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overwintering Overwinter fail. Any way to save this plant?

M

Mallory8502

Tonight is going to be the first freeze, so I attempted to dig up my best Caribbean Red Hab to overwinter. Unfortunately the ground was soft from rain and I got too impatient, resulting in a root ball only about the size of my fist. From this pic you can see how big the plant is-

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My question is, if I cut it back hard, to only a few bare stems do you think it could survive? Or should I suck it up and let the remaining peppers ripen on the plant as it dies over the next few days?
 
A general rule of thumb is to cut back both the top and the bottom a relatively equal distance from the soil line. Therefore, if the root ball is now, say, 10 inches below the soil line, you will want to cut the top back to 10 inches above the soil line. That said, you MUST keep several growth nodes above the soil line. Nodes are those points where leaves and branches split from the stem. So even if you cut back the roots to 6" below the soil line, if you don't have at least 4 to 5 nodes within 6" above the soil line, cut back only to the point where you have at least 4 to 5 nodes. More is better, but I don't like to have fewer than 4 to 5.
 
Post a pic of how you cut it back.
I have one that I literally cut every leaf and branch off the mAin stem. Its now getting less then 6 hours of light through a window and leaves/new shoots are sprouting
 
when ever i disrupt roots i always feed my plants with a taste of aspirin water, 1 tablet in 1 quart. my rule of thumb is expect to lose 50% of your plants that you interrupt. of course, the plants may recover and you think you are doing a super job then in spring, all of a sudden all the leaves drop and the plant dies with no real valid excuse. my yellow bhuts did that this year along with several other plants, nothing different, all plants treated the same, together they just decided to die and die they did.

i think that is why some veterans have chosen not to over winter and just grow from seed in early spring.

hope all works out for you and good growing.
 
My first year overwintering I only had 3 plants, and cut them back to mere sticks a few inches high, such as this:
peno220110105.JPG


You can see the top node towards the upper left starting to put out new leaves - it did survive that OW, and last year, as well, so this was it's 3rd season.

This past OW, though, I did not cut back nearly as severely. My tallest were still at least a couple feet tall after I pruned them. Haven't pruned for OW yet this winter, but will shortly. I will again keep them taller than the first year.

Ultimately, my point is that you can do a SEVERE pruning and they will be fine, though you don't have to. Just try to keep the tops and bottoms about the same distance from the soil line, as I already mentioned.
 
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