• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

What plants likely to survive Gulf Coast winters outdoors?

B

Bigoledude

I'm just getting out planting. I live just east of New Orleans, tucked up against the brackish marshes. We MIGHT get a few nights each winter where the temps actually drop to freezing for a few hours. Rarely do we get below 32 degrees during daylight hours here.

Most of my plants are gonna be container-grown in Wally bags so that I can over-winter those I like best. Because I'm so late, I'm assuming some of my plants may not ripen pods before the season ends. So, I figure by over-wintering, I can get a big jump-start for next year’s growth.

But, I would also like to plant some in the ground.

I'm already decided to grow in-ground, a couple chiltepins from seed that Pr0digal_son sent to me. What other plants would most likely survive or re-emerge the following spring other than the tepins, chiltepins, and wilds.
 
....everything I had but a white bullet or 2. Thats a lot of stuff.44 in ground,16 or so in pots.The "lost white bullets were in pots.
 
[font="Arial""] Do you cut th em back drastically and leave them in the ground? [/font]

[font="Arial""]On the potted ones, do you pull them up and prune roots and branches and then re-pot them? [/font][font="Arial""][/font]

[font="Arial""]The plants in the ground, do you just leave them the way they are till spring?[/font][font="Arial""][/font]
[font="Arial""]I’ve read where the Manzanos and Rocotos do well in cool climates but, how will they fare in our horrible heat & humidity during summer? [/font]
 
The Manzanos and Rocotos(c. Pubescens) do well in the cold, but I have heard of people having problems with them in the heat. A member here, smokemaster, thinks that a big problem is that people use pots that are too small for them and the roots end up getting cooked. I don't have experience with them either way, just passing on what I've heard.

I'm putting my only pube in the ground and leaving it there, so we'll see how that goes.
 
My experience is that annuums are harder to overwinter. But, they are so easy to germinate, have a short growing season, and are easy to care for, I don't care.

For me, chinense are easiest to overwinter - I have some that are now 4 seasons old.

As far as Pubescens, they must grow multiple seasons to pod well. They do not like the blazing heat and therefore i use areas that get muted sunlight. I vowed a couple of years ago to not mess with them but after finding some unbelievably huge manzanos at the Mexican market, here we go again.
 
I too have doubled down on stupid. Almost all my new plants are pubes. I hoping to find the magical one that will thrive in AZ. Pubes need no protection for temps around freezing.
For other peppers you should be fine just covering and maybe some christmas lights. Most of my plants in pots I put all together next to my patio entrance and covered with tarps. 100% survival in freezing weather. I lost some plants in the ground and I let some plants die.

Once the plants have recovered I just prune the parts I know for sure are dead.
 
Man Gunslinger, that is some great news! New Iberia is almost at exactly the same latitude as Chalmette.

I have been yanking all of my pepper (annums) plants at the end of the season, for many years. Never thought they might/would survive. If I can get most of my plants to survive from year-to-year, I'd be one fat-n-happy Cajun!

I use heavy mulch during our blistering summers to help keep the soil cooler. I'm sure this heavy mulching would help during winter also.
 
Bigoledude said:
Man Gunslinger, that is some great news! New Iberia is almost at exactly the same latitude as Chalmette.

I have been yanking all of my pepper (annums) plants at the end of the season, for many years. Never thought they might/would survive. If I can get most of my plants to survive from year-to-year, I'd be one fat-n-happy Cajun!

I use heavy mulch during our blistering summers to help keep the soil cooler. I'm sure this heavy mulching would help during winter also.
Click to expand...

Just bury them under some straw bundles... This should keep the worst freeze off

Cheers Al
 
Great idea Al! The grandkids are gonna help me start gathering water hyacinth. I am gonna use dried water hyacinth to mulch with. The dried hyacinth would also work perfect to cover them with during winter.

Wish I could come up with a quick-n-easy way to shred them for mulch?
 
Hey Ray, my Guampinha de Veado stump is sprouting back for its third season. The grey stump is the 2011 plant...The brown one is the 2012 plant. There's also some bonus volunteer plants along the edge of the container:

guampinha1.jpg
 
Here are some varieties to consider for multiseason plants - all are chinense except for the Pimento de Padron and Besler's Cherry (annuum).


Caribbean Red 2 years old:







041.jpg


Pimento de Padron 3 years old

040.jpg


7 pot

4th Season

039.jpg


Besler's Cherry 4th Season

038.jpg


Datils 4th season

037.jpg


Grenada Hots 4th season

036.jpg
 
frosty said:
Most of my plants in pots I put all together next to my patio entrance and covered with tarps. 100% survival in freezing weather. I lost some plants in the ground and I let some plants die.

