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overwintering Winterizing

Well I have access to tones of ashes from the fire pit. thats awesome ill have to start baging it up ;). But as far as over wintering goes I will want to stay with a balanced fert i.e 10-10-10?
 
Two years ago (winter of 2007), I cut back an orange hab plant to this...

121907cutbackorangehab1wp1.jpg


and it turned into this in July..

072808OrangeHabanero.jpg


and this 28 October

102808aOrangeHab1.jpg


I got right at 2500 pods off that plant last year so overwintering is the way to go...I actually "grew" this plant thru the winter...

I just ran across this thread...

http://www.thehotpepper.com/showthread.php?t=4102
 
MrArboc said:
We obviously don't speak the same language, so I give you this one;)
:cheers:

I felt the same as you. My plants died or were sickly when I left vegetation.

See AJ's Pics above.

That is what I am talking about.
 
HOLY crap AJ. Way to go on that Hab. Except I think now it can be considered a bush. What size pot is it in? I have 3gal that mine are going into, should be big enough to keep them in there for good huh? Just cut stems and roots back every year.
 
Personally I'd only cut back plants severely if you want them to go semi-dormant. If you want them to grow over the winter then I'd leave some leaves or at least leave some new shoots. The plants can use the leaves for photosynthesis or the plant can cannibalize the leaves and use the stored nutrients elsewhere
 
crazy8 said:
HOLY crap AJ. Way to go on that Hab. Except I think now it can be considered a bush. What size pot is it in? I have 3gal that mine are going into, should be big enough to keep them in there for good huh? Just cut stems and roots back every year.

when I pulled it up, I just jerked the plant out of the ground and it had a decent root ball to it...I had an 8" clay container I put it in with some fresh potting soil and it stayed in there until I moved it to the 7 gallon pot in the last two pictures...I really like those pots but can't afford 200 of them...

the 3 gallon should be good for overwinter but I highly recommend something at least as big as 7...tempted to try some 10s next year...

truthfully, two years ago was an accident...or should I say experiment...I didn't overwinter any this year except for the two wild tepins that survived outside all winter...but as you see, I cut it back drastically and the root ball was about the same size as what you see in the pot...it had new growth all over it 10 days after it was cut back...
 
I cant even imagine what 2500 pods from one plant looks like...lol Man I would love that kind of success although I would have to find a way to get rid of them if I ended up with that many. I have a feeling with my lessons learned from this year, that next year will be a great success. :D
 
I have learned a tremendous amount from this forum over the past two years...more than I knew in the previous 8 years of pepper growing...

the search button on this forum will let you find almost anything to do with pepper growing...
 
Well this is not only my first year growing peppers, but my first year growing anything and I have been doing more then just peppers but I have been....well...more favorable towards them. But next year I am hoping to have twice the pepper plants and a better outcome. My plants I have are doing quite well but I have a feeling I will be picking A LOT of greens :( But thats why I want to winterize because then next year I can stick plants outside that are already established and let them do their thing. :D
 
not common for me Blister...it was just an awesome plant...and I hate I let it die last year...
 
Yeah I dont know if I could have let a good plant like that go. Must have been hard AJ. But lessons learned, that's what its all about.

NOTE: Im starting to think this could possibly be a good sticky. All sorts of good information in hither.
 
Okay, I'm not trying to be a threadjacker here but I have yet to find a Search button on the forum so I have to ask a few questions that have probably been answered a dozen times before. I am probably 6-8 weeks out from our first frost in Virginia. Between now and then what should I do to get as many ripe pods as possible. Also when you prune back your plants is there a way to ripen the pods that are still green on the branches? Lastly, those of you who trim the roots, how do you know how much to remove?

*edit* I found the search function... if it was a snake it would've bit me.
 
Buckshot said:
Okay, I'm not trying to be a threadjacker here but I have yet to find a Search button on the forum so I have to ask a few questions that have probably been answered a dozen times before. I am probably 6-8 weeks out from our first frost in Virginia. Between now and then what should I do to get as many ripe pods as possible. Also when you prune back your plants is there a way to ripen the pods that are still green on the branches? Lastly, those of you who trim the roots, how do you know how much to remove?

Here's a button a little easier to see. :D

Stressing the plant will cause it to ripen its pods quicker. One way to do this is to let it wilt between each watering. Leaveing your plants outside as long as possible by covering them on nights with predicted frost or placing them indoors overnight will extend your harvest.

You can harvest the green pods from the pruned branches and place them in a paper bag along with an apple or a banana to ripen them.

How much to trim the roots is mostly dictated by the down size of the pot, but in general you want to reduce the root mass by at least 50%.
 
Thanks for the info and the neon search button especially! Leave it to the defender of the universe to come through... I have several Red Caribbean, bhut jolokia, and jamaican hot plants about 5 feet tall that are planted in the earth and would love to overwinter them. This should be an interesting experiment. I would gladly stress them to ripen the pods but mother nature is watering them for me... where do I send a complaint letter?
 
Okay, I went outside and gave my peppers a stern talking to and forced them to listen to the BBC world report so they should be plenty stressed now... mission accomplished.
 
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