overwintering Overwintering question

[muskymojo]

Hey all-
This was my first year growing peppers and also my first try overwintering them. I pruned them back to bare stumps between 2 and 6 inches leaving no foliage at all about 6 weeks ago. Almost all of them have new growth on them, but the new growth is very pale green and almost yellow. I also pruned the roots down to about the size of a baseball, removed all the soil and potted them in potting mix with added perlite. I'm pretty sure I haven't over watered them. They are near a small south facing basement window that doesn't supply very good light. Is this normal? Do they need more light? Also, I have 4 kinds of peppers and they are all the same pale color (serrano, carribean red, orange habs, and zavory which is a Burpee variety of mild hab). I have some pics to post but I can't find my cord to do so at the moment. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Josh]

Pics will definitely help but it could be lack of light. I remember when I stuck plants in my basement they threw out a few very pale leaves.

 

[Indiana_Jesse]

Most likely lack of light.

 

[POTAWIE]

If you want them to grow over the winter they probably need more light and nutrients. If you just want to overwinter them in a semi-dormant state then you likely have too much light. Its a fine balance

 

[willard3]

Beating a dead horse

 

[UltraZelda64]

I'm getting confused myself while in the process of overwintering. My Vietnamese Multicolor was going nuts dropping its leaves--I assumed it was going to stop growing, which is good... it's in the house, not enough light and no aphid predators. I trimmed it way back (but not to a stump, I left all the thicker branches) because I figured the aphids were a losing battle; they were infesting entire ends of branches, seemingly before I even knew what was going on they had already built large colonies.

Then a couple days ago I looked at the plant and realized that plenty of new growth was starting, in between pretty much every segment of every stem)--and the plants are not near windows because I was hoping they would not start growing again. And the new growth is extremely light green with almost a yellowish tint to it--no surprise, the thing is trying to grow with almost no light. It's normally around 70 degrees in this room, up to 75, and I guess I'll have to try putting them in my bedroom (where there is almost no room, but at least it's usually around 65 degrees in there near the window in winter). Yeah, I know--pretty warm technically, but it actually feels chilly because according to a humidity reader the relative humidity is only 20% or lower. Still doesn't matter to the plants apparently.

But the main reason I'm posting is because I'm confused with Potawie's post. Assuming a plant is cut down to a stump with the intention of overwintering (or at least all leaves and thinner branches are pruned, leaving only stronger, aphid-proof branches) and there basically no leaves left, how can there be "too much" or "too little" light? I mean, the whole point of the leaves is to perform photosynthesis, but if there are none... it can't do the light-energy conversion... let alone sense whether there even is any light or not. Unless the branches themselves have some way to sense light or are able to perform some weak photosynthesis themselves somehow and I never heard of it. I thought--especially if a plant goes dormant or semi-dormant--the main thing that determines its growth is temperature (as well as water and nutrients, but of course those two things will be cut way back during the winter). How does light affect such a leafless plant?

 

[muskymojo]

Beating a dead horse

Oh, I'm sorry Willard3. Was my question not worthy enough to ask here? It IS the beginning of winter isn't it? This IS the Growing Hot Peppers forum isn't it? I guess I'll check with you before I post another stupid question here. ALL HAIL WILLARD III !!!

 

[newhotstuff]

Could be a draft too. I have plants near the porch who's leaves are turning black due the draft from opening the door.

 

[UltraZelda64]

Oh, I'm sorry Willard3. Was my question not worthy enough to ask here? It IS the beginning of winter isn't it? This IS the Growing Hot Peppers forum isn't it? I guess I'll check with you before I post another stupid question here. ALL HAIL WILLARD III !!!

I've got a couple... eh... somewhat condescending responses from him too. I usually just ignore them... usually someone stops by with some serious help/answers. Sometimes the stuff he posts isn't bad though.

 

[willard3]

Rather than ask the same question that has been asked a million times you can consult the search function on the upper right of the screen.

That's probably too much work for you, though........

