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Michigan dropping to 40 Fahrenheit tonight

Torch

Torch

So this is my first year with so many plants ( 26 pots). Most of them have a lot of ripen pods and also a lot of un-ripen pods. This week some nights will be in the low 40's.

I plan on making a lot of hot sauce but I am waiting for the ph meter and bottles to arrive in the mail ( might be another 5 days). Originally I didn't want to pick the ripe pods until I was ready to make the sauce.

This question is for you experienced growers.

Should I pick them today?

Is there a way to protect my 26 pots ( without bringing them inside) (google confused me, some say use plastic others dont) ?

If all of you say to pick my ripe pods should I put them in fridge for a week until all my supplies comes for hot sauce making or keep them room temp?

A perfect situation for me would be to be able to keep the ripe pods on the plants, keep plants outside, and protect the 26 pots individually somehow, and remove protection in the morning. Hopefully one of you will be able to suggest a method for this.

Thanks in advance,

A Panicked Torch
 
Go ahead and make the sauce if you want to, you can adjust the ph later and it will keep for a few days in the fridge regardless of ph, but there is no need to pick them for a drop to only 40F.

Put them in the fridge only if they are completely ripe, if they aren't then they will ripen far more outside the fridge at room temp and refrigeration won't be needed to preserve them because a firm, unripe pod won't go bad in only a few days time (unless there was already something wrong with it like mold inside).

There is nothing you need do to protect the plants at 40F, BUT if it gets much colder you need to watch out for frost as it can occur above an "official" temperature of 32F because they are reporting the temperature within certain measurement criteria while it may be a bit colder than that at ground level. To protect against frost throw bedsheets or similar over the plants and remove when it gets warmer in the morning. Once frost forms on the pods you need to process the pods immediately and their texture may be mushier.
 
Ok cool thanks guys. I have the bed sheets ready for when temps drop closer to the mid 30's I guess. I'm guessing overwinterizing needs to happen once the lows are constantly in the mid to low 30's?

Thanks guys!
 
I just moved all mine into shelter about 70 four and 6 gal containers, reason being the weather report 5 hours ago posted it getting down to 31 but now after moving everything inside or covering the other ones i see the weather report has changed to the low of only 37 long story short frustrating moving everything and trusting the weather reports.

I know you said with out bringing them inside But if you have a garage just move the car out and put them in there, that's what i did.

Another thing i did with one was covering it with a Large black plastic sack then tied the bottom off.
 
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