Once the plants have recovered I just prune the parts I know for sure are dead.
Click to expand...

Hey Frosty, did you cover them only when a freeze approached? Or, did you leave them covered all winter?

Bob_B said:
Here are some varieties to consider for multiseason plants - all are chinense except for the Pimento de Padron and Besler's Cherry (annuum).


Caribbean Red 2 years old:







041.jpg


Pimento de Padron 3 years old

040.jpg


7 pot

4th Season

039.jpg


Besler's Cherry 4th Season

038.jpg


Datils 4th season

037.jpg


Grenada Hots 4th season

036.jpg
Click to expand...

Hey Bob. Here again, I thought for sure I was further north than Panama City. You might actually be a lil-scrimshun more north than me.

That's something to get fired-up about! Just think of how much less work I'll have if even half of my plants survive each winter? And the production should increase each year maybe?

So, you don't do any before-winter pruning? That's easy. Just prune the dead stuff off the following spring. What size are those pots Dude?
 
Hi BODude -

I am slightly north of your position but not much. I know I'm in zone 8b and you may be in 9a.

Anyway, it was a very warm winter here. I didn't do anything this year to plants. Normally, I will pay attention to freezing conditions and cover plant after making sure they're protected from prevailing NW winds when the cold fronts come in. We didn't have any freezing weather this year!

I trim the plants back at the end of the season just so I can cover with blankets more easily. I am fortunate to have a lot of space and it's not necessary for me to prune drastically.

One thing that's very important is to water. I have lost plants because I forgot to water.

I prune the dead branches and cut back to a level such that there is still plenty of growth on the pruned plant. On the smaller pots, I will remove the plant and prune the root system.

I then rejuvenate the soil with compost. I think this is key.

I use pots that vary between 5 and 15 gallons. I believe in large pots although I like to grow first season plants in smaller pots since I know I will transplant to larger pots the next season and I'm not interested in pod production the first year - just healthy plants.

I have read that as the plants age, production will fall off eventually. I haven't seen that yet as I get huge harvests from all of them so far.

I grow mostly in pots although I will plant Manzanos in the ground if I get germination.

I definitely think you will enjoy overwintering as I do. I hope you have a good year!
 
I only covered before a frost. We had zero frosts a year earlier so I didn't have anything set up.

If the plant barely survives and is a little nub after pruning you'll do better starting from seed and starting indoors. Otherwise a little pruning and you have a huge head start.

+1 on compost
 
Know whatcha mean Bob

I owned an irrigation business for many years before hurricane Katrina nailed us. It was a struggle to convince MANY of my clients to run their systems during the winter.

Some people have no clue how lethally dehydrating those dry North-West winds can be during winter. Even if we get no freezes, without water, those dry winds kill plants like a flame-thrower blasted them! They will swear that the winter cold is what causes them to lose some plants every winter.

And yet, I was shocked when Gunslinger posted that many of his peppers survive the winters here! I should have known better than most folks. I'd just pull them at the end of every season, assuming they'd die every winter.

I use a timer to water. If I had to rely on this old burnt-brain to remember to water, I'd be a stuck-duck! Those cheap(ish) Walmart, Home Depot battery-operated timers work great, for the money.

Ray Lache pas!

Frosty

I will do as you say. I'll observe how bad it looks after the winter has passed and make a decision on whether to start again from seed.

Lache pas!
 
I keep several plants in-ground over winter in Houston. We cover them if the forecast is for a low below 35. We have tried 2 pruning theories: 1) prune lightly early winter to make the plants a little smaller and easier to cover then prune in spring to cut back anything damaged 2) prune aggressively in early winter.

Method 1 seemed to work much better, with a much earlier and bigger growth burst in spring. Method 2 is probably safer if it is going to be a really severe winter. Tabasco takes the longest to bounce back. Thai types did pretty well, and Goat's Weed didn't seem to mind the winter much at all.
 
Windchicken sent me some pods of "Guampinha de Veado". The dried pods are delightful with enough heat to make munching in the garden a treat and, they have that earthy not dirt-tasting Baccatum flavor that I really look forward to!

These have been cruising through winter for Gary. They should bask over by me during winter!

Any other plants that seem to do well over winter outside? Does Lemon Drop hold up well? Do the Habanero types recover well? Ray

Lache pas!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top