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overwintering Over-Wintered Plants...Hardening Off
- Thread starter Roguejim
- Start date
Leaves or no leaves, they will need to be hardened off. Think about yourself for a few moments: What if you had been indoors for the same period, then were suddenly placed outside in full sun for an entire day? Likely you'd need to go to the hospital for severe sunburn. Plants are no different - you need to gradually expose them to the sun when they've been indoors for an extended period. Similarly, their stems need to strengthen enough to handle a fairly strong wind - the hardening off process not only gradually exposes to sunlight, but also to wind, allowing the plant to become strong enough to handle both.
millworkman
eXtreme
I will say that if there are no leaves and only woody branches toss Em out and let them go.
Millworkman has a point. At this point you should be seeing nodules forming - these are where new leaves and branches will appear - or even the starts of leaves. If you're not seeing anything, however, your plants may be dead. I was going on your statement that they are semi-dormant - what makes you think they are semi-dormant? If you can still see some green, I would agree with that - I've had a couple overwinters that I really thought were dead, in spite of a touch of greenness, but managed to pull through. However, if they are bone-dry it's likely they're not going to make it.
There are some that appear to be dead, others that have green stalks. I thought I had read in the OW tutorial that the plants could be cut back, stored somewhere with little light so they would be somewhat dormant, and they would be fine come Spring. I guess I'll find out, soon. Having said all that, I doubt I'll OW 10 plants again. I'm not sure the payoff is worth it.
I don't harden any adult perennials at all. They're usually dormant green sticks, even the ones that barely have green still make it. When it's 55º or more they go out on the patio. I have a plant (germanium, however) that is 7 years old and it does fine every year like this. *shrug*
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If the plant doesn't make it, it goes straight into the compost
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If the plant doesn't make it, it goes straight into the compost
I've OW'd four times now and have mixed results. Most of them tend to make it, but I'm not surprised if I lose one or two. There isn't anything wrong with your approach, just know that some may not recover. I severely pruned in the first year, down to the main stem and only 4 or 5 growth nodes. However, I no longer prune that severely - I more focus on overall shape, given the room I have available. I have preferred keeping more of the plant, as they take less time to recover.Roguejim said:
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Is it worth it? I had a doughlah that made it through three growing seasons. It was almost as tall as I am (including pot), and it was a huge producer. Unfortunately, this winter it bit the dust. I can guarantee I would not get as many pods off a new young plant that I got off of it the past two seasons. Keep in mind that peppers only put out pods at the joints between branches - older plants have more branches, thus more pods. There does come a point at which production slows, but the first few years are usually fine. As to the number - I don't have a lot of room in my house, so 10 was too much the year I brought in that many. Now I'm more selective, and bring in only the pubescens (which can live and produce much longer than other types) and the ones I know I really want to keep going (based on flavor and/or how many dried pods I have left.)
millworkman
eXtreme
Well when I said toss them out I meant put them in the sun, not throw away. Â Generally stems are hardened enough once they are a few weeks old and it is only the leaves you need to really worry about. Â If there are no leaves out yet then let the sun do her work on your babies.