I overwinter peppers every year and the only thing that has worked for me is lady bugs. They cause no problems and keep the aphids under control. Various sprays, soap, neam oil, etc. have given only temporary relief.

I also have this same question. Two years ago I successfully overwintered a chili pepper plant under HPS lights. It lost most of its leaves but when put outside in May it started growing like crazy. Last winter I tried the same technique with 4 red habeneros that I really like. They did OK until about February when they hit the death spiral and died around May. This winter I don't want to waste lighting space with peppers and hoped to store them in an unlit cold basement making sure the soil doesn't dry out. Will this work? Should I cut the plant down so it goes into dormancy?

I couldn't keep ladybugs around They went someplace to die

Soap was my only method, followed by a rinse

OK. Here's the deal:

The ONLY permanent solution for aphids = lady bugs. In the past 7 years I've noticed a pattern with either being blessed with them or not. From my expereince if the season has been dry, chances are the lady bugs wont stay around for too long if brought in from outside with the plants. However, if your season has been quite wet then you will have the lil friends flying around all winter long.(I've even had them start mating and reproduce hundreds of lil lady bug larve all over the place! WILD!)

If the above situation is not the one you've been blessed with then there is a treatment that will keep them at bay untill spring. This requires treating them once a week. If you allow them to go untreated longer than this then you'll soon find your plants leafless...

UCoVinero's Aphid Fix:

1 Qt. Spray Bottle
1 Tsp of finely powdered Habanero
1 Tbsp of any antibacterial dish soap
1/4 tsp of powdered clove
Fill the rest of the bottle with HOT water to disolve ingredients and stir...(shaking only creates lots of bubbles)

THIS WILL WORK!

Thanks for the help. So I assume I buy lady bugs and hope that they stay on plants and don't fly away.

What about cutting back the plants? Will that help? Should I transplant into new, uninfested, potting soil? My goal is not necessarily to have peppers to eat over the winter as I will have plenty frozen and dried, but to get a good jump on my short season by transplanting an overwintered plant in early June.

Thanks again,

John

this is only my opinion

pests will come in through the door, but your biggest problem will be bringing them in on the plant or in the soil. obviously. once inside there wont be any/enough natural preditors and a great invironment for them. adding lady bugs helps with adding preditors. you could use sprays of many sorts and you will find mixed results, better results is you make sure you spray in the correct manner and frequency. BUT you shouldnt use natural preditors AND spray at the same time bacause your sprays will hurt your ladybugs. obvously. SO when bringing inside you have choices.
bring the plant in straight away and battle with good chance of a strong infestation.
repot removing some of the soil and washing the leaves and branches(with safers soap spray would be a bonus now)
completely repot and trim roots and branches to match washing most of the soil away.
could put them somewhere cool and dark and maybe you could get them to hybernate.
or finally you could take cuttings which are very easy to clean free of bugs and start them inside.

anyway you do it chances are you will need to use either spray OR ladybugs at some point.

i have babbled enough
Michael

If you use lady bugs outside they will probably fly away in search of food. Inside they don't have that option but will die off as the food supply diminishes( Smallest amout you can buy is usually about 2000). I make a bug chow for them to try and keep more alive and reproducing. When I first release them a few fly or crawl around a bit but they quickly congregate where the food is--on my plants.

Anti Bacterial soap will kill or sicken your plants.

The old fashion dishsoap, like Octagon, bettter yet, baby or horse shampoo, 1 tsp per qt of water.

I disagree, considering it DOESN'T. But hey, Im sure there are lots of answers out there. Im just giving you the information that works time and time again.

am i better off to grow new habs or try to winter my current plants???
I have 2 commercial greenhouses so i am able to start anytime.
shayne

shayne,

if you have plenty of seeds,
and you have lots of plants now
imo you would be better off with seeds.
avoid the trouble specially if you have greenhouses.
although some tougher varieties might make it worth while to OW.

lots of choices
Michael

bubba ive had all these problem. i tried it all, soaps, current insecticides, no luck with aphids, they're tough and they kept getting worse. Until i came across an old bottle of diazanon. WIPED'EM OUT! I also hear that stuff is supposed to be coming back on the market.

I have already brought in this week (2) 1 season old Habs and (1) 1 season old Purple variegated Pequin (sp.?) type after adjusting to lower light, ect. We are getting lows in the mid 40's already :(
They were container grown, but to be on the safe side have potted them up in fresh potting soil. This year was the first year aphids were ever a problem on my peppers...they attacked the Hab's like no tomorrow during the month of July, but completely avoided the pequin and Thai Hot. I couldn't spray with the hose enough, and hand squishing was futile it seemed. Thank goodness the ladybugs came to the rescue...and when they came they arrived by the gazillion :D
In the 3 years I've brought peppers in I've never had aphids in the house. Last year though I ended up tossing my Thai Hot's because I couldn't get a grip on the Spider Mites!! Showering, misting, washing off leaves, ect. was not getting it done, so out they went. I will be investing in a humidifier this winter in hopes this will increase the humidity enough to decrease the problem. I REALLY want to hold on to these 3 plants :D

Vera

vera,
for spider mites try hanging a "vapona" pest strip on a oscalating fan pointed at your plants. within a few weeks you wont have a problem with mites.

vapona is like a huge room deoterizor but with pest poison so i wouldnt use something like this unless your plants are in a room you are not in much.

i get them at Canadian Tire but i would think Wal-mart would have it or something close.

and i also started bringin a few in. and i hope to over winter / hybernate (whatever the term would be) a few others in the crawl space. see what happens.

Michael