Overwintering peppers in water

ScottinAtlanta · December 11, 2012

Folks, I could not plow under 50 pepper plants last week, many still flowering and full of vigor here in Atlanta. I pulled them out, and washed their roots, and put them in pails of water. Can I keep them in water until end February (about 11 more weeks), perhaps by adding fish emulsion or other delicacies? It would be a lot of work and space to replant them in soil.

peppero · December 11, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Folks, I could not plow under 50 pepper plants last week, many still flowering and full of vigor here in Atlanta. I pulled them out, and washed their roots, and put them in pails of water. Can I keep them in water until end February (about 11 more weeks), perhaps by adding fish emulsion or other delicacies? It would be a lot of work and space to replant them in soil.

scott i can't answer your question about the water method but, why not just pick out a comfortable number to pot up, another group to cut back and wrap up as a batch in some potting mix and the rest to put in a pail of water. later you could tell us how it worked out for you. jon

ScottinAtlanta · December 11, 2012

Good idea. Will do and report back.

peppero · December 11, 2012

i feel the same way you do about my pepper plants in the fall as they do so well so i just potted them all. some in i cut back severely and put them in one gallon pots; others that were bearing heavily i cut back moderately or not at all and put them into very large containers and into the greenhouse they went. in fact i just had a good harvest of habaneros, fatalis. yellow trinidad scorpions serranos and some type of habanero a friend brought seed of from costa rica. they are just too pretty to relegate to the pile. i wish you well in your project. i just have a weakness for peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. jon

greentiger87 · December 11, 2012

They won't survive in water that long.. you're better off starting from seed right now. You might have been able to get away with it with a hydroponic set up, but adding nutrients to still water and roots that aren't water adapted will just cause root rot to happen even faster. Cold+wet roots = death :/

livinonfaith · December 11, 2012

Understand on not being able to just let them die, and agree that they probably won't last all Winter in just water.

I potted up my best ones (and a couple that I probably should have just tossed) and they are sitting in the greenhouse right now, flowering away. One has several tiny new peppers and I have done absolutely nothing with them except water them once a week.

Last year I had a small amount of peppers all Winter, so it's definitely worth it.

Minnesota Mato · December 12, 2012

I too can't let my peppers die, I have twenty inside under a shop light for the winter. Those plants will die fast in the water, the only way that MIGHT work is if the water was moving. Stale water = dead plants!

December 11, 2012	#1
ScottinAtlanta Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 2,593	Overwintering peppers in water Folks, I could not plow under 50 pepper plants last week, many still flowering and full of vigor here in Atlanta. I pulled them out, and washed their roots, and put them in pails of water. Can I keep them in water until end February (about 11 more weeks), perhaps by adding fish emulsion or other delicacies? It would be a lot of work and space to replant them in soil.

December 11, 2012	#4
peppero Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: selmer, tn Posts: 2,944	i feel the same way you do about my pepper plants in the fall as they do so well so i just potted them all. some in i cut back severely and put them in one gallon pots; others that were bearing heavily i cut back moderately or not at all and put them into very large containers and into the greenhouse they went. in fact i just had a good harvest of habaneros, fatalis. yellow trinidad scorpions serranos and some type of habanero a friend brought seed of from costa rica. they are just too pretty to relegate to the pile. i wish you well in your project. i just have a weakness for peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. jon Last edited by peppero; December 11, 2012 at 12:10 PM. Reason: spelling

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December 11, 2012	#5
greentiger87 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Houston, TX - 9a Posts: 211	They won't survive in water that long.. you're better off starting from seed right now. You might have been able to get away with it with a hydroponic set up, but adding nutrients to still water and roots that aren't water adapted will just cause root rot to happen even faster. Cold+wet roots = death :/

December 11, 2012	#6
livinonfaith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Posts: 1,332	Understand on not being able to just let them die, and agree that they probably won't last all Winter in just water. I potted up my best ones (and a couple that I probably should have just tossed) and they are sitting in the greenhouse right now, flowering away. One has several tiny new peppers and I have done absolutely nothing with them except water them once a week. Last year I had a small amount of peppers all Winter, so it's definitely worth it.

December 12, 2012	#7
Minnesota Mato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: minnesota Posts: 175	I too can't let my peppers die, I have twenty inside under a shop light for the winter. Those plants will die fast in the water, the only way that MIGHT work is if the water was moving. Stale water = dead plants!