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Preparing second-year plants to go back outdoors.

Well, it's about time to get my overwintered plants used to the outdoors again. A Rocoto Red, Tabasco, and Vietnamese Multicolor. All three were put outside for the first time since last fall earlier today. But I have a few questions, this this is my first time overwintering. My plan is to do the following, in mostly this order:

-Get the plants used to the increased light by putting them outside on nice, sunny days but bringing them back in on cold nights or during strong thunderstorms. I will be spraying insecticidal soap also to get rid of any aphids (which I know there are a lot).

-Put the plants in larger pots, replacing all potting soil mix with fresh stuff, and fertilize with something higher in nitrogen to get them going.

-But before fertilizing... I'm planning on seriously pruning the plants due to all the aphids that have accumulated while indoors and curled leaves caused by the little assholes. By pruning, I mean all of the newer, thinner branches will be chopped off and virtually every leaf that remains will be pulled, before spraying the hell out of the remaining stems of the plant to get rid of as many bugs as possible. These plants will be nothing but thick stems. This is one of the parts I'm worried about, I figure the plant will be quick to grow new stems and leaves and continue, but I figure there may be a chance of them dying. Should it be safe to perform this extreme pruning in an attempt to annihilate all aphids, or should I prune less? Note that the Tabasco plant lost most of its leaves on its own after bring it indoors, and I regularly tore off heavily infested leaves while it was in the house. I don't know if doing that too much will have a negative effect (ie. robbing it of too much energy that it would obtain from light). To be safe though, I was probably going to let them grow some and absorb light for at least a week before doing this.

Does this plan sound like it would work alright, or does it sound flawed?
 
I'm a newb overwintrrr, too, so FWIW. I feel like I'm done pruning, which I did at times thru the winter. Now I plan to let whatever live stems are left to grow. I've been pouring the light via a greenhouse and they are starting to respond. Mine are headed back into the earth, though, not new pots.

For the aphids, take the plants outside on a nice day and blast the little bastids, right off their perches with a hose. Turn plant sideways to get the underside leaves. Should get at least 90% of them that way. Follow up with some Safer or other organic suds to knock out a few more. Ladybugs should be in play soon for the rest, I hope.

Post some pictures for more advice, especially in regards to pruning.
 
make sure when you prune the plants that you prune them down to the fork thats the only thing i got for ya good luck!
Yeah--I wasn't sure where to cut originally when I brought them back in last year, so I actually cut the joint off leaving just some stem. Then I learned, based on their behavior and growing patterns, that I should've left the joint on there, because that is where new stems and leaves form. Oops! I won't be making that mistake again. Definitely a good tip, although I learned the hard way.

For the aphids, take the plants outside on a nice day and blast the little bastids, right off their perches with a hose. Turn plant sideways to get the underside leaves. Should get at least 90% of them that way. Follow up with some Safer or other organic suds to knock out a few more. Ladybugs should be in play soon for the rest, I hope.

Post some pictures for more advice, especially in regards to pruning.
The sad part is, in this dump I am forced to go elsewhere to use a hose--there are no pipes leading to the faucets outside. So while I'll definitely be hosing them down, unfortunately I have to go elsewhere to use someone else's garden hose. This is part of the reason I am planning on doing these things in steps instead of all at once. I might be able to post some pics of the plants later today or tomorrow if I'm not busy and I think of it.
 
Yeah--I wasn't sure where to cut originally when I brought them back in last year, so I actually cut the joint off leaving just some stem. Then I learned, based on their behavior and growing patterns, that I should've left the joint on there, because that is where new stems and leaves form. Oops! I won't be making that mistake again. Definitely a good tip, although I learned the hard way.


The sad part is, in this dump I am forced to go elsewhere to use a hose--there are no pipes leading to the faucets outside. So while I'll definitely be hosing them down, unfortunately I have to go elsewhere to use someone else's garden hose. This is part of the reason I am planning on doing these things in steps instead of all at once. I might be able to post some pics of the plants later today or tomorrow if I'm not busy and I think of it.

Can you give them a dip instead? I definitely left my leaves on, no matter the condition, so I can't report whether they'd have done as well/worse/better without them. All except one (dead) are doing well right now. In fact, all but two are already blooming. They've been out for just a few days under a month. They did get sunburned, though.

Forgot to add...good luck, UZ!
 
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