Hello all, my first posting here.

Grateful for any advice about overwintering chilli plants.

We have one chilli plant which was bought from Homebase this year. I have no idea what variety, but it has produced lots of very hot and very tasty chillis. Given the mild weather it is still going strong outside in a pot but eventually the frost will get it.

As the chillis are so good I don't want to lose the plant if I can help it. Is there any way I can keep this plant over the winter and grow it on next year?

We have no greenhouse so the plant will need to be brought indoors.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Success is far from guaranteed, even if you follow the instructions. But people do succeed from time to time. Rocotos seem to overwinter best, but people do sometimes succeed with other types too.

Prune it down to a stick with a few short side branches, ensure the soil is faintly damp not moist, ie give it only little bits of water if any from time to time, and keep it cool but not cold until you want to get it going again when the days are increasing again in say Feb or March. Try to put it in the place with the best light possible. They naturally grow in places with a dry cool season, but much more intense light than a British winter.

Successfully overwintered plants do seem to get off quicker the following season, thus giving you a faster crop.

Another way of getting the same thing again is to keep some seeds from this years' crop, and replant in a propagator next feb/march. They are terribly promiscuous (except rocotos) so if it had a chance to cross-pollinate with other peppers it will have done, and in that case what you get next year will be a bit hit and miss. But if you had it reasonably isolated from other peppers when it flowered, you've a reasonable chance of growing the same thing again.

Thanks Echin, I will give it a go. Have grown chillies from seed a few times, but with limited success - Bulgarian carrot have been the best. Hoped by keeping the plant may help to get a head start and I'd have chillies that I like.

Cheers

In article ,
Tringa wrote:


We have one chilli plant which was bought from Homebase this year. I
have no idea what variety, but it has produced lots of very hot and
very tasty chillis. Given the mild weather it is still going strong
outside in a pot but eventually the frost will get it.

As the chillis are so good I don't want to lose the plant if I can help
it. Is there any way I can keep this plant over the winter and grow it
on next year?

You can also save seed from some of the ripe fruit, and grow from
that next year! I would do that anyway, in case it fails to
overwinter.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Tringa" wrote...

Thanks Echin, I will give it a go. Have grown chillies from seed a few
times, but with limited success - Bulgarian carrot have been the best.
Hoped by keeping the plant may help to get a head start and I'd have
chillies that I like.


Try Thai Dragon (Hot) and Inferno (large medium) both from T & M and both
have proved excellent croppers out on our allotment.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

Tringa wrote:
Hello all, my first posting here.

Grateful for any advice about overwintering chilli plants.



Just brought my Scotch Bonnets in and popped them by the windows in the fron
room and kitchen. Hopefully they'll get enough light to stop domancy. If
they drop leaves i'll cut them back and reduce watering.

I've not tried this before but many say that they make good houseplants.
We'll see! They only have to make it through till spring...

Les

On 18 Oct, 13:17, "Les Hemmings" wrote:
Tringa wrote:
Hello all, my first posting here.

Grateful for any advice about overwintering chilli plants.

Just brought my Scotch Bonnets in and popped them by the windows in the fron
room and kitchen. Hopefully they'll get enough light to stop domancy. If
they drop leaves i'll cut them back and reduce watering.

I've not tried this before but many say that they make good houseplants.
We'll see! They only have to make it through till spring...

Les

Watch out for red spider mite, though.

Ornata wrote:
I've not tried this before but many say that they make good
houseplants. We'll see! They only have to make it through till
spring...

Les

Watch out for red spider mite, though.

Oooh! The bain of my life! Had to move a Musa basjoo outside because of
those! Horrible things!

--
Rev. Les Hemmings (First Church of Atheism) aa #2251

http://firstchurchofatheism.com/

On 2009-10-22 17:20:28 +0100, "Les Hemmings" said:

Ornata wrote:
I've not tried this before but many say that they make good
houseplants. We'll see! They only have to make it through till
spring...

Les

Watch out for red spider mite, though.

Oooh! The bain of my life! Had to move a Musa basjoo outside because of
those! Horrible things!

Check out biological controls!
--
Sacha

Sacha writes
On 2009-10-22 17:20:28 +0100, "Les Hemmings" said:

Ornata wrote:
I've not tried this before but many say that they make good
houseplants. We'll see! They only have to make it through till
spring...
Les
Watch out for red spider mite, though.
Oooh! The bain of my life! Had to move a Musa basjoo outside because
of
those! Horrible things!

Check out biological controls!

