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Cold tolerant varieties to grow outside as perennials

I am looking for suggestions on cold tolerant varieties to grow outside all year as perennials.

I have some red Rocotos with moderate heat that seem to thrive outside during the winter in our somewhat mild San Francisco Bay area climate. Now I am obsessed with finding other varieties/species then I can grow year round without having to haul them indoors.

I'm especially interested in peppers with big flavors but less heat. My favorite pepper is the red poblano, but typically only a fraction of them survive the winter in our zone.

Ideas?
 
Hi,
 
I am not sure of the weather over there, but I have had a surprising Sydney winter with my Yellow Siam plant.
 
It gave some pods during the summer, but didn't really take off until the cooler weather came, and has been giving me hundreds of pods all winter.
 
This photo was taken just a couple of weeks ago, and our winter ended yesterday.
 
20190809_101827.jpg
 
There you go, a list of cold-tolerant varieties, sorted by species. You might like the Rocoto Yellow Riesen the best, it produces bell-pepper sized pods and a lot of pods per plant.
 
 
C. Annuum
--------------------------------
Aji Camba - 6/10
CAP 1068 - 7/10
Pakistani Dundicut - 8/10
 
 
C. Baccatum
--------------------------------
Aji Benito - 7/10
Aji Finlandia - 7/10
Aji Norteno - 7/10
Challuaruro - 7/10
Duke Aji - 7/10
 
 
C. Pubescens
--------------------------------
Manzano Rojo - 6/10
Montufar - 8/10
Rocoto Yellow Riesen - 5/10
Rocoto Rio Huallago - 8/10
 
Sonja said:
I am looking for suggestions on cold tolerant varieties to grow outside all year as perennials.

I have some red Rocotos with moderate heat that seem to thrive outside during the winter in our somewhat mild San Francisco Bay area climate. Now I am obsessed with finding other varieties/species then I can grow year round without having to haul them indoors.

I'm especially interested in peppers with big flavors but less heat. My favorite pepper is the red poblano, but typically only a fraction of them survive the winter in our zone.

Ideas?
 
An older thread about your inquiry.>best peppers for cold season?
 
bob65 said:
Hi,
 
I am not sure of the weather over there, but I have had a surprising Sydney winter with my Yellow Siam plant.
 
It gave some pods during the summer, but didn't really take off until the cooler weather came, and has been giving me hundreds of pods all winter.
 
This photo was taken just a couple of weeks ago, and our winter ended yesterday.
 
attachicon.gif
20190809_101827.jpg
How cold did it get?

Our winters rarely freeze.  Most winter nights are 40-50F.  We get about 450 "chill hours"  ."chill hours" are the number of hours belor 45F.

-Sonja
 
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
 
An older thread about your inquiry.>best peppers for cold season?

I did see that, but many of the posts are about summer or "growing season" length or temps.  I am only looking for peppers that will do well outdoors in winter temperatures just above freezing.  Our summer or "growing season"  seems to be warm enough and long enough for most peppers.  
 
podz said:
There you go, a list of cold-tolerant varieties, sorted by species. You might like the Rocoto Yellow Riesen the best, it produces bell-pepper sized pods and a lot of pods per plant.
 
 
C. Annuum
--------------------------------
Aji Camba - 6/10
CAP 1068 - 7/10
Pakistani Dundicut - 8/10
 
 
C. Baccatum
--------------------------------
Aji Benito - 7/10
Aji Finlandia - 7/10
Aji Norteno - 7/10
Challuaruro - 7/10
Duke Aji - 7/10
 
 
C. Pubescens
--------------------------------
Manzano Rojo - 6/10
Montufar - 8/10
Rocoto Yellow Riesen - 5/10
Rocoto Rio Huallago - 8/10

Thanks!  

What are the fractions? 
 
 
Sonja said:
How cold did it get?

Our winters rarely freeze.  Most winter nights are 40-50F.  We get about 450 "chill hours"  ."chill hours" are the number of hours belor 45F.

-Sonja
 
 
We had a few nights down to -2°c (28°f), but regularly below 10°c (50°f).
 
A late -2°c nights turned all the pods on the plant to mush, so now a week or 2 ago I cut it right back. Now it is covered in flowers.
 
Sonja said:
For reference, where is jalapeno or serrano on your scale?
 
 
Jalapeno somewhere between 3 and 5 depending on the variety.
 
This is not my scale, rather the one used by fatalii.net on the seed sales web store.
 
I've yet to meet a pubescens that equals a habanero in heat. But they are certainly the best candidates for the SF climate.
 
Sonja said:
I am looking for suggestions on cold tolerant varieties to grow outside all year as perennials.

I have some red Rocotos with moderate heat that seem to thrive outside during the winter in our somewhat mild San Francisco Bay area climate. Now I am obsessed with finding other varieties/species then I can grow year round without having to haul them indoors.

I'm especially interested in peppers with big flavors but less heat. My favorite pepper is the red poblano, but typically only a fraction of them survive the winter in our zone.

Ideas?
My old neighbor in San Diego had a six year old in ground Black Mexican Cobra plant. Pretty big difference in climate to you, but all I can think of. Never overwintered any peppers there but probably should have.
 
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