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tutorial The Comprehensive Guide to Over-Wintering

I had been delaying the over-wintering, when my Scotch Bonnets picked up again.  Not sure why, as it's been cold and rainy; however, the pods are growing and ripening, so I am leaving them outdoors (in pots).
 
Meanwhile, I placed four other pots in the garage, doors open and facing south.  I have watered them a few times, but they are barely hanging on.  This is where it gets kind of weird - I took the best of the two shishitos (both looked bad) and brought it indoors, placing it in front of a frosty south-facing window.  It began producing blooms and now has a nice pod.  So I brought the other one in and placed it next to it.  Nothing special yet, but it looks like I'll be eating winter peppers.  If not for the suggestions in this thread, I would have tossed these plants a while back.
 
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I have a quick question for overwintering a very large specimen...
 
Normally, overwintering is no problem.  We don't really have winter, but when I know that the weather is going to get chilly enough to pose a minor threat, I know that it's going to shut down pod production, anyway.  So I'll sometimes chop some back, leaving enough foliage to pick right back up when the weather is improved.  However, I have a monster that is going into its third season, and I'm going to give it the overwinter treatment.  Not just to overwinter it, per se - but also because I need to refresh the media that it's planted in.
 
That's where the problem lies for me...  The main stem is over 2" thick.  I won't be able to leave any leaves when I trim.  So can I trim it back to just a woody main stem?  I plan on putting it in a 10 gallon pot, until it bounces back, and then transplanting it into a 65 gallon pot next season.  And I've not trimmed back to naked stem before, and I really don't want to lose this plant.
 
solid7 said:
I have a quick question for overwintering a very large specimen...
 
Normally, overwintering is no problem.  We don't really have winter, but when I know that the weather is going to get chilly enough to pose a minor threat, I know that it's going to shut down pod production, anyway.  So I'll sometimes chop some back, leaving enough foliage to pick right back up when the weather is improved.  However, I have a monster that is going into its third season, and I'm going to give it the overwinter treatment.  Not just to overwinter it, per se - but also because I need to refresh the media that it's planted in.
 
That's where the problem lies for me...  The main stem is over 2" thick.  I won't be able to leave any leaves when I trim.  So can I trim it back to just a woody main stem?  I plan on putting it in a 10 gallon pot, until it bounces back, and then transplanting it into a 65 gallon pot next season.  And I've not trimmed back to naked stem before, and I really don't want to lose this plant.
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No, generally you don't want to trim completely back to stem unless you see plenty of new nodes forming from said stems. You certainly don't want to trim to "woody" stems. You want a lot of green because thats where new branches will form. 
 
Pepper-Guru said:
No, generally you don't want to trim completely back to stem unless you see plenty of new nodes forming from said stems. You certainly don't want to trim to "woody" stems. You want a lot of green because thats where new branches will form. 
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I sorta misrepresented my intent there.  I'm not cutting back to a straight stick.  I'll be cutting off at "Y" nodes.  It's just that there won't be any leaves at all.  Absolutely none.
 
I hadn't heard back on this topic, so I was poking around, and came across some of the bonchi guides. Apparently, the bonchi crowd does this all the time.   I see the guides, and their examples are all showing naked stems, which eventually form small new leaf buds.  So I guess I'm OK...
 
 
solid7 said:
I sorta misrepresented my intent there.  I'm not cutting back to a straight stick.  I'll be cutting off at "Y" nodes.  It's just that there won't be any leaves at all.  Absolutely none.
 
I hadn't heard back on this topic, so I was poking around, and came across some of the bonchi guides. Apparently, the bonchi crowd does this all the time.   I see the guides, and their examples are all showing naked stems, which eventually form small new leaf buds.  So I guess I'm OK...
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Thegreenchilemonster said:
I cut my OW plants back to the stump only, with no leaves left. They always grow back just fine.
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Malarky said:
My OW experiment. 2 BahaGoats, 1 Red Savina, 1 Choc Hab.
growing medium is 60%granite grit, 40% napa floor dry, fertilizing weakly with FoliagePro 9-3-6
South facing window. things are going good so far. they're definitely not dying  :party:
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I'm not saying it won't grow after being pruned of all leaves, I do it quite often, but I know how much root to prune as well. I also don't think the chances of a plant coming back from being pruned to straight, brown, bark-y stems is very high either. It's a delicate balance and there are way too many variables to say for sure whether one grower would get the same results as the next. Amount of pruned foliage vs roots, amount of pre growth nodules on stems, light intensity, temperature, watering; all things that if not addressed, can lead to those stems just dying eventually. I tend to prune a little more aggressively than I ever did when I started bronchi/overwintering.
 
Hi, first post here, great forum and topic.  I've overwintered three peppers of the four I brought in last fall.  I grew them in containers last year and I plan on doing the same thing this year.  When is the ideal time to repot them?  I've grown bonsai trees, different thing entirely but for repotting tropical plants seem to do best repotted in the full heat of the summer but temperate zone trees do better repotted right around this time of year.  
 
Regarding the soil media, do people tend to use regular potting soil or looser, more inorganic materials?  Crushed lava rock, shale, etc. 
 
Thanks!
 
Grog said:
Hi, first post here, great forum and topic.  I've overwintered three peppers of the four I brought in last fall.  I grew them in containers last year and I plan on doing the same thing this year.  When is the ideal time to repot them?  I've grown bonsai trees, different thing entirely but for repotting tropical plants seem to do best repotted in the full heat of the summer but temperate zone trees do better repotted right around this time of year.  
 
Regarding the soil media, do people tend to use regular potting soil or looser, more inorganic materials?  Crushed lava rock, shale, etc. 
 
Thanks!
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Ideal time to repot is whenever you're ready for the season to begin! Best soil to use is the soil that gets you the most peppers! :) 
 
Wow, I just read through page one of this thread and it's massive.  Neglecting genetics class for this is definitely worth it.  Quick question which may have already been answered and if it has, I apologize.  What is the purpose of cutting the peppers back?  I've taken mine indoors before and not cut them back and they seem to survive in a well lit south facing window.  Just curious what the purpose of this is?  Is it to force the plant into dormancy?  The peppers I've over wintered and not cut back seem to survive about 60-75% of the time depending on how much I love them  I've got a 4 year old Trinidad Moruga Scorpion that produces a lot of fruit but has never been cut back, just wondering if this would benefit it?  
 
Thanks for the amazing post brother!  Keep the heat on!
 
Papyrus said:
Wow, I just read through page one of this thread and it's massive.  Neglecting genetics class for this is definitely worth it.  Quick question which may have already been answered and if it has, I apologize.  What is the purpose of cutting the peppers back?  I've taken mine indoors before and not cut them back and they seem to survive in a well lit south facing window.  Just curious what the purpose of this is?  Is it to force the plant into dormancy?  The peppers I've over wintered and not cut back seem to survive about 60-75% of the time depending on how much I love them  I've got a 4 year old Trinidad Moruga Scorpion that produces a lot of fruit but has never been cut back, just wondering if this would benefit it?  
 
Thanks for the amazing post brother!  Keep the heat on!
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The purpose of cutting them back (pruning foliage) is to match the root pruning you do when digging them up from the garden plot. If you're in containers and remaining in the same container, then no need to do this. This is all about transpiration. It's the name of the game when transplanting or propagating cuttings. 
 
If they are in containers indoors and get enough sun from a south facing window, is it possible to have them fruit into the early months of the winter (December)?  Just wondering as it'd be nice to have fresh scorpions during the winter for chilly.  Thanks again for the info!
 
Papyrus said:
If they are in containers indoors and get enough sun from a south facing window, is it possible to have them fruit into the early months of the winter (December)?  Just wondering as it'd be nice to have fresh scorpions during the winter for chilly.  Thanks again for the info!
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Absolutely, if you have enough light and the temps are high enough, you'll keep setting fruit. 
 
Question about OW. Would it be beneficial to set a plant outside on warm weather days as opposed to keeping it in a west facing window. I’m thinking with a gentle breeze and a low hanging sun.


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PtMD989 said:
Question about OW. Would it be beneficial to set a plant outside on warm weather days as opposed to keeping it in a west facing window. I’m thinking with a gentle breeze and a low hanging sun.


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It comes down to what you want from the plant. Are you looking to get fruit,or just keep it alive until spring? Either way I don't think you will see any noticeable gains doing that in Michigan. When I winter a plant my #1 goal is to keep pests and diseases out of my house. Once they come in,they never go back out until it is for good. 
 
Pr0digal_son said:
 
It comes down to what you want from the plant. Are you looking to get fruit,or just keep it alive until spring? Either way I don't think you will see any noticeable gains doing that in Michigan. When I winter a plant my #1 goal is to keep pests and diseases out of my house. Once they come in,they never go back out until it is for good. 
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Just trying to keep it alive till spring. Thought maybe some fresh air and sunshine might do it some good. I’ll keep an eye out for pests for the next few days.


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PtMD989 said:
Just trying to keep it alive till spring. Thought maybe some fresh air and sunshine might do it some good. I’ll keep an eye out for pests for the next few days.


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If its warm enough, why not. Just don't forget them out there! ha
 
Perma-not-worthiness to Rich for the heads up on peppers as perennial. I can't imagine the number of plants I'd have tried to overwinter in my growing life (even if most of the variety I've grown was in the last 12 months!), and now I know I can perpetuate a truly magnificent producer if I desire!
 
This winter is more experimental than than anything, though both of these are great peppers and were chosen for that reason. Another reason was that these were already potted.
 
An Aji Mango that accidentally got planted (long story), seed from Geonerd, and a pair of Aji Amarillos from PaulG, one direct from Peru, the other one from his F5 seed pouch. Both produced nicely, and the portability gave me time to get plenty of ripe pods out of these long winded bastiges. If I can manage to reestablish these this Spring and they do well I plan to do a larger pot grow and hopefully find a larger temperate space to over winter some variety, like some pubescens...
 
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My problem with a "dark" corner of the office is that what little light gets in is promoting growth. I hope this isn't a bad thing, and if it potentially is, should I find even darker? Maybe a room in total darkness with a grow lite timed for oh, say, an hour or two per day?
 
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