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Not a clue where to start

J

Jenk

I'd like to start with this is my first time trying to cultivate anything other than children and bad ideas.
My local climate is central Fl gulf coast 25 min north of Tampa. Zip code 34563 Stupid hot during the summer 93- 103 temps 80-90 night time temps and during our "winters" 55-80 day time 25-45 night times (this only lasts about 4 weeks).

I was given what I am told is a ghost pepper (bahut jolikia) plant from a friend that knows my love of all things spicy. My problem is I have no idea how to care for it. I understand its way to late in the season to expect anything this year but i would LOVE to keep it alive through out our "winter" to have it produce fruits next year. It has been transplanted from its tiny container into a 3 gallon container with 75/25 black kow compost perlite mix(both purchased from home depot). I have lightly fertilized the plant following the directions on the bag. My soil here is basically sugar sand so everything must be grown in a container. If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

Alas i have a few questions.
1. Am i on the right track?
2. Is it going to get too cold here to keep the plant healthy and ready to produce fruits during the next season?
3. Should i build some sort of structure to keep the pepper plant under until mid/late feb? IE scaled down hoop house.
4. How much direct light is to much? Is there such a thing as too much?
5. Should i go with a bigger container? I can get 5 gal pickle buckets for free.
6. Have i bitten off more than a novice gardener should chew?

I apologize for asking all these questions but i have no clue where to begin and you gotta start somewhere.
 
Welcome!

Well a Bhut Jolokia will need a warmer temperature. your options are like you said, building a type of greenhouse or bringing it inside the house with or without cutting it back. there's no such thing as too much natural light. there is too much heat, but a Bhut Jolokia will harden and do just fine in your climate during the summer. for now, as the plant will not keep growing much, there's no need for a bigger container. when it gets warm again it will be a smart move and the larger the pot, the bigger the plant will get. you have nothing to worry about, just take it easy and don't try too hard.

Good luck and enjoy your stay. :)
 
Hi, and welcome!

I grew up in Houston, so am familiar with your temperature swings. I now live in N.E. Ohio, though, and have managed to keep some plants alive over the winter - in fact, doing so is called overwintering. You'll find many posts on this site regarding overwintering (I'd suggest doing a search on "overwinter"), and thechileman.org has a nice article on it, too. I grow my plants in pots, specifically so I can move them inside and outside as the weather demands.

Chile plants are perennials when they don't get too cold. The big thing to keep in mind is that they don't like their roots to get below 50F. So yes, you have to either bring them inside or create an outdoor environment (hoophouse works) for when the temps dip below 50. They can get a bit below 50 and be fine, but the point is not to let them stay below 50 for an extended period of time since they're in pots. Given that you only have one plant, you might just want to bring it in the house. As Omri said, there is no such thing as too much sun for plants. However, if you don't put the plant in a very sunny window, you should still harden it off when you start to take it back outside in the spring, as there is such a thing as too much sun too soon. In other words, if you bring it indoors and it doesn't get FULL sun on a regular basis, it will go into shock if you just suddenly slap it out in full sun. Do a search on this site for hardening off to get more info on that.

In the meantime, you have two basic options for overwintering. The first is to just bring the plant inside and effectively treat it as a houseplant - keep watering and fertilizing as needed. If you're going to do this, though, I suggest repotting with fresh soil before bringing it indoors. This is because sometimes certain bugs (especially aphids) will either lay dormant in the soil or lay their eggs in the soil, then awaken or hatch when you bring it indoors. Repotting with fresh soil will help cut down on the chances your plant will have this problem. The second option is to have the plant go dormant. Again, repot the plant (for the same reasons), giving both the branches and the roots a good trimming. How much you trim is up to you, but make sure of two things: a) that you keep at least 5 growth nodes, and b) that the height of the remaining branches above the ground is about the same height as the roots that will be below ground when you pot it. With this option, you will cut back on watering and fertilizing, but don't let it get bone dry. During your trimming, make sure you remove any remaining leaves (also to help prevent aphids.) Keep the plant in a cool, dark place (you could go as far as to put it in a closet, but since "out of site, out of mind" hits many of us, I suggest you put it somewhere you will typically see it, but not in a sunny window.) You'll know the plant is fine if after a handful of weeks it starts to put out new leaves. This could be in the 1-2 month range. All that said, I don't know anyone who has been 100% successful in overwintering ALL their plants, so don't be too hard on yourself if it doesn't make it.

Best wishes on your overwintering, and again, welcome to the forum!
 
