Multi Year Grows

[AJ Drew]

Climate for most grows probably makes peppers a one season plant.  With the right weather conditions, most pepper plants will grow for years.  I winter over, but that is far from growing year around because I cut back so much.  Some folk continue to grow indoors year round without wintering over, but even that is greatly different than natural sunlight.  Also, this far north even if you did grow outdoors year round, maybe in a heated green house, the light cycle and spectrum is so very different than the locations where most peppers found their original home.

I am wondering if anyone here grows year round, has plants that are multiple years in age, and can share with us if there is any difference in the pods.  Peppers are a fruit and it seems the fruit of most trees get better year after year.  Wondering if the same is not true of peppers.

 

[Gotrox]

Hard to tell.
Mine get about 2 years.
 
Just started my 2015 grow in an aerogarden.
I have 16 in small pots---most 3 to a pot, on purpose, and 2 singles in 5 gallon root spa's, 1 has 3 plants in a root spa from last season.
 
All the potted and spa'd go outside in dirt after last frost (late may, early june)
 
My minatures (or compact grow, if you wish) go into the empty pots and root spa's after transplanting last years crop in dirt.
 
They stall for a bit, and then produce fairly well in late August and September.
 
It seems to take 9 to 11 months for the first good production out of supers, and the indoor pods have the flavor, but weaker on the heat than the outdoor summer crop.
 
So, on the continous grow system I seem to be using, I get pods from December to late March from the indoor plants started the previous February, and pods from August through September after "dirting" them.
 
They seem to follow the usual habit after stalling in dirt for a month or so-----small sometimes odd pods in the beginning, better, larger, hotter pods later.
 
Indoors, all the plants get hydro nutes (advanced nutrients ph perfect line) whether in dirt or hydro, and outside, only well mulched dirt with no additives.
 
Potted plants indoors sit in a crowded windowsill with a southeast exposure, hydro plants sit in a 4x4 grow tent under a 4' 8 tube T5HO equal mix of grow and flower bulbs.
 
Huge harvests ?
Nope, but huge variety for me and enough for chili and salsa contests and my yearly pepper infused salt supply with a load left over for casual eating.
 
This years planting has 15 different types----a triple Fatali, Cream, Yellow and Red I am looking forward to especially.

 

[Nuclieye]

I have two Chiltepins that are now 3 years old and getting better all the time.  Had a few Bell's years back that reached 6 before we composted them, they were 6' tall then but each year after year 2 the fruit got smaller and smaller.  May have been soil, don't know and didnt bother messing with it.  They were our pepper trees.  Lost the ones I left out this winter while on a long fishing trip when we got our one and only frost. 

 

[jacqui276]

I had a cayenne plant that I had for 6 years indoors only. It sat in a sunny window. It didn't produce huge amounts but I did get peppers all year long. It finally didn't make it this year thanks to adding a cat to our family who thought that it looked really tasty and chomped it down to nothingness. (my peppers are now all kept in a room with the door closed so that the cat doesn't have access.)