Hey all! Does anyone overwinter peppers? What I mean by overwintering is:
– prune off all fruit and flowers
– prune off all leaves
– trim stems down short (to first V)
– clean roots
– put in soil and water once a month
– use ambient light from a window
I’ve seen this works for some plants, with a 50-75% success rate. Has anyone here tried it? If so, what tips do you have?
Peppers take forever to grow for me so I’d love to start from a 5-6” plant than a tiny one from seed.
TIA for any advice!
by richkurt
4 Comments
I would water once a week. I have posted this here before. This is a picture of a Carolina Reaper in its third season. I overwintered it for two more seasons. I am going to bring in two or three plants this year.
https://preview.redd.it/08fbi4tb3cuf1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=afe91702d6b889300855f0164abf5baa7574afd3
I would add neem oil to the roots and water with it the whole winter. You don’t want fungus gnats to eat the roots and infest your house.
I overwintered one with a grow light without cutting it back. Produced peppers during the winter (though slowly) and did really well this season. It was a super heavy producer the second year.
As long as you maintain dormancy you don’t have to worry too much about bugs. I keep most of my plants in an unheated garage with a side window. As long as they are dormant they don’t need any light really. If you bring them into the house the temperature is too high they will start to leaf out.