First off, :welcome: from NC! You were bestowed with the gift of heat, welcome to the club! I have to echo some of the other's posts. You wanna keep that baby at a decent temp, and since it is in a container, it is more susceptible to getting too cold. I know Floridians who can keep theirs alive in the ground through winter, but since you have it in a pot, and I am guessing that it isn't mature enough to handle a cold, you should consider the structure outside or overwintering.

You could probably do fine with grabbing a few 1x2s and building a "box" around the plant and wrapping it in heavy plastic. If you do this you need to be careful to monitor the temps inside the structure. If you have a few warm enough days, it could get pretty hot in there and do a bit of damage if left unchecked.

I have nothing really to add to the overwintering bit, Geeme hit it. Use the search bar.

Again, welcome to the obsession. You signed up, good luck getting out.

Matt
 
With such a short winter and only 1 plant I would just check the weather report during the short cold period and bring it in when it gets too cold. Shouldn't be much trouble. Just bring it indoors at night if the temps get below ~40-45F. 3 gallons should be fine until spring, then I would pot it up to ~7 gallons, then again to ~10+ gallons when it outgrows the 7 gallon pot. With your long growing season and nice head start the plant should get pretty large if you do things right. I wouldn't recommend giving it any fertilizer for quite a while, since you have it in compost, and bhuts are sensitive to fertilizer from my experience.
 
Thanks for all the replies! I've been searching through the boards the past 2 days and think i have formulated a plan. Since the winters are so short and mild for the most part. Bringing it in for the night and getting it back outside early in the day shouldn't be to much of a hassle. I'm going to build a small "A" frame structure, and line the bottom with left over bricks from another project for some thermal mass to keep it a bit warmer on those 55-75 nights. Anything colder than that and its getting pulled inside. On a more interesting note i think I've already been bit by the bug looking at some of the grow logs and plan on adding 5-6 more pepper varieties come jan-feb. Thanks again for all the advice. I hope to give back as much to the community as i can like you folks have done for me.
 
Jenk said:
I'd like to start with this is my first time trying to cultivate anything other than children and bad ideas.
My local climate is central Fl gulf coast 25 min north of Tampa. Zip code 34563 Stupid hot during the summer 93- 103 temps 80-90 night time temps and during our "winters" 55-80 day time 25-45 night times (this only lasts about 4 weeks).

I was given what I am told is a ghost pepper (bahut jolikia) plant from a friend that knows my love of all things spicy. My problem is I have no idea how to care for it. I understand its way to late in the season to expect anything this year but i would LOVE to keep it alive through out our "winter" to have it produce fruits next year. It has been transplanted from its tiny container into a 3 gallon container with 75/25 black kow compost perlite mix(both purchased from home depot). I have lightly fertilized the plant following the directions on the bag. My soil here is basically sugar sand so everything must be grown in a container. If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

Alas i have a few questions.
1. Am i on the right track?
2. Is it going to get too cold here to keep the plant healthy and ready to produce fruits during the next season?
3. Should i build some sort of structure to keep the pepper plant under until mid/late feb? IE scaled down hoop house.
4. How much direct light is to much? Is there such a thing as too much?
5. Should i go with a bigger container? I can get 5 gal pickle buckets for free.
6. Have i bitten off more than a novice gardener should chew?

I apologize for asking all these questions but i have no clue where to begin and you gotta start somewhere.
Click to expand...
here a website u need 2 check out these guys they r great www.hydroponicshopsofamerica.com
heres thier # 607-697-0199
u can grow them all year long indoors
need a green house dome
light at 12/12
after they start coming out of the soil
after they get about 6 in. get a bottle of bloom mix sum up
when they start 2 flower take a soft toothbrush and rub the flower polin 2 each flower and about 4 1/2 to 5 mth. mth. u should see peppers
 
W.T.F TONY said:
here a website u need 2 check out these guys they r great www.hydroponicshopsofamerica.com
heres thier # 607-697-0199
u can grow them all year long indoors
need a green house dome
light at 12/12
after they start coming out of the soil
after they get about 6 in. get a bottle of bloom mix sum up
when they start 2 flower take a soft toothbrush and rub the flower polin 2 each flower and about 4 1/2 to 5 mth. mth. u should see peppers
Click to expand...

Sorry, it isnt that easy. I am sure that you probably have it working for you this way, but these instructions are pretty vague.

Jenk, dont let this get you confused. Use the search bar and if something sounds way to complicated, search for a different way. There are many.
 
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