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tutorial The Comprehensive Guide to Over-Wintering

That's a good question. I am doing to have a similar problem. But this time I have 7 plants I have brought in instead of one.
Any advice from anyone?
 
And these root pruning pots that have been spoken of.. What do they look like? And what exactly do they do? Just keep the roots from growing in a circle? Won't they eventually get root bound anyways?
 
They make the roots grow in every direction and consume nutrients more efficiently and because of it promote faster green growth. Yes it will consume the dirt after a while but that's part of every potted garden. Also depends on your fertilizer regimen.
 
Good stuff yumyum. Thanks for the input. Now to find some. Hopefully get a little light set up for the little guys in the winter home tomorrow
 
Try greeners.com their fabric pot prices seemed reasonable to me, the geopot transplanter with the Velcro down the side is cheaper there, than other places I've found; they help minize shock when you pot up or transplant that massive root system to the garden so it can really go nuts.
 
Geo textile underlayment. Comes in different sized rolls and you can make and endless supply of containers as large as you want. Its what the smart pots, geo pots, etc are made of.
 
Just wanted to say about fabric/smart pots that if you put and leave it on the ground (dirt) or like i did on the grass and do not move it for a month & 1/2 the roots Might go through the bottom, like mine did in the 15 gal smart pot...I had to pry it back and forth to get it up just to see 6 inch roots out the bottom.... another plant i have had in a 20gal smart pot but this one i cut a 55 gal plastic drum top off to use as a way to carry it around ( to big now to carry).......nice thing with that one is you can tie a rope to the bottom plastic base and pull it around real easy and also water it from the bottom.
 
Tons of great information in this topic. Thank you to Pepper-Guru and everyone else that has contributed.

I have a few questions to ask and hope I am not asking something that has already been asked. If so, I would like to apologize in advance.

I currently have about a dozen pepper plants in pots, 3 to 5 gallon range, in my greenhouse. I would like to overwinter these plants in as near a dormant stage as possible. I would also like to leave them in the containers they are currently in. From what I have read, I should be able to trim them down to, basically, the original stems and not have to mess with the root system at all.

And now, a few questions:

1) The area they are going to be stored in is going to be rather dark. I am planning on using some regular florescent lights on a timer. About how long should I set the timer for?

2) After trimming and before storing, should I give them a good watering?

3) Should I give them a shot of fertilizer before storing? How about while they are hibernating?

4) While they are in storage, how much water will they want?

5) In the spring I am going to move the guys in 3 gallon pots to 5 gallon pots. All of the plants will get new soil then. Will that be OK?

I think that covers everything for now. Again, thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions. Have a great day.
 
1) Doesn't matter that much, I would give them at least 12 hours of light (18/6 schedule is probably optimal if you actually wanted to grow them) unless you're on a tight budget.

2) Well, not really, if you're going to be repotting you want to water some to settle the soil but you have to realize that indoors water takes a long time to evaporate especially if it's rather cold and dark. And peppers don't like overwatering.

3) Meh, you really don't have to unless you're going to try and grow the plant during the winter, which I don't think is your plan.

4) Little. Be very conservative with water or you might get yourself in the situation I was in last year when I had to repot 50 plants because the soil just wouldn't dry out and my babies were getting root rot and all sorts of nasty stuff! :shocked:

5) That sounds good, give them a shot of ferts then rather than before/during overwintering. That's when they'll need them.



6) Good luck!
 
I was inspired by Guru and reading this thread, and I decided to try overwintering a bhut and a tabasco. I probably did not cut them back far enough, but I was worried about taking too much off. I figured I could always trim later, but I can't paste parts of the plant back on. I have a perfect spot in terms of sunlight, but my big issue with be temperature because the plants are in a main part of the house and will be at room temp all winter long. Wish me luck!

IMG_0494.JPG


Oh, and hints and suggestions are always welcome!
 
When it comes to not wanting to over trim..
Say there is no over/under of anything else. And If the amount of light they receive is not sufficient. They will drop leaves.
So if you don't trim enoughback. You may still think you did something wrong.. But if you trim to much (personally short of cutting it off at the root I don't think that's possible) you will see the plant sprout new shoots. How many will depend on light levels.
 
socapots said:
When it comes to not wanting to over trim..
Say there is no over/under of anything else. And If the amount of light they receive is not sufficient. They will drop leaves.
So if you don't trim enoughback. You may still think you did something wrong.. But if you trim to much (personally short of cutting it off at the root I don't think that's possible) you will see the plant sprout new shoots. How many will depend on light levels.
Click to expand...
True.
Stefan_W said:
I was inspired by Guru and reading this thread, and I decided to try overwintering a bhut and a tabasco. I probably did not cut them back far enough, but I was worried about taking too much off. I figured I could always trim later, but I can't paste parts of the plant back on. I have a perfect spot in terms of sunlight, but my big issue with be temperature because the plants are in a main part of the house and will be at room temp all winter long. Wish me luck!

IMG_0494.JPG


Oh, and hints and suggestions are always welcome!
Click to expand...
Always better to be on the safe side. One of those..."I cut this board twice and its still too short!" type of things...lol

Way to go on your plants! Judging by your pic and description, those plants are going to re vegetate on you for sure. Pepper plants do GREAT at room temps and in the southern most facing window of the house. They will pod up heavy, grow quickly and be awesome house plants. Things to watch for: pests < (remedy=aact or treatment of your choice) --- weaker branches < (being careful when moving, watering, or picking) the drop in sun intesity and spectrum will give ya snappy branches, crisp and juicy --- Overwatering < (don't overwater...lol)

Aside from that. Enjoy the new found abundance of clean oxygen floating around in the room. :P
 
Thank you! I am really hoping to doge the bugs issue, because my wife has already explained that if anything become infested the great overwintering experiment will quickly be over.
 
Well, to your benefit as far as the wife is concerned, an aphid infestation can go completely un noticed. You can also use very natural and safe aacts to prevent pests. AACTs also aren't stinky chemicals that will give you away to the wife ;)
 
Pepper-Guru said:
Well, to your benefit as far as the wife is concerned, an aphid infestation can go completely un noticed. You can also use very natural and safe aacts to prevent pests. AACTs also aren't stinky chemicals that will give you away to the wife ;)
Click to expand...

Any AACT that you personally recommend for indoor use?
 
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