Overwintering peppers and chillies

[Mrs Dobby]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering if anyone else tried to overwinter their peppers or chillies?

Last autumn I dug up and brought inside 16 pepper and chilli plants, which then were placed in the south facing windows of our lounge and bedroom. Apart from the dog killing 3 of the ones in the lounge (knocking over and breaking), and 3 of the smaller plants (which were in smaller pots), the rest are still alive, looking a bit sorry for themselves, but there is new growth on them and one of the peppers now has flowers on it! 2 are already open, and there are another 12 or so that are following on behind!

Thankfully the one I most wanted to overwinter, my Dorset Naga has been one of the survivors, so hopefully this year we will get some chillies form it and see how they taste!

If you overwintered any peppers or chillies, please let me know how your's are getting on!

[Matt94]

yes chilli peppers are perenials and many people overwinter them, i would too but i dont think my mum would be happy with me bringing the plants into te house! - your chillis should last for years if kept in the right conditions over the winter!

[Bren In Pots]

I tried last year and they all died don't know what happened, anyway not to give up it looks like one scotch bonnet and one orange hab have survived this time.

[gan heather]

I tried to overwinter two chilli plants on my windowsill. One died, but the other (Serrano) seems ok. It has a lot of green growth and I've had to pinch it back a bit because it's been growing practically since when I cut it down in November and was getting kind of leggy.

[horticultural_hobbit]

I have two cayennes sat in grandad mike's utility. At the moment, they look fairly scabby and sorry for themselves. Not too sure if they will be playable again.

[Scarlet]

I've overwintered some peppers but they all have greenfly, I'm squishing them non stop! First time I've overwintered them because it's a pain with pots all indoors but I was curious to see if the crop is any better (hopefully bigger!)in their second year.

[Thelma Sanders]

I've overwinter a Sweet Spanish Mammoth (Doux d'Espagne) pepper.
It managed to keep a few old leaves over winter and has now grown a few more
I'll give it a bit of a haircut and see what happens

[BarleySugar]

I've overwintered lemon drop, scotch bonnet, peach and chocolate habanero all on my bedroom window sill. They have flowered sporadically, and I've been picking some ripe chillies throughout the winter. Lemon drop has been most prolific, but I have had some of each. I've kept feeding with tomato feed, but I'm going to give them a prune and repot to rejuvenate them for the coming year. They are already 18 months old, so have gone through 2 winters so far, the first winter with artificial light, but just on the window sill this winter.

[salome2001]

I had two "sweet patio peppers" and two Antoni Romahi peppers in the conservatory over winter and they have been producing fruit all winter!!! It's not even well heated (in the really cold snap there was ice on the windowsills). I've composted them now as I wanted to clear the octogrow out and clean it for next year, but they weren't showing any signs of slowing down, in fact were still flowering

[Maccabee]

I've been overwintering a couple from last year. One i chopped back and placed on a south-facing windowsill and is now looking a bit worse for ware. The other i left alone (didn't chop back) on a north-facing windowsill and it looks just as good as when it was growing away in the greenhouse, not putting on any growth but flowering and even fruiting and the fruit ripening. Its a purple Venezuelan though, so the fruit is too small to bother with trying to eat, it's more a decorative plant.

[The Large One]

Over wintered a Dorset and a Bengal naga, choc hab, bhut jolokia, turtle claw and a numex twighlight
Last 2 were a bit sick with aphid damage before I started and lost them, the others we cut hard back an new leaves have slowly been coming so moved to heated greenhouse now for a blast of sun but fleeced and heated overnight

[Kaiya]

Conversation I had today:

Dad: What's that twig in a pot?
Me: It's the chilli.
Dad: ...?
Me: It's over-wintering.
(Dad did not look convinced...)

I took a pair from the blowaway, cut them back to 5 inches as I read to do on a blog via someone here I think, and put them in the garage (cold) last autumn. I also had one that needed cutting back (forget the leaves, even the peppers were starting to become varigated) on the kitchen window sill which is now repotted and cut back as of last week. None of them look very happy, but I'll see if they pick up with the weather. The stems have gone hollow at the top - not sure that's supposed to happen.

[Newton]

I tried with a lovely habanero. It was soon covered in aphids and so was the whole window and surround!

It had to go........is this infestation preventable?

[shirleycox]

Most people are not aware that peppers are actually perennials! The reason they are usually grown as annuals is because the winter temperatures in most places will kill them. They are semi-tropical plants, and just cannot handle cold weather, but still it is possible to keep pepper plant alive by overwintering.

First thing is you need to move your pepper plant indoor to keep them out of the cold. Move somewhere in warm location, where they can be protected from the cold winter temperature. Pepper plants need sunlight, so be sure to locate it near a sunny window to receive some sunlight or you can also provide artificial light using grow lights. Water and fertilizer your pepper plants regularly.

If some of the plant's leaves start turning yellow or falling off after it is moved, this is a normal reaction to the reduced sunlight and change of season. The plant should perk up once it gets used to it's new growing environment.

[Seahorse]

I have a Starfish Pepper and a Peppadew Pepper that have lived happily in my south facing bay window for four years. They're currently about five feet tall and quite lush with greenery. They flower and fruit on a regular basis. I've had problems with both greenfly and whitefly in the past though. Not so bad with only two plants (if you're vigilant) but I imagine it would be painful if you had a lot of them!