydrated peppers.

[BlackBear]

Firstly I always have peppers in containers and then I move the best to drier protected places at seasons end ...to extend the season....the not so best I am not willing to continue with special treatment and more resources ....I just harvest and end plant in the regular way for the "un chosen "

after the season changes I then select the best survivors and no disease showing and move a few under grow lights /w timer (as well as other season extender cultivars like herbs Tomatoes etc.)

My Modest expectation is to continue the plant/production till dec. 21 .
I am not really thinking of wintering over or ....like some suggest ...have a multiple year old plant ...as they are capable of doing with enough resources.

sooooo My best peppers for this type of extended culture ....are

Black Hungarian, Jimmy Nardello , Hungarian yellow wax (hot only......not the sweet variety) Jalpeno hybrids (various) , also Super Chili is super adaptable ...even here in the cool coastal climate.


Doe Hill did not work out for me ,,,,( I think it should have !)

I would suggest trying Lipstick , and King of the North.

I am trying to get better at having my cultivars in 2- 2.5 gallon containers

so moving around inside and out is an option ....but you may well feel safer with the customary 5+ gallon containers etc.

[BlackBear]

Gypsy hybrid ..works well for this area as well

[noinwi]

I started a Lemon Drop this season rather late so I put it in a gallon pot and will over winter it this year. I used to try over wintering peppers in Wisconsin but being in an apartment it was too warm inside and too cold outside. And, like Zeedman experienced, the plants always had pests, usually aphids and I would give up after a while, just harvesting what pods would ripen after bringing them in. Here I have a room that was built onto the garage and is heated just enough to keep from freezing(not that we have a lot of that here anyway)so I will keep my Lemon Drop in there this winter and try to remember to water it from time to time.

[bitterwort]

I regularly overwinter long-season hot peppers, pruning roots and tops significantly and putting multiples in one pot. My goal is to have them remain alive through the winter with nothing but light from a western-exposure window, not to flourish or fruit. Not all survive this arrangement, but many do. I echo what others say about aphids and other pests.

Another option that works more often than I expect it to is to radically prune the tops and roots, remove all soil from the roots and wash them and the enclose the roots in a plastic bag of slightly moistened potting soil, enclosing the top with a twist-tie to retain the moisture. Store the entire thing in a cold but not freezing area (my underinsulated entryway works well) for the winter and then pot up any that still have green stems in spring.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Why I love over wintering super hots. Their production ramps up by a factor of 10 in years 2 and 3. Here is year 3 for two Yellow Scorpions, and still early in the season.

[greenthumbomaha]

Wow, Scott. Amazing though I shy away from too hot. May have give it a try for fun.

How do you "cleanse" your pots from bugs before bringing them in. I am thinking primarily of ants and rolly pollys in the soil.

- Lisa

[ScottinAtlanta]

I don't, but have never had any problems.

[greenthumbomaha]

Ants are all over the sidewalk where the pots are and a more than ants visit the backyard garden. I have enough inside, do not need any help bringing crawlies in at the end of season. Anything safe to drench with short of root washing?

-Lisa