On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 09:53:43 -0700, Jon Shemitz
wrote:

Penelope Periwinkle wrote:

Unless they're difficult to get varieties, I wouldn't bother. The
time, money, and effort you put into keeping the plants alive
would far exceed just buying new ones in the spring.

My overwintered chiles always produce fruit months sooner than the
ones I start from seed. They also produce far more over the course of
the summer than plants that spend months building a root system.

Yabut, he was talking about taking cuttings, not whole plants. It
would be far easier and less costly to buy plants in early spring
and put them in a cold frame or use Wall O'Water until the
weather warms up. Remember, you have to maintain the pepper
plants at 50 F or above and keep good light on them if you want
the cuttings to grow well enough to produce early peppers. I
don't know about you, but I don't have unlimited space or
resources. With the same space and energy I would devote to
rooting and growing cuttings, I can seed twice as many peppers,
and have them producing almost as early.

I picked my first ripe tomato grown from seed in the first week
of May. I picked my first ripe pepper grown from seed in
mid-June. The Grenada Seasoning pepper plant that I over-wintered
had ripe peppers in late May/early June. To be fair, it might
have produced ripe peppers a little earlier, but I pruned it
back heavily when I took it outside.


Penelope


--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"