So I've just taken a look in the greenhouse, and I'm wondering what I can
get through to survive until next year. My current thoughts for things that
could be brought into the house:
* aubergine plants - one is about 3' tall and has 3 fruit on it, I have
others that are less than a foot tall - would any of them survive and
stand a chance of producing next year if I brought them in before frost?
* melons - I have 1 watermelon and 2 melons that started badly and are just
really getting going now, with long strands and flowers, but not much
chance of getting to fruit ... would they stand a chance of pausing over
winter and coming back?
* one pepper plant, with 1 pepper on it (almost at full size)

I've never been good at overwintering. My mandeville has survived well, but
that's pretty much the only successful brought-in-put-back-out that has made
it. Not even my fuschias have survived, except the chequerboard, which I
don't think I even brought in, so it must be a surprise hardy.

What's the general routine - bring in, stop watering except for a drip every
now and then to keep them alive? Will there be enough light in a south
facing window (on the cold side of the curtains in the living room, most
likely, so cool but hopefully not freezing!)? I could put them in the spare
room (also south facing) if they needed more warmth, but presumably I'd have
to turn off the radiator which is directly below the window.

Or am I just destined to fail, and better off starting again in Feb?

--

wrote in
:

So I've just taken a look in the greenhouse, and I'm wondering what I
can get through to survive until next year. My current thoughts for
things that could be brought into the house:
* aubergine plants - one is about 3' tall and has 3 fruit on it, I
have
others that are less than a foot tall - would any of them survive
and stand a chance of producing next year if I brought them in
before frost?
* melons - I have 1 watermelon and 2 melons that started badly and are
just
really getting going now, with long strands and flowers, but not
much chance of getting to fruit ... would they stand a chance of
pausing over winter and coming back?
* one pepper plant, with 1 pepper on it (almost at full size)

I've never been good at overwintering. My mandeville has survived
well, but that's pretty much the only successful
brought-in-put-back-out that has made it. Not even my fuschias have
survived, except the chequerboard, which I don't think I even brought
in, so it must be a surprise hardy.

What's the general routine - bring in, stop watering except for a drip
every now and then to keep them alive? Will there be enough light in
a south facing window (on the cold side of the curtains in the living
room, most likely, so cool but hopefully not freezing!)? I could put
them in the spare room (also south facing) if they needed more warmth,
but presumably I'd have to turn off the radiator which is directly
below the window.

Or am I just destined to fail, and better off starting again in Feb?


vicky.
I know nothing about melons.

One thing I an sure about is that aubergine and peppers are anuals. You
can't overwinter them. Sure you can keep them longer if you look after
them, but they need sowing/planting every year. Don't think that you can
keep them, they will die. It is natural for them to die and when the fruits
of the year have ripened, they drop seeds to grow next time the climate and
conditions are right.
So, you are going to fail, not by your methods, but how nature does it.
We, as gardeners bypass all of this by eating the produce from them and
then buying more seed for next year.
I hope I have made this clear, I sometimes don't.

Baz

In article , Baz wrote:

One thing I an sure about is that aubergine and peppers are anuals. You
can't overwinter them. Sure you can keep them longer if you look after
them, but they need sowing/planting every year. Don't think that you can
keep them, they will die. It is natural for them to die and when the fruits
of the year have ripened, they drop seeds to grow next time the climate and
conditions are right.

It's not what we don't know that causes the trouble; it's what we
know for sure that ain't so!

Peppers are perennials, grown as annuals in the UK. They will
sometimes overwinter if you have the right variety and handle
them right. There are a lot of short-lived tropical perennials
that are almost always grown as annuals in the UK.

I doubt that any of those are worth trying to overwinter, including
the ones I have omitted any references to.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

wrote in :

In article , Baz
wrote:

One thing I an sure about is that aubergine and peppers are anuals.
You can't overwinter them. Sure you can keep them longer if you look
after them, but they need sowing/planting every year. Don't think that
you can keep them, they will die. It is natural for them to die and
when the fruits of the year have ripened, they drop seeds to grow next
time the climate and conditions are right.

It's not what we don't know that causes the trouble; it's what we
know for sure that ain't so!

Peppers are perennials, grown as annuals in the UK. They will
sometimes overwinter if you have the right variety and handle
them right. There are a lot of short-lived tropical perennials
that are almost always grown as annuals in the UK.

I doubt that any of those are worth trying to overwinter, including
the ones I have omitted any references to.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


Pardon ME.
Baz

I've never managed to keep them happy over winter. I think you'd have to bring them in quite a long way before frost - they really like it rather warm

If a chilli pepper, you should be able to overwinter it indoors, though opinions vary as to whether it's worth the hassle. It's said that the heat of the chilli is proportional to the temperature during ripening, so that makes it worth bringing into a warm spot in the house once the greenhouse starts to cool off.

Sweet pepper, I don't know, but it's got to be worth bringing it in until you've harvested the pepper.
There's not enough light generally to support a lot of growth, so it's better to keep things cool rather than hot. And if you're keeping them cool, you generally need to cut right back on the watering.

With fuchsias, pelargoniums etc I prune before overwintering, they then grow some rather leggy growth over winter, and I prune again in spring once the growing season starts again.

I wouldn't leave anything on the window side of living room curtains - it can get really cold against the glass, and it's a bit of a contrast to daytime living room temperatures. If I were to have anything in the living room, then I'd tuck the curtains behind them. But usually I overwinter in bathroom and toilet, partly because of equable cool temperatures, partly because I see them every day and don't forget them.

kay wrote:
I've never managed to keep them happy over winter. I think you'd have to
bring them in quite a long way before frost - they really like it rather
warm

*nod* I have a fair amount of south facing window, I just need to clear
enough space that I don't end up killing them or infesting the house with
crawlies by not being able to get to them!

