overwintering soil, overwinter, and mites

[bennoz]

Hi All

I had a horror season last year and i couldnt nail down the problem before winter hit but i think it was due to mite damage.

Ive potted down and overwintered my plants and they are looking good - cut back the roots, all the leaves and the stem to the 1st major node. Ive also kept most of the soil leftover soil and planning to use this again next season - top it up with manure, lime etc.

Im just wondering how safe this is - if my problem last year was mites, will they stay around in the soil -- if so does anyone know how long ?
The overwintering process will be at least 3 months - thats 3 months with the mites not having anything to feed from

 

[HawaiiAl]

see if you can find some neem cake fertilizer mix in the soil real good as on the bag will get rid of most mites, use it every year and it works good.

 

[POTAWIE]

My biggest overwintering problem with chiles is aphids but from what I here mites can be a big problem too. Since chile don't really go dormant, the pests will always have a little something to eat although they go crazy with nice new green growth.
I like to rotate my arsenal with soaps, oils, pyrethrins, and chile/garlic sprays, or use predator insects like ladybugs or predator mites.
I also like to flood my soil with soapy water before overwintering