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overwintering Bringing Peppers Indoors for Winter?

B

Boans

Hey you all!  I have a batch of pretty beat up peppers that are not doing too well (in pots) - and down here in New Orleans it's about to start getting colder and I think rather than just letting them finish dying outside I will bring them back in and try to nurse them a bit under lights.
 
In a previous post someone mentioned that I need to spray them with something before I bring them in to keep from bringing some type of critters inside.
 
I was hoping someone could give me a little refresher on what exactly I'm trying to kill and if there is anything natural that I can use to prepare the plants to bring in?
 
Thanks guys.  I just read a bit on using 'Dyna-Gro Neem Oil' mixed with a bit of Dawn detergent and people said that was also a good option?
 
Will that take care of most of what I might bring in?
 
What I do is clean out anything loose on top like mulch, soil. Then I prune the plant back, spray with Mite-X, all around top and bottom of leaves, stems etc... After a few minutes I gently rinse the whole plant with water hose, then spray more Mite-X. I also spray it on the container.
 
I've never brought my plants indoors until this year. You guys are right on with the aphids. It was ridiculous!!! I've never seen do many bugs in my life. I sprayed with "Garden Safe" brand from every possible angle until dripping wet. It killed most and my fingers got the rest over the next few days. I still lost probably 50-60% my next cycle of pods though, a damn shame.
 
I was going to overwinter 7 chocolate scorpions that have produced really well this year, but Im an amateur grower with not much space to grow and yesterday I realized I have more than 25 seedlings so dont think I will be overwintering them as I have more plants and more varieties this yerar
 
OP - nothing you can spray on them really works, in my experience, what DOES work... Every time, is pruning the crap out of them.

STEP 1: Say you have a 5' plant, I'll cut it all the way back down to two forks in the stem. What I mean is this. The main stem grows up from the ground and forks at some point, then each of those stems will fork. I cut off EVERYTHING above those two forks. Leave only a few small new growth leaves on every branch to continue feeding that branch but remove all the leaves other than new growth leaves on each branch. Period. Yes you will feel like your destroying them but have no fear. Be ruthless.

STEP TWO: Root prune those bad boys. Scrape off all the loose potting soil from the top of the container (a good 2 inches is about right) then pull the plant root ball and all out of the container. Cut off 30% of the root ball with a knife in all directions(all four sides and the bottom too).

STEP 3: spray the shit out of it with a garden house. Everywhere. Spray it long and hard (that's what she said) be thorough.

STEP 4: Now you can drench the plant in a neem or soap based solution or whatever your preference, wash the container thoroughly in dish soap (a little bleach doesn't hurt either!) and rinse the container really really well.

STEP 5: repot with new, fresh soil. I like my homemade worm castings and promix with some tomato tone. Then stick them under strong lights inside. HID or large T5's are best. Temps are important here 70-80 degrees is best (strong lights warm things up so usually not a problem) Within 2-3 weeks they will be shooting out new leaves . In another month you won't even recognize the plant it will be completely recovered. At this point you can keep it somewhere a bit cooler to overwinter (a cold garage etc) without fear of a pest invasion because ANYTHING SHORT OF ALL OF THIS WILL GET YOU JUST THAT.

In my experience of course. Nothing else has worked for me but thiscwirks every time if done right.
 
I agree with OZZZ 100%. The process he mentioned works flawlessly, I do every single thing he does with my OW, except I don't use the strong lights when I bring them inside. I usually just put them where they will get decent sunlight. By the sliding glass door, or a window. I don't ever have any issue with bugs. It will look like you just murdered your plants, because they are a bunch of stumps, but in 2-3 weeks they will be popping out a lot of fresh shoots.
 
OZZZ said:
OP - nothing you can spray on them really works, in my experience, what DOES work... Every time, is pruning the crap out of them.

STEP 1: Say you have a 5' plant, I'll cut it all the way back down to two forks in the stem. What I mean is this. The main stem grows up from the ground and forks at some point, then each of those stems will fork. I cut off EVERYTHING above those two forks. Leave only a few small new growth leaves on every branch to continue feeding that branch but remove all the leaves other than new growth leaves on each branch. Period. Yes you will feel like your destroying them but have no fear. Be ruthless.

STEP TWO: Root prune those bad boys. Scrape off all the loose potting soil from the top of the container (a good 2 inches is about right) then pull the plant root ball and all out of the container. Cut off 30% of the root ball with a knife in all directions(all four sides and the bottom too).

