Are Peppers Annuals ?

[Kirk]

Basically as the title.
Are peppers annuals or otherwise ?
I know we grow them and condem them to the compost heap every year but are they an annual plant in their native location?

Just enquiring as I have several that really have not come to anything owing to the weather - they are little more then seedlings - so the thought passed through that could they be kept over winter and cultivated for veg/fruit next year.

[Bren In Pots]

I overwinter my chillis and sweet peppers here's a thread with lots of info :-

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...one_67644.html

[Grandy]

I have a chilli plant that is just over 2.5 years old, still producing flowers and fruit. As pepper is the same family, it may be worth a try.

[jacob]

I've overwintered a pepper for the first time this year (I've done it quite a lot with chilis) it's flowering (setting fruit, in fact) now.

The peppers (and chillies) that I sowed at the start of the year are still pretty wee (three inches or so) and are a bit behind schedule, but they're healthy so I'm still hoping for, expecting, a crop some the end of summer.

Finally, this year I'm going to experiment with sowing some chillies and pepper in the next few weeks specifically for overwintering.

[Kirk]

The things I planted early have done fine, but the peppers etc I did at the "normal" time and the weather has been so cold and dull that although they germinated they have remained small. Too small to really make a decent plant in the next few months.

Would like to have some peppers but I suspect this year is lost (visit a garden centre). So will keep them in pots and try to overwinter as many as makes sense.

Next year everything is going in early, don't care if the books say March/April, they are going in Jan/Feb.