 

[POTAWIE]

But the main reason I'm posting is because I'm confused with Potawie's post. Assuming a plant is cut down to a stump with the intention of overwintering (or at least all leaves and thinner branches are pruned, leaving only stronger, aphid-proof branches) and there basically no leaves left, how can there be "too much" or "too little" light? I mean, the whole point of the leaves is to perform photosynthesis, but if there are none... it can't do the light-energy conversion... let alone sense whether there even is any light or not. Unless the branches themselves have some way to sense light or are able to perform some weak photosynthesis themselves somehow and I never heard of it. I thought--especially if a plant goes dormant or semi-dormant--the main thing that determines its growth is temperature (as well as water and nutrients, but of course those two things will be cut way back during the winter). How does light affect such a leafless plant?

From my experience with too little light plants will die, too much and they will grow quick instead of staying "semi-dormant". New little green shoots start growing from the stalk and can grow fast with lots of light. Chiles don't really go dormant, they continously grow. The key to "semi-dormant" overwintering is to get them to still grow but very slow and from my experience this involves cooler temps and low hours of light, just not too cold and dark
My overwintered plants this year are getting a bit too much light and have lots of unwanted new growth which are full of aphids I'll probably have to cut some back 1 more time and find a darker home for them

 

[UltraZelda64]

From my experience with too little light plants will die, too much and they will grow quick instead of staying "semi-dormant". New little green shoots start growing from the stalk and can grow fast with lots of light. Chiles don't really go dormant, they continously grow. The key to "semi-dormant" overwintering is to get them to still grow but very slow and from my experience this involves cooler temps and low hours of light, just not too cold and dark
My overwintered plants this year are getting a bit too much light and have lots of unwanted new growth which are full of aphids I'll probably have to cut some back 1 more time and find a darker home for them

Ah, I see. I'm actually surprised mine are growing new shoots, because it's pretty dark in this room. Not only are the plants on the exact opposite side of the room as the windows, the windows have blinds--and they're shut. My problem with putting the plants upstairs in my room (aside from the lack of room in there) is that they'll likely get more light since my Rocoto is up there which I'm overwintering in a different way (not cutting back, trying to keep growing with extra light from a fully-open south window, so it probably has many aphids to share with the others, which is likely the bigger problem), but at least it's cooler in there...

Rather than ask the same question that has been asked a million times you can consult the search function on the upper right of the screen.

That's probably too much work for you, though........

I knew what you were getting at ("search, search, search, use the search, blah blah blah," heard it hundreds of times on various forums over the years), but with 90 posts I would assume that he's pretty new here and, who knows, computers may not be his favorite thing--simply suggesting that he does a search, or even not replying at all, would be better than a big "beating a dead horse" picture. Which is pretty much equivalent to a slap in the face--not very welcoming. Then again, who knows, maybe he just wants to ask people in person. Nothing wrong with that, is there? After all, sometimes a question can be answered faster by directly asking it, rather than reading through dozens of several-page topics brought up in a search. Maybe he has other things to do and not enough time? Who knows.

 

[muskymojo]

Thanks to most of you for your replies. I will move my plants to a darker location and see what happens. If they look too bad after a while, I'll give em more light. And yes, I read a lot of stuff about wintering plants here and other places before I even started the process. As I said in my opening post, this is my first try at wintering peppers, and I don't know everything there is to know about it. Thanks again for the input!
(I'm also not trying to start any feuds around here)

 

[midwestchilehead]

It is my first attempt at overwintering too. How much light is too much? I don't want a bunch of growth. My plants are in one gallon pots underneath a double row of regular florescent bulbs. I currently have the timer set for 12 hours. Is that too much? And what is the best way to deal with the aphids? I'm thinking ladybugs, but will entertain other suggestions too.

Thanks to most of you for your replies. I will move my plants to a darker location and see what happens. If they look too bad after a while, I'll give em more light. And yes, I read a lot of stuff about wintering plants here and other places before I even started the process. As I said in my opening post, this is my first try at wintering peppers, and I don't know everything there is to know about it. Thanks again for the input!
(I'm also not trying to start any feuds around here)

 

[newhotstuff]

I'll tell ya my experience and it's cold here and all my peppers are fine and happy. I DIDNT prunce them. Some of their leaves fell off due to the colder nights though before I brought them in. I put them in a room with a window and I have a 15w LED grow light in the room on only at night. I water them once a week and only very little maybe half a cup. Most are starting to regrow already.