inside pepper plant questions

PaulF · November 7, 2006

A couple of weeks ago the pending frost forced me to bring my potted pepper plants inside. The peppers on the plants seem to be ripening and the plants are nice looking, but there are no new blossoms. Should I expect any? What about a fertilization schedule? Will that help to keep things alive and growing? Thanks.

ddsack · November 14, 2006

A few years ago, I dug up one of my sweet pepper plants that I could not bear to lose, and potted it for the winter. I kept it next to an east facing glass patio door. It did ripen some of the larger peppers, and dropped some of the smaller ones. It did eventually set blossoms, but the resulting peppers stayed very tiny, even as they turned red. And the new leaves that appeared stayed very small too. I suspect the quality and amount of light in my winter window was below normal, plus the disruption to the roots didn't help. You may have better luck, since your plant is already potted.

The main problem I had was a never-ending hatch of aphids, depite regular soap spraying in the bathtub. I did clean it off to the best of my ability before bringing it in the house, but evidently it wasn't good enough. The next spring, I planted it back into the garden hoping for early peppers. But it had another set back, I suppose I didn't harden it off long enough. It sat around doing very little, and the new pepper seedlings had out-produced it by far at the end of the season. Again, if you leave it in the pot, you probably will have better luck than I did. Because of the aphids, i doubt I will bother trying it again.

I also brought in a hot Bulgarian Carrot pepper plant at one time, and that overwintered much better as it is a shorter plant. Still had the same trouble with aphids indoors, which rarely is a problem in the outdoor garden.

I don't remember what I did for fertilization during the winter. I think I kept it light because of the lack of ideal growing conditions. My thought was to just keep the plant surviving so I could replant it outside in the spring. I think the blossoms started to set when day length was starting to increase in late winter.

Hey, keep us informed on how yours do, okay?

Dee

PaulF · November 15, 2006

My "hot pot", a habenero, Fish and Fatalii in an eight gallon pot have a combined total of about 50 peppers in all stages of ripening (most are red). No blossoms yet, nothing shrivelling or dropping off.

The "sweet pot" is an Orange Sun, Georgescu and Cuneo in another eight gallon pot. All seem to be growing larger: the OS has one large fruit that in the last few days has turned bright orange and will be in the next salad we eat. The Georgescu are getting a red blush and the Cuneo are staying green but getting bigger. Each plant has 6-8 peppers.

I finally added some soluable fertilizer to the last watering so we will see what happens.

November 7, 2006	#1
PaulF Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brownville, Ne Posts: 3,296	inside pepper plant questions A couple of weeks ago the pending frost forced me to bring my potted pepper plants inside. The peppers on the plants seem to be ripening and the plants are nice looking, but there are no new blossoms. Should I expect any? What about a fertilization schedule? Will that help to keep things alive and growing? Thanks.

November 14, 2006	#2
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	A few years ago, I dug up one of my sweet pepper plants that I could not bear to lose, and potted it for the winter. I kept it next to an east facing glass patio door. It did ripen some of the larger peppers, and dropped some of the smaller ones. It did eventually set blossoms, but the resulting peppers stayed very tiny, even as they turned red. And the new leaves that appeared stayed very small too. I suspect the quality and amount of light in my winter window was below normal, plus the disruption to the roots didn't help. You may have better luck, since your plant is already potted. The main problem I had was a never-ending hatch of aphids, depite regular soap spraying in the bathtub. I did clean it off to the best of my ability before bringing it in the house, but evidently it wasn't good enough. The next spring, I planted it back into the garden hoping for early peppers. But it had another set back, I suppose I didn't harden it off long enough. It sat around doing very little, and the new pepper seedlings had out-produced it by far at the end of the season. Again, if you leave it in the pot, you probably will have better luck than I did. Because of the aphids, i doubt I will bother trying it again. I also brought in a hot Bulgarian Carrot pepper plant at one time, and that overwintered much better as it is a shorter plant. Still had the same trouble with aphids indoors, which rarely is a problem in the outdoor garden. I don't remember what I did for fertilization during the winter. I think I kept it light because of the lack of ideal growing conditions. My thought was to just keep the plant surviving so I could replant it outside in the spring. I think the blossoms started to set when day length was starting to increase in late winter. Hey, keep us informed on how yours do, okay? Dee

November 15, 2006	#3
PaulF Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brownville, Ne Posts: 3,296	My "hot pot", a habenero, Fish and Fatalii in an eight gallon pot have a combined total of about 50 peppers in all stages of ripening (most are red). No blossoms yet, nothing shrivelling or dropping off. The "sweet pot" is an Orange Sun, Georgescu and Cuneo in another eight gallon pot. All seem to be growing larger: the OS has one large fruit that in the last few days has turned bright orange and will be in the next salad we eat. The Georgescu are getting a red blush and the Cuneo are staying green but getting bigger. Each plant has 6-8 peppers. I finally added some soluable fertilizer to the last watering so we will see what happens.