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container-growing Overwintering technique idea

Doctor Scoville

Doctor Scoville

Hey all,

My plants are about to go into the ground so i'm thinking about what to do when they need to come out.

Has anyone done the following:

At the end of the season trim the plants to bear stem as always, washing and repotting, neemoil etc.

Then replant all plants in one big container with a heating wire buried in the ground. Then keep the soil at 10 degrees C though winter without much light.

This way i'm saving much space and soil, and will be able to control the temperature.

downside will be if one plants has a issue, its likely they will all feel the effects.

I'm curious what your thoughts are.

Have a good one.
 
Where would you locate them over winter? Cross contamination would likely be a consideration as you already identify. Many varieties OW poorly and stressed/dying peppers are more likely to be susceptible to and breed pathogens. Taking plants from the ground to OW will materially decrease success rates versus OW'ing container plants. Also, many times newly started plants will outproduce their OW counterparts. For a combination of reasons, I tend to be pretty selective about which plants I overwinter. It's an interesting idea though and it can be fun to consider and try out plans and strategies like this.
 
I've got a shed were they could be "stored" during winter. it wont freeze in there but will be cold. Also there is little light .
I might take 5 or so plants to give this a go.
 
I overwinter in my garage where it gets darn cold, but not freezing. Mostly wild varieties and pubescens, but some others as well. I give them supplemental LED light of about 4-5 hours a day, but they still get periods of dark that can sometimes last a couple weeks. They don't get heat. Your idea of some supplemental heat is likely a good one for many varieties. Good luck!
 
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For things I deem worthy of overwintering, which isnā€™t much, I have settled on using warming pads. That saves me the cost of heating the air.

They stay in an otherwise unheated greenhouse, so they get low light levels in the UK winter.

I repot them from larger bags/pots into smaller fabric pots. I try and use square fabric pots where I can so they can be placed close together. I then place the fabric pots directly on the warming pads and a single probe into one of the pots.

I still get ice on the inside of the glass sometimes but the root balls should never freeze. Iā€™ve settled on a probe setting of 12C, though I doubt it always keeps at 12C as the temperature differential will be too great sometimes.

The warming pads are purpose made greenhouse warming pads. The heat source is bottom insulated and the whole thing wrapped in aluminium.

This setup has given me 80%+ success for multiple years. Some species just donā€™t play with these conditions though.
 
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Doctor Scoville said:
Hey all,

My plants are about to go into the ground so i'm thinking about what to do when they need to come out.

Has anyone done the following:

At the end of the season trim the plants to bear stem as always, washing and repotting, neemoil etc.

Then replant all plants in one big container with a heating wire buried in the ground. Then keep the soil at 10 degrees C though winter without much light.

This way i'm saving much space and soil, and will be able to control the temperature.

downside will be if one plants has a issue, its likely they will all feel the effects.

I'm curious what your thoughts are.

Have a good one.
Click to expand...
I don't think it's worth it, what I do is air layering a branch early fall, after 30 days it will have roots, then I'll cut it and just wash that branch, easier than a whole plant
 
also a good idea. I myself hope to preserve the plant, not just the genetics. Our season is about 5 months outside so all that can be done inside will help.
 
I'm supposed to be wintering my plants now. well bugger me, they're flowering again never done that before, any
idea folks ?---Mic
 
Again on that note, I just leave my plants in the ground, you mention cutting them back to the main stem,
is this correct, haven't heard of that before , but i'm only a newbie, Thanks---Mic
 
overwintering in it's sense means you move your plants to an environment where they go dormant during winter. The purpose is not to continue to grow peppers, but just to try and save the plant from inevitable death by frost. potted plants will be moved, in ground plants dug up and moved in pots.

so if your climate has frost, leaving your plants in ground and outside will not be the way to overwinter the plants.

cutting the plants back is standard practice, there are a number of topics on this forum about this as well as many youtube video's and websites on overwintering chilies.

hope this helps.

Stijn.
 
Thank you Stijn, that helps a lot, we only get frost maybe once in someone's lifetime
here in Auckland , gotta do the you tube thing, cheers---Mic
 
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Funny. I have an ArequipeƱo (mistakenly thought it to be DeSeda) that refuses to wither away in winter. It's back for its fourth season and is more robust than last year at this time.

My procedure? I cut the limbs down to three or four inches and kick it into a corner of my unheated garage. That's it, the entire procedure. When I start new peppers in March the dead thing comes out and sits near the grow tent. Suddenly buds. I invest nothing but a healthy watering with some Alaska Fish 5-1-1. And viola:
17457057680271915317716921697500.jpg

I don't argue with it, just allow it.

By the following autumn it yields 30 to 40 fat healthy HAWT Rocoto peppers.

End of lesson šŸ˜‰
 
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