tom, pepper and chilli questions ;)

[Sapling]

hi guys any advice appreciated as not really clued up on what to do.

ideally this year we would like cherry toms, peppers and chillies.

we did have some tom plants, peppers and chillies last year. I cut back the plants just leaving the stems just before winter. can I reuse these plants or will I need to reseed? they have been in the greenhouse over the winter.

If I need to reseed anything when is the best time?

hope you can help, thanks.

[WendyC]

Tomatoes will definitely need to be started again. Some people manage to over winter peppers and chillies but these will have been over wintered indoors and lightly pruned. I am doubtful whether yours will reappear. I would get on and sow your peppers and chillies indoors now, as they can be slow to get going. Tomatoes are quicker growing so in the next few weeks will be fine. All are tender plants so need to be kept at around a minimum of 10 degrees if not warmer, but with plenty of light.

[Kirk]

I would sow a selection indoors now, I started off the same as mentioned about 3 weeks ago.
Toms are about 2-3 inches now, peppers have just really made it and are about an inch, the chillis are just germinating and are little more then just a curved stem fighting it's way out of the seed case.

I have found that if sown outside then they take too long to attain any size and so make a good crop. Although last years weather was a bit strange and did not help.

[lolie]

Definitely start some seeds, but also put a couple of the pots you've over-wintered somewhere very warm and see what happens.

I'm curious about why you stripped all of the leaves. I always prune to just below productive trusses and I've had plants produce new suckers along the stem below that, but I wonder if it would work with no leaves at all (have already pulled my plants so can't test it).

I'm over-wintering tomatoes this year but I'm doing it with cuttings taken from the mother plants and I've left a few sets of leaves on each.

[veggiechicken]

The climate in the UK is so different to yours, lolie, that we have a challenge running to see if we can overwinter a tomato. So far I've failed!
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ent_81691.html

[lolie]

The climate in the UK is so different to yours, lolie, that we have a challenge running to see if we can overwinter a tomato. So far I've failed!
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ent_81691.html

Oh, I fully realise that the plants have probably frozen to death. It's more one of those "nothing to lose" situations where unless you desperately need the pots for something else immediately putting them somewhere really warm for a couple of weeks costs nothing.