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overwintering wintering

I have a question for all you seasoned pepper veterans out there. I am planning to overwinter some pepper plants this winter that I planted in the ground. I have tepins, pequins, gold bullet and mustard habs, jalapenos,and banana peppers. I live in South Texas where the temperature usually drops to freezing maybe 2 or 3 times a year for an hour or two each time. Is there anything i can do short of digging them up and bringing them inside? Thanks in advance for any information.
 
Welcome south Texan from a North Texan (Fort Worth)

You could take a reinforcement wire tomato cage and wrap it in clear plastic sheeting to make a mini-greenhouse around each plant...if you don't have too many, you could put a light bulb inside the rig for heat on freezing nights.....
 
Your plants don't need freezing temps to die. Most chilis die at a temp of less than 10°C. I'd take them inside during the winter. Don't let it scare you if the plants lose foliage. They are just doing what most trees would do during the winter.
 
I'd bring them inside too. Chilies will not die at 10°C but that's around the lowest temp I'd let them get.
 
I built a hoop house over mine this year.

http://westsidegardener.com/howto/hoophouse.html

We get colder temperatures then you do, and I have decided that it's not the best solution for me, too much effort in keeping it warm on nights that get down into the teens. For your milder temperatures, though, it would probably work well.

On nights that only got into the upper twenties, 3 light bulbs kept it above freezing. I did use 2 liter soda bottles and some large buckets full of water to hold the heat from sunny days. The worst heat loss was caused by wind, too.

If you're interested, I'll let you know what things I would change about the design. I was going to write up my experience with the hoop house for the whole group, but I was waiting until I actually take it down this spring.
 
Thanks to everyone for thier input. Pam, I think i'm gonna try your idea and am interested in what you would change. Thanks again.
 
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