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overwintering Is overwintering worth it?

Mallory

Mallory

If you have overwintered plants, I would like to hear from you because I have not been impressed with my OW plants and was wondering if I am the only one.
 
The plants I overwinter never seem to produce as much in their 2nd or 3rd year as they did in their 1st season, and they don't appear to get any bigger than they were in their first season either, even though they have a big head-start on new seedlings. Sometimes the OW plants barely produce at all and just sit there looking otherwise healthy but no pods all season (or undersized ones too early in the season) If they aren't going to produce better than the new seedlings I started for the year, then I am starting to wonder if there is any value in it other than not having to buy as many new seeds each year.
 
yes and no...
 
I have 2 in the ground this year after a winter in my window.
 
Jamaican hot chocolate gave me 3 pods last summer. Its covered now but isn't the biggest plant by far.
 
My tobasco gave me like 15 pods last summer and is on par for another 15 this year. I gave my buddy 2 tobascos i started from seed this winter and they are huge and covered.
 
I will still OW a few this year 
 
ow is good for earlier pods if you don't start your annual seedlings in january.
If buying your seedlings in may or something then you should already have your OW outside growing some.
 
Is it worth it?
 
For the right plants.
 
Pequin's just get better.
 
Jalapeno's and hab's, not so much.
 
But that's my experience.
 
How did you overwinter them?The over winters that I cut back during the winter did way better than the ones I just "let go."
 
Yes I have much better results overwintering chinense plants, and I barely cut them back, only enough to fit in the available space in my garage.  The leaves fall off and the aphids/etc go away long before the coldest months of winter when I have to decide whether to take plants inside or put a heater next to them to keep them from freezing.
 
However, I don't overwinter many.  I get more than enough production from non-overwinters and don't have the space to do it as I keep collecting more *toys* that fill up garage space.
 
depends on your space, time and desire. You can start a plant by seed that will be a monster and for me that's enough not to mess with OW. That, and I just don't want to do the work. 
 
I've overwintered ever since I started growing chiles here in OH, but I am very selective about the plants I choose for overwintering. Jalapenos and others you can easily pick up at the grocery store (or plants at your local garden/hardware center) are out. Varieties that I really enjoy and would have a hard time getting elsewhere are often in. I overwintered Douglahs very successfully. I'd say I have had mixed results with rocotos. Yes, aphids can be a problem, but I just order ladybugs and let them loose inside the house and they clean that problem up. Admittedly, it freaked out my son the first time (who intentionally brings bugs into a house????), but now he's used to it and gets that they're better than a house full of aphids.
 
This year I intend to overwinter my Congo Trinidads, and probably a few others that I haven't decided on yet. We'll see how production goes in the next few months. We've had a rather chilly, wet summer here, so everything has had a slow start.
 
ColdSmoke said:
Amazing plant!
 
That's just a plant that grows year round because of it's location, no? That's different than OW.
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Rich is in Atlanta and has a true winter kill so he cuts way back and over winters chosen plants. His grow logs are truly inspirational if you aspire to grow organically.

I overwinter and have bigger more productive plants from it. The key is to give them the root space they need. A second year plant will not be happy in 5 gallons. It will lag behind new starts in no time. Put it in the ground and feed it properly and you will have a beast that will out perform most new starts.
 
millworkman said:
Put it in the ground and feed it properly and you will have a beast that will out perform most new starts.
Click to expand...
 
…. or, if putting it in the ground isn't really an option (it's not, for me), put it in a larger pot. First year - 5 gallons. Second year - 10 gallons. Etc.
 
Note that some varieties tend to live (and produce) longer than others, so if your OW's slow too much in production after, say, 3 years, then it's probably time to start with a new plant. Hmm… maybe we should start a thread where those of us who OW can "vote" on how many years their varieties have lasted and produced well. I haven't seen a site with a comprehensive list of how long either varieties or types live and produce. I've seen that pubescens and wilds tend to outlive other types (with pubescens living up to 19 years), but that's about it.  
 
