Overwintering Sweet Peppers

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

Does anyone know how successful peppers are at overwintering? I know a lot of people overwinter chillis, but I have a small Cupid pepper plant I bought late in the season from a garden centre for £2 instead of £5

It’s only about a foot high, and I’d kind of forgot about it through autumn. Today I’ve dug it up and put it in a pot with some compost and brought it inside, the roots look a little brown, but it’s still pretty green. It’s now sat in my gardening room window.

Any advice for getting it through the winter?

Thanks in advance!!

[muck lover]

I’m riveted. I’ve a chilli plant in a pot I’ve brought inside to a bright Sunlounge. Will it keep growing? It’s only got four fruit at the moment but some small flowers are opening.
Should I take the fruit and compost it?

[chillithyme]

I've overwintered many chillies on windowsills ML, so you are in with a good chance. FYTB I've never tried overwintering peppers, have a go, the worst that will happen is that it doesn't work, and if it does then you can let us know I'm attempting to overwinter pepper redskin this year if I find some space for it, if it doesn't work then at least I will know for next year

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

Very good point.

I’ve trimmed some of the less healthy leaves on it. It has some buds, and a couple of tiny fingernail sized peppers I’ve just noticed (still in the shell of the flower) I just need to debate whether to get rid of these for it to focus its energy else where, or to leave them in the hope they grow wary next year!

[chillithyme]

As you have taken it from the garden and repotted it I would remove the fingernails sized peppers that are there, then it can focus on its roots. I only leave any fruit on if I am just moving a pot to let anything full size ripen.
I love bargain plants, its the only way to purchase them

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

48 hour update. The pepper plants have not take. Well to being re potted and brought inside. The leaves are looking pretty shrivelled at present.

I’m hoping it’s just a case of repotting and moving inside are a shock to the system, and it will pull through in a few days

[veggiechicken]

I would have thought that the same principles apply to overwintering chili peppers and sweet peppers. AFAIK they're all the same family (capsicum) but differ in the levels of hot stuff (getting technical now).

[Penellype]

I regularly overwinter sweet peppers (the small fruited kind) on my windowsills. They tend to lose many of the leaves in the winter (they are deciduous) but will shoot again in spring and usually flower earlier than plants grown from seed. I've tried cutting them down to about 4 inches and leaving them untrimmed - the untrimmed plants look more untidy, but produce more fruit the next year. I grow mine in 2 litre pots and don't transplant them, but I do feed them with tomato feed.

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

“but I do feed them with tomato feed.”

Do you feed over winter or just in the spring? My plan was to keep the soil moist with a water every 3-4 weeks but that was it really.

[Penellype]

“but I do feed them with tomato feed.”

Do you feed over winter or just in the spring? My plan was to keep the soil moist with a water every 3-4 weeks but that was it really.

I feed them when I remember, if they have flowers or fruit on them. I don't feed over winter unless they continue to flower, which they occasionally do, although the fruits tend to be very small and seedless, even if hand pollinated (which I always try to do).

With regard to watering, apart from when I feed them, which I do straight into the pot, the plants sit on self-watering windowsill trays:



The photo was taken this morning. These 2 plants were last year's seedlings (Snackbite orange and snackbite yellow) and the stems are rather weak as they tend to be in the 2nd year. Some of the stems broke under the weight of fruit (I should have staked them really) and I cut these off after the fruit was harvested. There are no new flower buds this time and once I have eaten the peppers I will throw the plants out and start again next year with fresh seedlings and compost.

The capillary matting tends to grow moss, which I try to remove from time to time. If the moss gets very thick it can grow over the edge of the tray and syphon water out onto the windowsill, which is not a great idea so it needs monitoring.

[Babru]

You feed them with tomato feed during the winter Penellype?

[Penellype]

You feed them with tomato feed during the winter Penellype?

We posted at the same time - see my reply above.

[chillithyme]

Your windowsill is much tidier than mine Penellype,no wonder I've been banned from bringing in all of my chilli plants this year

[Penellype]

Its not a particularly useful windowsill as it faces east and is right on top of a radiator. Seedlings tend to get very leggy on there so it is the last resort place. In the summer it houses the balconi tomatoes until they are ready to go outside. These 2 pepper plants were really intended to be thrown away last autumn, but as they had fruit on I kept them along with the 3 in their "proper" place on the landing windowsill.

[chillithyme]

Right now I've only got a north facing one to sneak anything else onto. I did rule it out, but it always seems bright to me in the winter. We had a strong frost last night and most of my chilli and pepper plants are still in the mini greenhouse, If I'm going to get anymore in which I promised I wouldn't do I had better get a move on.