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tutorial The Comprehensive Guide to Over-Wintering

Pepper-guru awesome thread. Bad ass fatalii tree! Wow!!! Quick question.

When pruning do we need to keep some leaves? Or can we prune back and just leave main stalk? ( they will be in my house in a sunroom. Windows with sun exposure south, west, and east. Temps will be room temp or a little cooler. I don't plan on producing peppers but if it happened naturally Id be happy). Reason I ask about the leaves, some of my plants have tall stalks with no branches or leaves until it gets to the top of the plant. So there really wasn't much for me to prune unless I cut down the main stalk which would mean cutting all the leaves as well.

Thanks bud
 
I have several plants like that and when you cut them off b4 it forks they just grow leaves along the sides like these ones in the picture off to the right. You might have to click on the picture to enlarge it but its noticeable.
009_zpsa115663e.jpg
 
Torch said:
Pepper-guru awesome thread. Bad ass fatalii tree! Wow!!! Quick question.

When pruning do we need to keep some leaves? Or can we prune back and just leave main stalk? ( they will be in my house in a sunroom. Windows with sun exposure south, west, and east. Temps will be room temp or a little cooler. I don't plan on producing peppers but if it happened naturally Id be happy). Reason I ask about the leaves, some of my plants have tall stalks with no branches or leaves until it gets to the top of the plant. So there really wasn't much for me to prune unless I cut down the main stalk which would mean cutting all the leaves as well.

Thanks bud
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've got a lot of plants like that - they look like a tall, lanky fella' with a doofus haircut. From my experience overwintering last year, it's a better idea - especially for these plants that aren't bushy - to cut them back. If you just leave 5-10 inches of that main stalk, you're going to have a much healthier plant for next year and regardless of what you do, it's probably going to branch out next year. If you just cut it back, you're going to start seeing little shoots forming in a couple of days alongside the stalk and you don't have to worry about getting rid of all the leaves and stuff, that'll grow back. It does tend to look a little funny untill you get a couple of branches though... :)
 
Pepper-Guru said:
Worm casting or grass clippings are the quickest and easiest teas to make.
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grass clippings is a good one.. i got a ton of those. lol. think i'll have to give it a run after the last cut for the season. soon as the lawn gets at least a day or 2 of drying out. lol.

Ever try using leaves for a tea? to dead maybe? i mean the ones that have fallen off the trees already.
 
I'd be careful which leaves you use for that if they haven't been thoroughly composted. The red coloring in maple leaves come from a natural herbicide that they use to minimize competition at the ground level. Other's may have something similar, I'm not sure.
 
HotPeppas said:
I think i got a bad bhut plant. Thats the size after 1 grow season. It shouldnt be that small
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my butch T is a little bigger than that, something happened to it where it got stunted really badly and started growing weird, it had only the seed set of leaves for 3 months.
how are the peppers from your bhut? did it produce any?
 
Yeah my first one is finally ripeing. Then i got like 3 more little ones growing on it. I think the sun may have stunted mine also!

Got a pic of yer butch t?
 
Hey All,

I live in Zone 9B, I believe that is correct. About 45 minutes inland from San Francisco. According to weather.com between October and March the temps run between 66F during the day and the lowest 36F at night. However, there are times when have reached the 20's, but not for long and not that often. I would even guess we can reach the low 30's more often than not.

I have about 18 plants I want to overwinter. I don't have any place inside I can put them. The closest is under our heavy mesh patio cover.

My questions are as follows:

1. With my temps, do I need to cut them back?
2. If I do need to cut them back, do all of the following plants need to be cutback or just some?

- Bhut Jolokia
- Cayenne Chile
- Devils Tongue
- Goat's Weed
- Jalapeno
- Tabasco
- Tepin
- Zimbabwe Bird Pepper
- Bell Peppers

3. Can I leave them out in the sun. My grow area doesn't get a lot of sun during this time of the year. Or do I need to bring them under our mesh?

Thanks!
 
Only thing I would say you have to do is protect them from freezing. Low light levels will just slow the growth.
If you cut back then you won't see all the symptoms of the growth slowing down, like leaf drop.
That being said. Slow growth will also mean less need for water.
 
Helldozer said:
Hey All,

I live in Zone 9B, I believe that is correct. About 45 minutes inland from San Francisco. According to weather.com between October and March the temps run between 66F during the day and the lowest 36F at night. However, there are times when have reached the 20's, but not for long and not that often. I would even guess we can reach the low 30's more often than not.

I have about 18 plants I want to overwinter. I don't have any place inside I can put them. The closest is under our heavy mesh patio cover.

My questions are as follows:

1. With my temps, do I need to cut them back?
2. If I do need to cut them back, do all of the following plants need to be cutback or just some?

- Bhut Jolokia
- Cayenne Chile
- Devils Tongue
- Goat's Weed
- Jalapeno
- Tabasco
- Tepin
- Zimbabwe Bird Pepper
- Bell Peppers

3. Can I leave them out in the sun. My grow area doesn't get a lot of sun during this time of the year. Or do I need to bring them under our mesh?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
If you need more detail on your weather and averages, use this site. http://www.plantmaps.com/
 
I took all of my container plants in yesterday. Looks sad outside now without them. But I have a lot of projects to work on though over the winter. Have two new four foot T5 fixtures to install. Going to build a custom rack for them. Have a bunch of cuttings rooting now from some of my in-ground favorites from the summer. Planning to start my seedlings really early this coming winter. Long "Honey-Do" list staring me in the face.

Big Mike
Visit us Online: www.knot2worry.us
 
Big Mike said:
I took all of my container plants in yesterday. Looks sad outside now without them. But I have a lot of projects to work on though over the winter. Have two new four foot T5 fixtures to install. Going to build a custom rack for them. Have a bunch of cuttings rooting now from some of my in-ground favorites from the summer. Planning to start my seedlings really early this coming winter. Long "Honey-Do" list staring me in the face.

Big Mike
Visit us Online: www.knot2worry.us
Click to expand...

If you start them too early, do you have to worry about them becoming root bound? This year I started mine in December, and it seemed like they were ready to be out of solo cups about a month before I was able to put them outside.

Can you grow a non-ornamental in a small 1 gallon pot indoors and it remain okay...meaning not root bound?

Holy cow Big Mike..I just looked at your link and your Bhut Jolokia plant is beautiful looking!
 
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