What zone are you in?

So my plants right now are in a greenhouse in zone 9. This will be my first overwinter, but at this point, my plants are still growing flowers and I'm even getting a couple new peppers. I'm surprised to see this in December. I haven't trimmed anything back but at this point, I see a lot of new growth...

6. STL suburb in IL

I'm trying for the first time too this year. Probably made a mistake by using a container that was used outdoors and adding a little dirt from the garden. The plant is doing well, but there a lot of little brown brown bugs I'm trying to get rid of. Not sure what they are, and how bad they are.

I am overwintering 3 plants.
The one in the picture is a Red Hab. I almost completely defoliated it and on top of that root pruned and from 3 gallon potted into one gallon. As you can see it is growing new shoots. My aim is just keep it alive til the next May, to take it out and re pot it into bigger pot.

Seyson

Lol, its hitting 70 here today, I put my "overwintering" plants back outside!

Hi
I am overwintering 3 plants a reaper, orange hab, and a cayenne. All 3 are doing well and getting new leaves. I found a bunch of aphids on the hab but I was expecting it and sprayed with insect soap.
Randal

I brought some of mine to work and put them in a south facing window. They are starting to grow again and I think they like the view (that's the space needle behind the Burning Bush Hab)

This post was edited by Siouxzn on Tue, Dec 2, 14 at 13:11

Nice. Seysonn that's what mine looked like when I brought it inside. Siouxin that looks like a beautiful view.

Mine is going better than I expected. The plants I absolutely did not want to loose are going well so far. On warm days they go out, and come back in at night. On cold days they stay under light. I got my rack, and light set up ready for seeds as well.

First pic is Ghost pepper, and a Scorpion.

Plant tag on the Scorpion said Moruga Black. See my post of super market find of plants.

Next pic is of plants on my reloading bench. The one that looks like sticks in the background is a jalapeno. New growth is showing just above the soil line. The red pot in front of it is another Moruga Black. The rest of the plants are my wife's flowers that are in for the cold snap as it is barely above freezing outside right now.

I always overwinter my peppers. This is my nearly 3 years old Thai, now staying at home permanently until spring. During the day I keep him near a South facing window. Unfortunately, that room gets very cold at night so I pull him on the rug to a warmer (but dark during the day) room.

I also have a 4 year old Pequin that goes on the porch on warmer days.

Overwintering here is doing GREAT - plants are starting to take-off and produce, and it seems like every time I turn around, something new has ripe pods on it that needs picking! Got some Cajamarca ripening right now, will be my first time trying that, curious to find out if those beautiful pods taste as good as they look!

Also a number of varieties with just green pods, makes me wonder which one will start to ripen next? Plus even MORE stuff flowering.

Will probably start a Winter grow log w/pod pics! :)

Biggest problem right now is trying to keep up with watering - warm dry air from running the heater is making the plants dry-out much faster.

Awesome Thai plant you got there, Westernbluebird! How big is that pot?

Thanks, Dave. The pot is 16.5 inches in diameter and 14.5 tall.

Thai got a thorough haircut two days ago and is growing new leaves now. Would that mean a mild winter? I wonder. Usually, when my peppers start growing new leaves, it means spring weather coming in two weeks. It used to happen much later though, never as early as December.

I am just trying to keep mine alive til next April.

Here are the other two; (1) Sangria, (2) Numex Twilight, both ornamental.
I have topped the drastically. Now they are shedding the old leaves and growing new ones. By next April they will be fruiting.

Seysonn

@Westernbluebird - perennial plants native to temperate climates developed "winter dormancy" as a survival mechanism to make it through the freezing Winter conditions alive. Peppers are native to tropical climates, and will happily grow year-round if conditions are favorable.

BTW, on the "which ones will start to ripen next" contest, when I looked at my plants early today I discovered not just a winner, but a 3-way tie(!) - a Hab pod turned mustard yellow, a Congo Trinidad going multicolored, and a Naga Morish Yellow pod also turning ripe. :) Plus a lot of other varieties with green pods vying for 2nd place.

But the amazing part is that Congo Trinidad (which also has another new pod, and is still flowering), is growing out of a Cup O' Noodle!

I'll try to get some pics.

Not doing so good with this one.

