overwintering another overwintering question (s)

Greyhound_Gourmet

Greyhound_Gourmet

sorry for another overwintering question.  Last year I brought in 2 Hot Lemons and 1 Fatalli and kept them under my T5 growlights all winter.  They did great outside this summer. 
 
This year I have 10-11 plants (all hot to super hot) I'd like to overwinter as well but do not have enough lighting area/lights (nor do I want to have to have that thing burning all winter again too!).  What's the best way to do it? 
 
1) is inside in a dark room (55-60 degrees roughly all winter) or in the garage (can go well below freezing) better?
 
2) do I cut back a bunch of the existing branches (some still have peppers growing, hoping they'll ripen before the frost comes!) and if so, how HARD to I cut them back?  Just a little, or a LOT?  Obviously the more I can do the more space I'll have to store them as some are quite large.
 
3)  do I water them, at ALL or not at all or occasionally or?   They will not be getting hardly any (if at all) light.
 
 
any help/experience is appreciated.  If they don't make it I guess I'll just regrow from seed but it sure was nice this year for the 1st time to have a few large plants that produced quickly.
 
thanks!
 
I have kept several overwinters in my house by the sliding glass door that goes to the back yard for a few years now.  I cut them back when I bring them inside and water weekly if needed just like regular house plants.  Do NOT put them in the garage or anywhere it freezes - they will die.  Water them when needed - stick your finger in the soil and if its dry past your first knuckle give em a drink. 
 
I don't think a completely dark room is good either. You might want to consider a DIY LED solution. Search for some of Juanito's posts regarding LED strip lights here and on Youtube. Just a thought. Good luck with it.
 
Greyhound_Gourmet said:
 
1) is inside in a dark room (55-60 degrees roughly all winter) or in the garage (can go well below freezing) better?
Click to expand...
 
Below freezing dark or light, they will die.
 
I have tried to overwinter several varieties of hot peppers
that I grew in containers,
with my container grow fig trees, which go dormant.
Kept in an insulated room and above freezing,
but with NO light,
all the pepper plants died on me.
I do not think they can survive dormancy,
at least the varieties I tried.
 
Greyhound_Gourmet said:
 Last year I brought in 2 Hot Lemons and 1 Fatalli and kept them under my T5 growlights all winter. 
This year I have 10-11 plants (all hot to super hot) I'd like to overwinter
Click to expand...
 
If you have enough room under your T5 lights
for 10/11  two gallon containers,
then cutback the plants, prune the roots,
and repot into the smaller containers.
Come spring, replant them into their original containers.
Repeat every year.

You can use 1 gallon containers,
but they require a bit more attention during the winter.
 
The plants can be tight together with leaves overlapping
during the winter.
Not trying to grow anything, just keeping them alive.
 
There are basically two ways to overwinter, growing the plant or letting it "go dormant."  Either way it's usually best to prune the plant back both above and below ground and clean it up to control for size and reduce the risk of bringing insects inside where they lack natural enemies to control their numbers.  An aphid spray with neem/safe soap after pruning back is a good way to do this.
 
If you're growing the plant, you need warmth and adequate lighting.  Warmth without adequate light will lead to stretch and weakness in the plant.  Room temperatures heated by lights during the light cycle usually is good enough.  T5 lights are fine for this, but they lack the penetration of HID's or LED's so you'll want to aim for keeping most of the foliage within 15" +/- of the lights.  Plants can be either trimmed back into stout little bushes or they can be the "little trees" model of having essentially all the foliage as a canopy that is close to the lights and a mostly a bare stem down to the soil.  Some varieties don't conform easily to a compact model and may be better suited for HID or LED lighting for indoor growth.
 
If you're looking for the plant to survive until next season only, then you can reduce the light below a growth level, say, 5 or 6 hours of weak light per day, but you'll need to keep your temperature down or the plant will try to grow, which will lead to issues due to the inadequate lighting for growth.  I would trim the plant of foliage more significantly than in a "grow" scenario and target < 55F for a "dormant" temperature to keep the plant from trying for growth, staying maybe mid-upper 40F's or above - best temperature range will ultimately depend on the variety.  I've done well at the low end of this range.  Weak light depends on your circumstances, but trimmed-back plants lined up up in a single row under a single bulb in a T5HO at a 12" distance might be a starting place, keeping the lights further away than in a grow scenario to avoid heating the plant into growth attempts.  With your number of plants, small containers as suggested above in two lines with two bulbs in your T5 fixture might work well.
 
That's basically how I look at simple overwintering.  There are plenty of strategies for achieving particular results, but the starting point is whether you're trying to grow and/or produce pods or just looking for an easy, low-effort way to get the plants through to the next season and controlling light and temps accordingly.
 
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