i just whacked several plants today and most likely several tomorrow, it just happens, sometimes you water and the soil gets cold and damages the roots.
many northerns on the hot pepper.........real northerns, not northern california, don't even over winter anymore, they just plant a new, each year.
i made a dawn dishsoap spray and made it too strong, now i am picking off crispy leaves....... don't sweat it, plan every year on sowing the new seeds you want and the over wintered are bonus.
some plants just don't overwinter well in our ugly winter environment. one of the problems is figuring out if one should fertilize or not and how much during over wintering. does one just let the plant go dormant or do you water and risk root rot do to lack of air movement.
good luck, 4 more months to go champ!!