STEP 3: spray the shit out of it with a garden house. Everywhere. Spray it long and hard (that's what she said) be thorough.

STEP 4: Now you can drench the plant in a neem or soap based solution or whatever your preference, wash the container thoroughly in dish soap (a little bleach doesn't hurt either!) and rinse the container really really well.

STEP 5: repot with new, fresh soil. I like my homemade worm castings and promix with some tomato tone. Then stick them under strong lights inside. HID or large T5's are best. Temps are important here 70-80 degrees is best (strong lights warm things up so usually not a problem) Within 2-3 weeks they will be shooting out new leaves . In another month you won't even recognize the plant it will be completely recovered. At this point you can keep it somewhere a bit cooler to overwinter (a cold garage etc) without fear of a pest invasion because ANYTHING SHORT OF ALL OF THIS WILL GET YOU JUST THAT.

In my experience of course. Nothing else has worked for me but thiscwirks every time if done right.
Click to expand...
Thanks everyone! 
 
OZZZ, I've never even grown a plant before so please bear with me, but in Step 2 when you say to de-pot it and spray the root ball real good with a hose, are you saying that I should actually blast all the remaining soil from the roots leaving the plant naked of dirt before I re-pot?  Wasn't sure why I'd be spraying it down so much if I was to leave the dirt intact.
 
Also can anyone recommend a premade soil that the peppers will like?  I don't have any homemade soil skills and will likely just be driving out to home depot for a bag.  I think I almost killed them with this Miracle grow potting mix I used last time.
 
And sorry to be such a pain, but if this is the right type of oil to get:  http://www.amazon.com/Neem-Oil-Certified-Organic-GuruNanda/dp/B00WNKJBBO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1447479920&sr=8-6&keywords=neem+oil
 
How do I dilute it properly - it seems peoples recipes vary greatly and some add some dawn detergent and some don't.
 
Thanks again and sorry for all of the questions!
 
Yes, try to get your roots looking like this.
 

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Yep! Just like the picture above. Every time I try to skip steps or do it "my way" I get poor results. Meaning I end up doing this eventually anyway. It doesn't take long and ensures your OW plants will have a good shot at making it and being bug/pest free. It looks brutal but peppers are tough. Plus as a side benefit you get to control their shape with the pruning. I put mine through a soak of mild Dawn soap and water and lightly scrubbed the stems. The roots just soaked in it. A good rinse and a spray of 3-in1 on the stems after potting and in the garage they go. I pulled plants 3 days ago and already they have green growth at their nodes! Amazing. Enjoy!!
 
Boans said:
Thanks everyone! 
 
OZZZ, I've never even grown a plant before so please bear with me, but in Step 2 when you say to de-pot it and spray the root ball real good with a hose, are you saying that I should actually blast all the remaining soil from the roots leaving the plant naked of dirt before I re-pot?  Wasn't sure why I'd be spraying it down so much if I was to leave the dirt intact.
 
Also can anyone recommend a premade soil that the peppers will like?  I don't have any homemade soil skills and will likely just be driving out to home depot for a bag.  I think I almost killed them with this Miracle grow potting mix I used last time.
 
And sorry to be such a pain, but if this is the right type of oil to get:  http://www.amazon.com/Neem-Oil-Certified-Organic-GuruNanda/dp/B00WNKJBBO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1447479920&sr=8-6&keywords=neem+oil
 
How do I dilute it properly - it seems peoples recipes vary greatly and some add some dawn detergent and some don't.
 
Thanks again and sorry for all of the questions!
Click to expand...
You can do that if you like as pictured above. I don't do it that way I just scrape off the top 2" of soil, cut off 30% of the remains dirt/roots and spray it off well, then repot into new soil. Some of the soil does come off the roots when spraying but Im not worried about getting time roots soarkling clean like the above photos, the idea for me is just to remove almost all the dirt on the outside of the root ball that pests could have laid their eggs in.

you can root prune more if you like. Green chilies pictures show even washing the roots clean works and is more thorough than I am but it certainly would ensure absolutely zero pests. removing 50% of the dirt and root mass from the outside of the root ball, then spraying down with water would work well to in my exoerience
 
OZZZ said:
OP - nothing you can spray on them really works, in my experience, what DOES work... Every time, is pruning the crap out of them.

