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when to bring hots inside

chad s

chad s

Hello Everybody,
I am new to The Hot Pepper and new to growing. I have some naga, 7-pod, and scorpions that I am thinking about digging out of the ground and bringing inside with the weather in Wisconsin turning cooler. It has started to drop in to the 40's at night. There are some orange pods but very few have turned red. Will it shock the plants to dig them out? Will it stop them from getting ripe? Thanks for the Help!
 
YMMV, but I tried it a couple of years ago with a couple of Habs that would bursting with pods and blooms. The blooms all dropped but the pods at least ripened, even if they grew very little. Had I used better potting mix, I might have had better luck but I don't think it would have helped the blooms.

Mike
 
Good questions. I'm in the NE Ohio area, and we're down to the upper 40's for the first time tonight. Spent most of last winter on a project in the northern peninsula of WI - brrrr!!! I am new to growing peppers, too, but did decide to put mine in pots (ceramic) at the beginning of the season, so I won't have digging to do for them. However, I did put my basil in the ground, and will be digging up at least some of that before winter hits. Hmm. Actually, I think I'll do a cutting and see how that works out, then won't bother digging if it does.

At any rate, from everything I've read, peppers do well down to about 50F. However, lots of people in this area of the country have indicated they'll do well outside until frost hits. I'm planning on leaving mine outside until it gets down to the mid-40's, then will put them in the garage overnight. Once it gets colder than that on a more consistent basis, though, I plan on bringing them into the house.

I haven't dug up and potted veggies, but I have dug up and moved other plants. In those cases, I made sure to take a wide and deep swath around the plant, to ensure I created the least disturbance for the roots. Also in those cases, I gave them a couple shots of root stimulant after moving them, and I saw no signs of shock. So I guess a good question is whether giving your plants a shot or two of root stimulant after digging them up with interfere with the pods ripening, and unfortunately, I don't have an answer to that one. Sorry! Hopefully someone else with more experience in this area will weigh in and educate both of us!
 
Hey, welcome Chad!


I'm a first year grower also. We've been having night temps down to 39F and day temps up to 80F.

I've been covering the outside plants with a clear plastic sheet. No particular reason for that material choice other than it's what I had around to use and didn't want to buy something. The plants are in grow bags/(equal to small pots) and they do not look wilted or dieing yet. I'm hoping that keeping them covered at night will allow some of the pods to ripen.


Hopefully other more experienced growers will chime in also.
Good Luck and keep us posted.

SL
 
Gosh, it went down into the 40's here last night- but this week it will stay in the 70's- I'm hoping still to get some harvest- if they threaten frost I guess I'll bring the ones with pods inside- that'll make my kitchen a bit crowded.
 
Chad, zone 4 Minnesota here, weather is crazy lately but my peppers are still producing ripe pods and loaded with green ones. I'd hold off taking them in for a while yet. You will get more warm weather. If you want you could dig them up, put them in pots and leave them outside so they have a while to adapt to their new home before you take them in. After our cold spells we usually get warmer weather. Think most years I take the peppers in about the middle of Oct unless it gets really cold before then.
 
Thanks for the help everyone. I will start to cover them when it hits the 40's and hold off on the transplanting until mid Oct or the forcast calls for frost. In the meantime I can get some root stimulant and potting mix while it is still on the shelf. I will let you know how it goes.
 
I have a question that kinda goes along with this topic that I am sure someone on here can answer for me. Will pepper plants produce all year round if they have the right temperature conditions, space, and light? Or will they eventually go through a dormant state at some point where they don't grow or produce flower/pods for a period of time?

The only reason I ask is because I picked the last of the peppers on my plants about 3 weeks ago and I went out 2 days ago and realized that all of the plants are showing new growth, and flowers, some even have new pods on them.

If they will just continue to produce all year round would that mean I could then start seeds when ever I wanted as long as I had the space, light, and proper temperatures in doors?
 
From what I've read on other threads on this site, yes, they can keep producing year-round with the right mix of light, heat and nutrients. This can be expensive up here (I'm in the NE Ohio area), but it's do-able. Most people in this climate let them go dormant, which is what I plan to do.

The question I have yet to see answered is what is the difference for the plant between letting it go dormant over the winter vs. keeping it going. ie - does keeping it going reduce its total life span? I know they are perennials in warm climates, but say in the tropics, do they produce pods all year naturally, or does podding diminish anyway?
 
They'll keep growing and producing as long as they're given the proper conditions. I've seen pics of some plants as old as 13 years, but have no idea what the record is. Chinense plants seem to produce fewer pods after 3 years, at least that's been my experience.
 
Silver_Surfer said:
They'll keep growing and producing as long as they're given the proper conditions. I've seen pics of some plants as old as 13 years, but have no idea what the record is. Chinense plants seem to produce fewer pods after 3 years, at least that's been my experience.
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Good to know - thanks!
 
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