Ascool said:
Never again to many aphids.
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Ditto!      contaminated all my plants from febuary to may...    nothign to get rid of that when you have 200+ seedling to deal with...
 
 
NO MORE ANYMORE !
 
millworkman said:
Rich is in Atlanta and has a true winter kill so he cuts way back and over winters chosen plants. His grow logs are truly inspirational if you aspire to grow organically.

I overwinter and have bigger more productive plants from it. The key is to give them the root space they need. A second year plant will not be happy in 5 gallons. It will lag behind new starts in no time. Put it in the ground and feed it properly and you will have a beast that will out perform most new starts.be
Click to expand...
+1 on the roots being the key. I did successfully OW a Douglah and a Manzano in 5 gal. air-pruning pots, and when transplanted into a raised bed this spring grew twice the density of leaf canopy and poddage compared to the same varieties of first-year plants.
 
And if done properly, they will produce much earlier in the year.  My issue always comes down to bare rooting them when cleaning to get rid of pests, aphids and what-not.  I always lose a good portion to that.  If I dont bare root I have near 100% but they do get pests bad and when starting new plants that is not a good idea at all.   I do have two different areas for mine though and the new are never with the old.
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
Unless you want plants like this ;)
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See this is what I was hoping for by overwintering a plant 2-3 years in a row but this is definitely not what I am getting. My seedlings started this past February are now 5ft tall and producing like crazy, OW plants, not so much. 
millworkman said:
And if done properly, they will produce much earlier in the year.  
Click to expand...
 
Yes I did notice my OW plants produced very early in the season. Basically they started leafing out far before they could go outside. Once in the ground there was some inevitable transplant shock and then nothing but smaller stunted looking pods. 
spysee said:
How did you overwinter them?The over winters that I cut back during the winter did way better than the ones I just "let go."
Click to expand...
 
I do cut them back to sticks, maybe only 6" of stem above the soil, no leaves. I usually put plants in a 5-10 gal pot 
geeme said:
Note that some varieties tend to live (and produce) longer than others, so if your OW's slow too much in production after, say, 3 years, then it's probably time to start with a new plant. Hmm… maybe we should start a thread where those of us who OW can "vote" on how many years their varieties have lasted and produced well.
Click to expand...
 
 
This isn't a bad idea. I have mostly OW Caribbean reds in the past and since they are low growers maybe they are maxed on size (about 4ft across) I think my production issue is mostly about them coming out of dormancy too early each year. I might give OW one more try with peach ghost scorpions and my reapers, but I am worried about bringing soil-borne pathogens in. I can deal with bugs but this year my area was hit hard with late blight of tomatoes/potatos. I'm hoping it will die when the ground freezes but not if I reintroduce it into the garden next year...
 
Mallory said:
 
See this is what I was hoping for by overwintering a plant 2-3 years in a row but this is definitely not what I am getting. My seedlings started this past February are now 5ft tall and producing like crazy, OW plants, not so much. 

 
Click to expand...
 
 
This is what happens when you know exactly what you plants what and when they want it and you build your soil microbe life to feed the plants rather than you feeding the plants.  All organic there.
Oh and you need to keep a lot of plant matter if you want a larger plant.  Cutting it way down and cutting all the roots off will not help out as much as having 5 gallons of roots and a 3' tall and wide woody structure ready to explode with growth.  
 
I overwinter outdoor in a portable greenhouse, you don't need to make your plants grow and be pretty in winter just to keep them barely alive from frost. The cold takes care of all the pests in my situation.
Sorry but if your ow barely make a couple pods you're doing something wrong.
This is a 2nd year Black Naga:



Mind that i grow on a balcony in a terribly limited space.

Cya

Datil
 
Overwintering select plants is good insurance.  I remember one Spring in which I had major crop failure, I swore I'd keep some OW's from then on so I'd have some select pods to tide me over.
 
Besides, Texas Zone 9 is EZ to OW
 
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