Why we like to over winter peppers

[drew51]

Here is a 6 year starfish plant, so at least 6 years!

[BucksCountyGirl]

Originally Posted by drew51

Here is a 6 year starfish plant, so at least 6 years!

Wow! That's amazing!

[ScottinAtlanta]

6 years - good news. Three years is my max - just because I started three years ago. I don't know of any natural limits. The three year old peppers are starting to look like tree trunks.

[drew51]

Again those are not my plants but from users on the GW hot peppers forum. Here's a Hungarian Wax 2 or 3 years old.

There is a Scandinavian who grows a jungle of peppers in his apartment
and on its balcony. I thought I had bookmarked his website, but it must
have been on a different computer.

[KarenO]

this is so cool! any northerners do this? can it be done over a really long dark winter?
Karen

[Worth1]

I have 8 year old peppers that live outside.
I also know where some are if they are still there that are older than me.

Worth

[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??

[ScottinAtlanta]

Originally Posted by KarenO

this is so cool! any northerners do this? can it be done over a really long dark winter?
Karen

That's a good question, Karen. I over-winter for about four months. If I had to keep them inside for 5 months or more, it might drastically change the survival rate. I know that at the end of four months, some of them look pretty pitiful.

Longer periods might require more work - more lighting, for example, or perhaps even some fertilizing. I give them very diluted fish fert about once a month when they are over wintering, but I really don't fuss over them at all.

[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?

[Aerial]

Worth, which varieties have survived winter outside? Does productivity suffer the subsequent years?

Originally Posted by Worth1

I have 8 year old peppers that live outside.
I also know where some are if they are still there that are older than me.

Worth

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Aerial

Worth, which varieties have survived winter outside? Does productivity suffer the subsequent years?

Just the wild chili pequin.

Worth

[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.