{{gwi:2132229}}

Ha ha ha. Jk.
The only one I ended up bringing in is the mystery pepper. Still waiting on a few pods to ripen then ill trim it back a bit.
{{gwi:2132230}}

dj

My over-wintering was more a rescue mission. I didn't really know what I was doing when I potted the little plants i picked up last spring-- so the wrong kind of soil and too much water did LOTS of damage. Thanks in VERY large part to the advice and knowledge I found here, five of my eight plants are now doing well indoors in sort of a 3-1-1 mix.

The Burning Bush Habs and the Tabascos Appear to be doing VERY well, and are bouncing back from the brink of death rather nicely. One Thai plant has survived and is doing well- but is not keeping up with the four I mentioned before. I lost the other Thai and both Anaheims.

I can't wait to do my first plants from seed, for net year. Looks like Johnny's efforts in the Holiday Seed Swap will give me LOTS to choose from when my packet comes in. (I already have seed for Reapers, some decorative Filius Blue, and some Peter Peppers I;m going to get started as a bit of a gag gift for my brother. He's a casual gardener, with a good record for keeping things alive.)

So far so good. I just need to keep an eye out for pests.....

My nearly 7 year-old Hungarian Wax is putting out new growth, and looks like she'll make it.

Josh

I decided to overwinter my Black Pearl again....so this will be year three. I've given away two younger Black Pearls as Winter "houseplants" to my friends.

Josh

Any more updates? This is my first time, and I've got five chinenses and a datil under lights in my garage. This week is in the high sixties, high forties at night. and I brought them outside. One ("scotch bonnet" from Morningsun farms) looks almost as good as it did in the fall; still has fruit , one is rapidly dying back from the top (" aji dulce 2" from Cross Country), and the others are some where in between. I have a serrano on my deck that did fine with no protection and still has fruit.

Any thoughts about leaving them outside? I would REALLY like to save this aji dulce 2, since I only got a few fruit before it got cold.

I have a Jalapeno Gigante going on 3 years in my office. Spits out a pepper about every 6 months. Likes to flower a lot though.

New on my window sill is my Red Hab, looks great but has dropped every flower it has pushed.

South facing window.

{{gwi:2132231}}

I consider my first try at overwintering a success so far. I dug up an habanero that got a late start and put it in a big pot. I moved it inside before our first freeze and cut it back to almost nothing. In the beginning, I got some red mites and almost gave up. I sprayed the plant with soap water for a week or so and it cleared up the problem. Haven't seen any since December. The plant has really taken off, and I currently have about 15 flowers that have opened up, with a bunch of other buds starting. None have started the pepper yet, but none have died off yet either. I plan on leaving it in the container all summer. The best part is it has been very little work, except when battling the red mites early on. I probaly only water every 10-14 days, and leave it next to a sunny window. I am in zone 6A.

Oh, Man ! I killed mine. Not that I wanted to. hahaha
I think I did that by over watering and maybe over fertilizing.
O , well ! I am growing them from seeds.:-)

Seysonn

My Hungarian Wax is pristine....and fruiting. However, I pulled the pods and I've been removing the flowers to keep the plant focused on foliage production. I sprayed once with Neem oil, when I sprayed all my Citrus....I figured, Why not? A little preventative care....

The Black Pearl froze, sadly.

Josh

Here is my Yellow Pequin that is approaching its 3rd year, 1st year not so good, 2nd year great and durring the winter she lost all of her leaves but within the past few weeks is starting to come back to life with brand new ones. I did not prune at all but we will see what happens. She is grown in a 5 gallon vinyl grow bag (which the roots broke through the bag into the dirt) and this year thinking about putting her in a 20 gallon grow bag with fresh soil possibly, but I am no expert. She produced hundreds of peppers last year.

This shots was taken a few weeks ago......

Note snowbank behind 5gal pail pepper is in...

Most of my overwinters are still alive. Some are starting to flower and fruit. They are getting bushy and those that are in 1 gallon containers are actually doing the best. I guess the smaller sizes make them produce faster. Been spraying for aphids though. Seems early but with it warm, they come.
I have pulled quite a few chopped ones that I feel have the least chance of giving me fruit or are too small. I will use the space for my other new ones.

I have noticed that those that are trimmed back (such as that picture of the chopped Hungarian wax above) have a harder time surviving those those just left alone without chopping. Unless it is a super rare variety, 1 or 2 peppers from a small plant just dont cut it anymore.