My Overwinter Room

I'm in Sweden, the outdoor grow season is fairly short and unpredictable. I mostly plant in pots so I can move them to the greenhouse, outdoors or into the house all depending on the weather. I was going to choose my best potted plants from this year and over winter them but when it came to it I decided they are all my best plants. So I now have a room in the house with 30 plants over wintering. They only receive natural sunlight and a little bit of light from the house lights. It rarely gets above 0C outside over winter and the days are very short, but everything is doing well. Apart from a piri piri that's about to enter its 3rd year everything was started from seed at the beginning of this year. The amount each plant was (or in some cases wasn't) cut back was done just so I could fit them in the room next to windows, some I could keep without trimming anything off, others had a few branches removed, and a few had to be reduced to just the main stem. As I said above everything is happy and they have all have new growth. They have been in the house since around mid September when the first frosts came.


This won't be a grow long but I will keep it updated

 

[Swinglish]

I forgot to say what's in there.
Piri Piri
Carolina Reaper
BBG Peach Ghost
Naga Viper
Dorset Naga
Habaneros
Pink Tiger
Devils Tongue

 

[Bookers]

Awesome! I too had over 30 potted. I stayed with 4 and have a 36 pod seed tray going.

Cheers...

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[Swinglish]

Which 4 did you save?

I will start a seed tray soon with some different varieties. The over wintering just gives me a massive head start on our short season.

 

[Bookers]

Carolina Reaper, chocolate moruga, cappuccino scotch and not chocolate primo... here's the seed chart I started

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[bpiela]

Awesome! I too had over 30 potted. I stayed with 4 and have a 36 pod seed tray going.

Cheers...

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What is that thing you have your pots sitting it?  Looks very practical.

 

[Swinglish]

It looks like it's from the back of a car, I use the same

 

[Bookers]

Was from my son's Acura TL. Like a trunk liner.

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[PaulG]

Good luck shepherding those plants through
the long winter, Matthew! Thirty OW plants is
a major undertaking! They all look good.

 

[Swinglish]

Good luck shepherding those plants through
the long winter, Matthew! Thirty OW plants is
a major undertaking! They all look good.

Thanks, I'm confident I can keep them happy over the winter. My only concern is in the spring when they really start to take off and I have 30 almost full sized plants in the room and it been to cold to move them outside

 

[PaulG]

...and I have 30 almost full sized plants in the room and it been to cold to move them outside

 
  I know it's not really funny,
but that image made me chuckle.

 

[Swinglish]

All my plants that I cut back are growing well with lots of new growth all over.... apart from this 1 carolina reaper which has only has new growth from the top. The plant is about 3.5ft of stem then the new growth starts. It doesn't look like anything is going to grow from the sides. If i grow it out I fear it will be extremely top heavy, so I'm thinking of cutting the new growth off and trying to root them (theres potentially 7 cuttings). I'm looking for your input and ideas on this plan so if you have any please let me know.

 

[CaneDog]

Hey Swinglish.  If you decide to take cuttings, when you're finished I would cut the plant back to somewhere around that first small branch, probably immediately below it. Some plants grow almost exclusively from the highest growth nodes on the plant and cutting it back to where only the lower growth nodes remain, say 3-6+ nodes (number of nodes left would be inverse to both the distance between the nodes and how aggressively the plant wants to grow from only the top nodes) will force the plant to grow from those lower nodes.
 
I recently did this with a couple chinense and they're showing fantastic growth from the lower nodes.  I can't tell 100% from the picture, but your reaper and its nodes look plenty healthy for expecting it to grow back well after cutting the plant back that far.  You'd just want to be sure to give it quality light after the cut back.  I've had great results and, personally, wouldn't bother to taking cuttings if I did this, but by taking cuttings you'd have an even greater likelihood of a good result.
 
Here's what mine look like at 1-2 weeks after cut-back.

 

[mi_chili_grower]

Just keep cutting them back, they'll be fine. I have 75 plants in a 5x5 grow tent in the basement and have the cut them back about every 20 days, but with all those new tops I am creating with the snipping, image the bushes I will have outside come June!

 

[Swinglish]

Hey Swinglish.  If you decide to take cuttings, when you're finished I would cut the plant back to somewhere around that first small branch, probably immediately below it.
 

I took 7 cuttings from the top then cut her down just below that lowest branch. I will wait to see some new growth then I will repot it in a fresh soil mix and give the rootball a trim.

 

[Swinglish]

Here's what I have left

 

[Swinglish]

I have this small grow tent/greenhouse for seedlings and cuttings, should I have the cuttings in there under the lights or should I keep them in the room with the ceiling light on until roots start to grow?

 

[Bookers]

I'm really not sure. Ive heard both ways. I personally keep em in the dark a couple days until sprout but have heard people doing 24-7 grow lights. I'm still struggling lol. Good luck

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[Swinglish]

I have these black bumps on the main stem of one of my devil's tongue over wintering plants. Anything to be concerned about?

 

[Bookers]

I wish I knew. Your foliage looks better than mine. I was concerned with black looking vines/lines in stems and leaves. Canedog told me stressed plants... good luck and happy growing!

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