overwintering Best "small/bushy' plants to keep indoors in the cold of winter

afr0n0me

afr0n0me

Thinking ahead here a little bit, but i'm curious to see what you guys think are the smallest/bushiest plants to keep indoors while the dead of winter with nothing more than a couple of lights and some heat.
 
fatalii  i heard are relatively small plants to keep around indoors. your thoughts ? 
 
I am curious to know your definition of "small". Fatalii is not huge, but it's definitely much larger than, say, serrano, jalapeno, or cayenne. Most annuums are smaller than most chinense, but that also depends on the variety. I love purple jalapeno, and they are definitely a compact plant, which some varieties of jalapeno absolutely dwarf. 
 
I recommend you check out Cross Country Nurseries chile chart: http://www.chileplants.com/chart.aspx
You can use the Search function on the left to limit the height, variety, etc. They have a fairly wide assortment of chiles, so you're most likely to find something that suits your needs there.
 
The Fataliis I have are monsters.  Not a good window plant at all, unless you intend on putting one in front of a sliding screen door in a large pot on the floor.
 
If you want a chinense I'd recommend Yucatan white habanero or Murupi Amarela, both seem to be short naturally bushy varieties.  Technically you can dwarf any plant you want.  see: Bonchi
 
There are a lot of windowbox varieties of annuum, dwarf ornamentals are some of my favorites.  I'm currently looking for stable Apache seeds myself as well as Demon Red.  Currently growing Nosegay and Sangria, both are dwarf plants that produce a lot of fruit as far as annuums go.
 
The baccatums I have seem to be rather short and bushy as well.

millworkman said:
Check guru's glog from two years ago and then reconsider fatalii. Really it comes down to pruning. Keep it trimmed and you should be fine.
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+1 to this.  I don't know how anyone could say Fataliis are a small strain
 
I wasn't looking to keep it on the windowsill, was looking to get a "grow room" set up in the basement with a few adult plants.
 
What kind of space are you looking at, what style of grow(soil or hydro), what's your favorite pepper?  You can grow most things to fruit in a super small space, all depending on how much effort you want to put into it.  I have grown plants in 8oz cups that produce a ton of very small pods indoors all summer, but those were in coco coir and were fed daily.  Its all up to you and there are way too many options.
 
If you restrict the container size and let them start to flower, pot them up a few sizes bigger and they will flower/set fruit and not put alot of energy into building leaves anymore... i did that with most my plants.
 
millworkman said:
What kind of space are you looking at, what style of grow(soil or hydro), what's your favorite pepper?  You can grow most things to fruit in a super small space, all depending on how much effort you want to put into it.  I have grown plants in 8oz cups that produce a ton of very small pods indoors all summer, but those were in coco coir and were fed daily.  Its all up to you and there are way too many options.
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5x5', soil, fatalli, butch t, i'm whiling to put some good effort on my plants. I'm probably going to prune to stop them from getting tall and try and get more of a bushy plant.
 
geeme said:
I am curious to know your definition of "small". Fatalii is not huge, but it's definitely much larger than, say, serrano, jalapeno, or cayenne.  that suits your needs there.
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That actually makes me concerned... My jalapeno is over 5 feet tall. My fataliis are still growing
And yes... white habs are small and bushy... perfect for indoor grow
 
i have found chinense varieties as they overwinter never get back the first year big leaves(those that are in containers), their leaves remain small and production is limited as well.
 
i have a tepin that is several years old and very strong, i decorate it like a christmas tree at xmas. it sits in my living room in winter and only for a brief period when the sun is at its lowest in the sky gets direct sunlight for maybe 2 hours.
 
yellow bonnets are real survivors as is goatsweed. fatalii is hearty, my longest 5 years of overwintering. i have had a serrano last 4 years. and my tabasco are entering their 3rd year as are my pequins. i have a red bonnet that i am guessing is entering its 4th year, i don't know why i keep it alive, its leaves are small as is the plant(from cutting it back).
 
i can't keep bhuts longer than 2 years, same for scorpions,7 pots, chocolate habs. 3 years for some orange habs. i have never had good luck with rocoto/manzano lasting more than 2 years.
 
like the others say, crop them back to regulate size.
 
if you would like a tepin plant to play with overwinter i have a spare you can have. it is a wild texas tepin and not a mexican tepin but i am guessing they are the same species, this will be its 2nd year. i will be potting up tomorrow into 2 gallon containers.
 
Wow that answers so many questions you have no idea. It's great to find more friendly folk around me with exact growing season and temperatures. Thank you so much for your answers and input, everyone.

I will take you up on your offer if it's available lemme know :)
 
My Wild Brazils are short and extremely full/bushy compared to all my other plants I have going right now


Same growth pattern as I'm getting with my Cumari do Paras.

OP, what is your goal here? Winter peppers or keeping a plant inside over winter to be planted back out in the spring?

Another option is Bonchi, the pepper version of a bonsai tree. There is a thread in the glogs on these and fatali.net has some great info as well.
 
afr0n0me said:
My goal is to over winter some and to try and keep a few producing over winter
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In that case, the overwinter (i.e. "dormant") plants should be fine in a windowsill.  If you want some to produce you'll most likely need to put them under some kind of grow light setup.
 
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