* one pepper plant, with 1 pepper on it (almost at full size)
If a chilli pepper, you should be able to overwinter it indoors, though
opinions vary as to whether it's worth the hassle. It's said that the
heat of the chilli is proportional to the temperature during ripening,
so that makes it worth bringing into a warm spot in the house once the
greenhouse starts to cool off.

Sweet pepper, I don't know, but it's got to be worth bringing it in
until you've harvested the pepper.

That one up there ^^^ is a sweet pepper (allegedly sweet, personally I hate
the things and they have never tasted in the least bit sweet to me!!).
There is also a fruit-ladened chilli.

There's not enough light generally to support a lot of growth, so it's
better to keep things cool rather than hot. And if you're keeping them
cool, you generally need to cut right back on the watering.

*nod*

With fuchsias, pelargoniums etc I prune before overwintering, they then
grow some rather leggy growth over winter, and I prune again in spring
once the growing season starts again.

My fucshias always* die back to twigs, then they stay twigs for the rest of
summer. My neighbour's die back to twigs then come back with new growth
from the base. It's very annoying.

I never actually thought of pruning back the pelargoniums. I shall give
that a go.

I wouldn't leave anything on the window side of living room curtains -
it can get really cold against the glass, and it's a bit of a contrast
to daytime living room temperatures. If I were to have anything in the
living room, then I'd tuck the curtains behind them. But usually I
overwinter in bathroom and toilet, partly because of equable cool
temperatures, partly because I see them every day and don't forget them.

Ah, but the living room window sill is the only one big enough to take a big
pot. But it's also big enough that they won't actually be that near the
glass, so maybe they won't be too bad.

I'll experiment,t he worst that can happen is I end up with some dead
plants.

As are aubergines.

I gave a friend a plant of "rainbow" chillis, several years ago when they weren't all over the seed catalogues like they are now. That plant is still going strong.

kay wrote in news:kay.8f05576
@gardenbanter.co.uk:


'Baz[_3_ Wrote:
;937160']

Peppers are perennials, grown as annuals in the UK.


As are aubergines.

I gave a friend a plant of "rainbow" chillis, several years ago when
they weren't all over the seed catalogues like they are now. That plant
is still going strong.





LOL

Baz

Bringing plants in some can have a detrimental affect on them.
What happens is that we usually bring 'em in when it starts to get a bit cold and with the central heating the poor things think it's summer again and this can affect their "season clocks." Even in a room with the radiator off they will experience a big jump in temperature.
I "bring in" several plants we have in big tubs on the patio, like orange, lemon, mimosa and a few others, but they only go into the summer house, which gets some natural light and is draught-proof.
I can maintain a temperature above freezing in here, as there's a fridge, which chucks out a bit of heat and I have 60watt lamps in the base of each of my two vinyl jukeboxes, the heat from which is to ward off damp and to stop the oil in the motors getting thick due to the cold. This amount of heat seems to be sufficient for the other "guests."

wrote in message
...
So I've just taken a look in the greenhouse, and I'm wondering what I can
get through to survive until next year. My current thoughts for things
that
could be brought into the house:
* aubergine plants - one is about 3' tall and has 3 fruit on it, I have
others that are less than a foot tall - would any of them survive and
stand a chance of producing next year if I brought them in before frost?
* melons - I have 1 watermelon and 2 melons that started badly and are
just
really getting going now, with long strands and flowers, but not much
chance of getting to fruit ... would they stand a chance of pausing over
winter and coming back?
* one pepper plant, with 1 pepper on it (almost at full size)

These are all tender annuals here in UK so you won't be able to overwinter
them.
My aunt still has some aubergines in her greenhouse with small fruits on and
will carry on with them until the weather gets too cold and they decease.
No experience with melons and peppers this year.

Tina

wrote:
So I've just taken a look in the greenhouse, and I'm wondering what I
can get through to survive until next year.

I've just cropped the Scotch Bonnet chilies from a potted three year old
plant. I bring it indoors onto a sunny windowsil. Chop the branches back by
about 50% & clean the window to maiximise the light it gets. Topdress with
fresh multi purpose compost. Water frugally & don't let it get chilled &
bung it back out once things warm up again.

L

Les Hemmings wrote:
So I've just taken a look in the greenhouse, and I'm wondering what I
can get through to survive until next year.
I've just cropped the Scotch Bonnet chilies from a potted three year old
plant. I bring it indoors onto a sunny windowsil. Chop the branches back by
about 50% & clean the window to maiximise the light it gets. Topdress with
fresh multi purpose compost. Water frugally & don't let it get chilled &
bung it back out once things warm up again.

Excellent. now the decision is going to have to be, do I use the large
downstairs window which gets less light, or the narrow upstairs window which
gets lots of sun and stays warmer, but may be forgotten about easier.

wrote:

Excellent. now the decision is going to have to be, do I use the
large downstairs window which gets less light, or the narrow upstairs
window which gets lots of sun and stays warmer, but may be forgotten
about easier.

I'd go for the latter... warmer. Water once the leaves shout "I'm thirsty!"
by gently wilting. It'll be fine....

Although, I started the first year with 9 plants & now have just one for
it's fourth winter so expect a few losses.

L

wrote:
Excellent. now the decision is going to have to be, do I use the
large downstairs window which gets less light, or the narrow upstairs
window which gets lots of sun and stays warmer, but may be forgotten
about easier.

Just reading that chilli cuttings work very well! Wish i'd known that when i
chopped it back last week!

L