can a plant still survive ?

if below the ground the roots are alive, green but above the ground from winter everything is dead ?
 
I have a reaper plant that looks alive below the ground but above the branches are dead. Someone had told me that the plant will come back in the spring. Is that a possibility ?
 
Thanks !
 
If you post a picture of the plant you can get better opinions on your plants health. It all depends on how much of the upper branches are "you called dead". You can cover your plant with a blanket at night or during cold spells to keep your plant from dying. It sounds like you may be somewhere very cold.
 
Hard to say with a picture. Try getting it in some light and see if something doesn't pop out. Make sure you trim any dead stuff off.
 
its dead until you look under the dirt and then its green. I kept cutting the dead branches off until there is only a few inches left of them above the ground. 
 
Depends. Chinense plants tend to be the most sensitive to cold. I assume this plant is outside in Modesto. I'm not sure of your weather, but I imagine it gets hard frosts occasionally in the winter. If so, the plant probably won't come back. If it's on a deck, close to a house, in a container, etc. the chances of living might improve.
 
here are the pics below and above the dirt.
 
 

If its not worth trying to save its no biggie, I'm just curious more than anything.
 

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Looks pretty rough. I'm not saying it's totally gone, but I'm not sure it's worth keeping. If you have to cut it down to where there are only 1-2 nodes I would imagine any seedlings/adolescents you have will surpass those.
 
Ozzy2001 said:
Looks pretty rough. I'm not saying it's totally gone, but I'm not sure it's worth keeping. If you have to cut it down to where there are only 1-2 nodes I would imagine any seedlings/adolescents you have will surpass those.
ok thanks !!
 
Not dead yet there's some green on the lower, but it's in some bad shape. Maybe it will bounce back if it's warm where your at.
 
I do think the plant is not completely dead, though its hard to say whether it will bounce back and be a thriving plant as it gets warmer. I am in the Dallas/Ft Worth area, one year a few years back we had a mild winter (though still had many hard freezes) I had 2 different pepper plants that I had neglected to dig up the season before,  but both started new growth in nodes near the ground level, and turned into nice plants again. Its really hard to say.
 
I transplanted into the ground from its container and I'll let nature take it course. Thanks for all the feedback !!
 
You got a chance. I've pronounced plants dead before only to find new shoots coming out of the soil a month later. Just threw the pots in a corner and forgot about them until I noticed greenery.
 
Looks alive and well to me.  There are a few people here that have plants come back from a lot worse looking than that.  I would be sure though to keep the root system a bit warmer if possible.  If the tops are dying from cold then the roots in pots could suffer the same fate.  In ground would be ideal but maybe mound some leaves or something up around them.

Are you actually in the Modesto area?  What are the lows you get during the winter?
 
millworkman said:
Looks alive and well to me.  There are a few people here that have plants come back from a lot worse looking than that.  I would be sure though to keep the root system a bit warmer if possible.  If the tops are dying from cold then the roots in pots could suffer the same fate.  In ground would be ideal but maybe mound some leaves or something up around them.

Are you actually in the Modesto area?  What are the lows you get during the winter?
yes in the Modesto area and we had a few nights drop below 30* . I saved a few of my plants. 3 Bishops Crowns and 1 small Caribbean Red.
 
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