STEP 1: Say you have a 5' plant, I'll cut it all the way back down to two forks in the stem. What I mean is this. The main stem grows up from the ground and forks at some point, then each of those stems will fork. I cut off EVERYTHING above those two forks. Leave only a few small new growth leaves on every branch to continue feeding that branch but remove all the leaves other than new growth leaves on each branch. Period. Yes you will feel like your destroying them but have no fear. Be ruthless.

STEP TWO: Root prune those bad boys. Scrape off all the loose potting soil from the top of the container (a good 2 inches is about right) then pull the plant root ball and all out of the container. Cut off 30% of the root ball with a knife in all directions(all four sides and the bottom too).

STEP 3: spray the shit out of it with a garden house. Everywhere. Spray it long and hard (that's what she said) be thorough.

STEP 4: Now you can drench the plant in a neem or soap based solution or whatever your preference, wash the container thoroughly in dish soap (a little bleach doesn't hurt either!) and rinse the container really really well.

STEP 5: repot with new, fresh soil. I like my homemade worm castings and promix with some tomato tone. Then stick them under strong lights inside. HID or large T5's are best. Temps are important here 70-80 degrees is best (strong lights warm things up so usually not a problem) Within 2-3 weeks they will be shooting out new leaves . In another month you won't even recognize the plant it will be completely recovered. At this point you can keep it somewhere a bit cooler to overwinter (a cold garage etc) without fear of a pest invasion because ANYTHING SHORT OF ALL OF THIS WILL GET YOU JUST THAT.

In my experience of course. Nothing else has worked for me but thiscwirks every time if done right.
Click to expand...
Great tips ozz. I just threw out half of my overwintered peppers today with an aphid infestation. I've never had this issue but will try your method to see if i can save the rest of them.  This blew up within a week holy crap!
 
I have a few plants that I will cut back and repot like ozz recommends and a few others I'm leaving just the way they are as they are really healthy.
 
OZZZ said:
OP - nothing you can spray on them really works, in my experience, what DOES work... Every time, is pruning the crap out of them.

STEP 1: Say you have a 5' plant, I'll cut it all the way back down to two forks in the stem. What I mean is this. The main stem grows up from the ground and forks at some point, then each of those stems will fork. I cut off EVERYTHING above those two forks. Leave only a few small new growth leaves on every branch to continue feeding that branch but remove all the leaves other than new growth leaves on each branch. Period. Yes you will feel like your destroying them but have no fear. Be ruthless.

STEP TWO: Root prune those bad boys. Scrape off all the loose potting soil from the top of the container (a good 2 inches is about right) then pull the plant root ball and all out of the container. Cut off 30% of the root ball with a knife in all directions(all four sides and the bottom too).

STEP 3: spray the shit out of it with a garden house. Everywhere. Spray it long and hard (that's what she said) be thorough.

STEP 4: Now you can drench the plant in a neem or soap based solution or whatever your preference, wash the container thoroughly in dish soap (a little bleach doesn't hurt either!) and rinse the container really really well.

STEP 5: repot with new, fresh soil. I like my homemade worm castings and promix with some tomato tone. Then stick them under strong lights inside. HID or large T5's are best. Temps are important here 70-80 degrees is best (strong lights warm things up so usually not a problem) Within 2-3 weeks they will be shooting out new leaves . In another month you won't even recognize the plant it will be completely recovered. At this point you can keep it somewhere a bit cooler to overwinter (a cold garage etc) without fear of a pest invasion because ANYTHING SHORT OF ALL OF THIS WILL GET YOU JUST THAT.

In my experience of course. Nothing else has worked for me but thiscwirks every time if done right.
Click to expand...
After posting my solution here, I came home to a major aphid explosion, so obviously it didn't work. I rinsed and sprayed and rinsed and sprayed. Got them visibly off the plants, but didn't trust them to not come back. I went ahead and tried your suggestion yesterday. I'm glad I did. I feel more confident that they'll stay gone, and I think the plants will grow better after all the pruning. They were pretty root bound in the original pots.
 
Been there!! Nothing short of this has ever worked for me but this really gets rid of them.

The heavy foliage and root prune plus fresh soil, castings/nutrients and string lights really makes them bounce right back stronger than ever and most importantly pest free!
 
I know the drastic cleaning/pruning seems harsh and time consuming. Plants which get infested inside usually don't thrive being bombarded with bug killing sprays/dips/etc though either. Trimming a lush plant to nothing is hard to do. Going bug free all winter is nice though too.
 
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