But they don't work very well at low temperatures.
--
Kay

On 2009-10-28 21:02:06 +0000, K said:

Sacha writes
On 2009-10-22 17:20:28 +0100, "Les Hemmings" said:

Ornata wrote:
I've not tried this before but many say that they make good
houseplants. We'll see! They only have to make it through till
spring...
Les
Watch out for red spider mite, though.
Oooh! The bain of my life! Had to move a Musa basjoo outside because of
those! Horrible things!

Check out biological controls!

But they don't work very well at low temperatures.

No but they can be used all through the season to help with control.
Ours get sent every couple of weeks.
--
Sacha

Sacha writes
On 2009-10-28 21:02:06 +0000, K said:

Sacha writes
On 2009-10-22 17:20:28 +0100, "Les Hemmings" said:

Ornata wrote:
I've not tried this before but many say that they make good
houseplants. We'll see! They only have to make it through till
spring...
Les
Watch out for red spider mite, though.
Oooh! The bain of my life! Had to move a Musa basjoo outside because of
those! Horrible things!
Check out biological controls!
But they don't work very well at low temperatures.

No but they can be used all through the season to help with control.
Ours get sent every couple of weeks.

I didn't realise you 'restocked' continuously ;-) That's a bit expensive
for the amateur with only a few chilli plants! I don't feel I can
justify the expense of more than at most two introductions a year -
that's why I need them to breed successfully once I've got them.
--
Kay

On 2009-10-29 10:22:05 +0000, K said:

Sacha writes
On 2009-10-28 21:02:06 +0000, K said:

Sacha writes
On 2009-10-22 17:20:28 +0100, "Les Hemmings" said:

Ornata wrote:
I've not tried this before but many say that they make good
houseplants. We'll see! They only have to make it through till
spring...
Les
Watch out for red spider mite, though.
Oooh! The bain of my life! Had to move a Musa basjoo outside because of
those! Horrible things!
Check out biological controls!
But they don't work very well at low temperatures.

No but they can be used all through the season to help with control.
Ours get sent every couple of weeks.

I didn't realise you 'restocked' continuously ;-) That's a bit
expensive for the amateur with only a few chilli plants! I don't feel I
can justify the expense of more than at most two introductions a year
- that's why I need them to breed successfully once I've got them.

It's probably enough for you, Kay but I wouldn't know how many to what
area etc.. It's a question of number of houses, variety of plants and
numbers of plants here. But the best thing would be for people to look
at the suppliers' and their advice. We've just done the vine weevil
stuff here and just this morning one of the staff said someone had
given his grandmother a little cyclamen plant (not from here!) which
keeled over and died within two days. Sure enough - there was one vine
weevil grub at the bottom of the pot. ;-(
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Sacha writes
It's probably enough for you, Kay but I wouldn't know how many to what
area etc.. It's a question of number of houses, variety of plants and
numbers of plants here. But the best thing would be for people to look
at the suppliers' and their advice. We've just done the vine weevil
stuff here and just this morning one of the staff said someone had
given his grandmother a little cyclamen plant (not from here!) which
keeled over and died within two days. Sure enough - there was one vine
weevil grub at the bottom of the pot. ;-(

I think the critical difference is that you need to have a higher level
of pest-free-ness than I do. I can supplement by spraying with water,
inspecting individual plants, removing leaves, physically removing
pests. And I can cope with a low level of pests if I keep them under
control and they're not affecting the plant unduly. There is a limit to
how labour intensive you can be and still be economic, and your plants
need to be completely clean when they go out, not just reasonably clean.

So you will need to introduce predators sufficiently to pretty well
wipe out the prey - and then, of course, you will need to re-introduce
predators. Whereas I can keep enough prey to supply a permanent food
source for the predators :-)
--
Kay

On 2009-10-29 15:00:37 +0000, K said:

Sacha writes
It's probably enough for you, Kay but I wouldn't know how many to what
area etc.. It's a question of number of houses, variety of plants and
numbers of plants here. But the best thing would be for people to look
at the suppliers' and their advice. We've just done the vine weevil
stuff here and just this morning one of the staff said someone had
given his grandmother a little cyclamen plant (not from here!) which
keeled over and died within two days. Sure enough - there was one vine
weevil grub at the bottom of the pot. ;-(

I think the critical difference is that you need to have a higher level
of pest-free-ness than I do. I can supplement by spraying with water,
inspecting individual plants, removing leaves, physically removing
pests. And I can cope with a low level of pests if I keep them under
control and they're not affecting the plant unduly. There is a limit to
how labour intensive you can be and still be economic, and your plants
need to be completely clean when they go out, not just reasonably clean.

Excellent summation. ;-)

So you will need to introduce predators sufficiently to pretty well
wipe out the prey - and then, of course, you will need to re-introduce
predators. Whereas I can keep enough prey to supply a permanent food
source for the predators :-)

Yes, our objective is total elimination, not feeding 'em!


--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon