seeds Grow on inside or start again from seed?

Bumper · Mar 13, 2015

There are a bunch of threads on overwintering, just wondering what the experiences are with growing on, moving plants grown outside into a small grow room to keep fruiting. My habanero and bhut are fruiting well now but not ripening yet.

Any suggestions on how to bring them in without losing all the pods, or should I just start from seed to avoid the pests etc and take my chances with frosts in month or so with them outside?

I have a new 1.5x1.2x0.6m grow tent, air in and exhaust out fans. Will pick up a circulation fan this weekend too. They will go under LED lights (1 x 300w mars hydro reflector, with grow and bloom settings). Going to be a soil grow rather than hydro. Temps outside are 7-10c at night and high 20's in the day now. The room will be heated (ducted gas) so sitting at 20c outside the grow tent.

Also, are 2 gallon pots big enough for an indoor grow, and how close can the plants bunch up? Apologies for the newbie questions… :confused:

Cheers

Bumper

geeme · Mar 13, 2015

No need to apologize - ALL of us were newbies at one point or another.

This was the first year I chose not to overwinter any plants (GASP!!!) However, even this year I brought the plants inside for a period to finish ripening the green pods that were on them. They'll do that just fine once you bring them inside as long as they have sufficient light. I grow in containers so bringing them in is simply a matter of moving the pots. I am guessing from your post that you are growing in the ground and will have to dig them up - hence, your concern about losing pods. The thing about 'x'-gallon pots is that there is no standard across pot manufacturers. If these are truly 2-gallon containers and this is the first year for the plants (sounds like it is), two gallons for a habanero is likely enough. Bhut I'm not so sure about as I have not grown them. You'll get a good idea of whether your 2-gallon pots are big enough when you dig the plants up - gently remove as much soil as possible so you can get a good idea of the size of the root ball. It won't hurt to dig them up, get a good look, then go get pots of an appropriate size, as long as you protect them from drying out while you shop for pots. This could be as simple as wetting down the roots and putting them in a bucket in the shade until you get back.

D3monic · Mar 13, 2015

My 2 cents is rinse the roots and plants clean and use new potting soil when you bring them in. Otherwise you could bring in pests like aphids that will hatch out in the warmer temps and ravage your plants.

My overwinters looked great , even better indoors than out and after a month or two I had aphidapocolypse break out and they became overun very quickly. I had a unexpected frost and brought them in without doing as I suggested and paid the price.

Bumper · Mar 14, 2015

geeme said:
No need to apologize - ALL of us were newbies at one point or another.

This was the first year I chose not to overwinter any plants (GASP!!!) However, even this year I brought the plants inside for a period to finish ripening the green pods that were on them. They'll do that just fine once you bring them inside as long as they have sufficient light. I grow in containers so bringing them in is simply a matter of moving the pots. I am guessing from your post that you are growing in the ground and will have to dig them up - hence, your concern about losing pods. The thing about 'x'-gallon pots is that there is no standard across pot manufacturers. If these are truly 2-gallon containers and this is the first year for the plants (sounds like it is), two gallons for a habanero is likely enough. Bhut I'm not so sure about as I have not grown them. You'll get a good idea of whether your 2-gallon pots are big enough when you dig the plants up - gently remove as much soil as possible so you can get a good idea of the size of the root ball. It won't hurt to dig them up, get a good look, then go get pots of an appropriate size, as long as you protect them from drying out while you shop for pots. This could be as simple as wetting down the roots and putting them in a bucket in the shade until you get back.

Thanks - you guessed right geeme, sorry should have said they are in raised growing beds at the moment and it is their first year.

I picked up a few 2 and 3 gallon pots as both will fit well in the tent I could go to 4 or 5g if needed - I was thinking if I can keep them down to 2g pots I can grow a couple more varieties (a choc hab, a tabasco and a reaper :party:

). I guess it is the same as bonsai - they will grow to the size of the pot - I can always root prune, top chop and repot before I put them back into a growth phase. I will keep them in pots when they move out next spring though, that makes it easy for transfer and can harden them off easier.

D3monic said:
My 2 cents is rinse the roots and plants clean and use new potting soil when you bring them in. Otherwise you could bring in pests like aphids that will hatch out in the warmer temps and ravage your plants.

My overwinters looked great , even better indoors than out and after a month or two I had aphidapocolypse break out and they became overun very quickly. I had a unexpected frost and brought them in without doing as I suggested and paid the price.

D3, thanks, no issues to date with aphids (the native wasps tend to keep them down) but will definitely follow through on the rinse, it would suck big time to get them all settled and then become aphid food. I'm also giving them a dose of copper sulphate as a preventative before they come in..

robbyjoe01 · Mar 14, 2015

This might be advice from the other side of.....but cut back__Overwinter is keeping the roots alive to fight another season not what your waiting to ripe.
My mistakes in overwintering hasn't been cutting back too early but too late.
Hey I hit 500 after all the years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bumper · Mar 14, 2015

robbyjoe01 said:
This might be advice from the other side of.....but cut back__Overwinter is keeping the roots alive to fight another season not what your waiting to ripe.
My mistakes in overwintering hasn't been cutting back too early but too late.
Hey I hit 500 after all the years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats on the post milestone!

Thanks, I was wanting to extend the season rather than overwinter them. As our season is short, I picked the first ripe Hab yesterday, and the bhuts are at least a month away from going red. I figure I am ok to do this as the grow tent should keep them in the right range for continued flowering. Are you saying that this isn't recommended, and I should just overwinter them?

robbyjoe01 · Mar 14, 2015

I've always sided with the plant. Call me a tree hugger but if a plant done me right for the season it had the right to be cut back early to be the lead next year.
Ya always save the biggest or best seed.......why not the best root?

geeme · Mar 14, 2015

It won't hurt to remove "straggler" roots before repotting - preserve the mass of the rootball and just trim off roots that hang away from it. I agree 100% with removing as much soil as possible before repotting and bringing inside. You won't necessarily see aphids at this point, but their eggs may be laying in the soil. Unfortunately, their eggs may be laying in or on the plant itself, too. I get ladybugs as soon as I notice even a small aphid population when I've got my plants indoors. One aphid very quickly becomes 100, as they reproduce at a very rapid rate. I use buglogical.com but there are other vendors that sell ladybugs, too.

And yes, if you are going to do more than just cut straggler roots and give them a good "haircut", you would want to do that in the late fall at a point when you don't want the plants to focus on growth or production. It doesn't hurt to trim the smallest stems and roots if you're going to keep them going, though.