Happily annoyed at my plants.

[Skydiver]

So it's October 10th. Cold, blustery, rainy day in Pittsburgh. The forecast is calling for freezing temperatures in a few nights. I've already pulled most of my garden out to get a headstart on prepping the soil for next year. I've been contemplating what to do with my habanero and my jalapeno plants, only one of each. They both still have a ton of peppers on them so I really would like to keep them going, and noticed something wonderfully frustrating today when I went out to gaze at the 30+ green habs still on the plant.

New flowers.

The weather has been turning a bit colder here and I really thought that by now the peppers that are on the plants would be it. My tomato plants stopped flowering weeks ago, so I figured the peppers would have as well.

I've been leaning towards digging up the peppers to pot them and keep them indoors to let the remaining habs and jalapenos ripen fully, I think this made up my mind for me.

What's your opinion? Should I leave them in ground and try to cover them to prevent frost damage? Would potting them damage the roots at all? These are my first peppers that I've grown, so I'm somewhat attached to them, and not at all embarassed to say so publicly. They're my little green babies.

[Sickmont]

So it's October 10th. Cold, blustery, rainy day in Pittsburgh. The forecast is calling for freezing temperatures in a few nights. I've already pulled most of my garden out to get a headstart on prepping the soil for next year. I've been contemplating what to do with my habanero and my jalapeno plants, only one of each. They both still have a ton of peppers on them so I really would like to keep them going, and noticed something wonderfully frustrating today when I went out to gaze at the 30+ green habs still on the plant.

New flowers.

The weather has been turning a bit colder here and I really thought that by now the peppers that are on the plants would be it. My tomato plants stopped flowering weeks ago, so I figured the peppers would have as well.

I've been leaning towards digging up the peppers to pot them and keep them indoors to let the remaining habs and jalapenos ripen fully, I think this made up my mind for me.

What's your opinion? Should I leave them in ground and try to cover them to prevent frost damage? Would potting them damage the roots at all? These are my first peppers that I've grown, so I'm somewhat attached to them, and not at all embarassed to say so publicly. They're my little green babies.

Where's Potawie when you need him? This is his field of expertise.

[imaguitargod]

Awww, Sky doesn't want his wittle babies to die.... just giving ya sh*t sky.

Yep, take em out and re-pot them. It may damage the roots, but the plant should servive. If you see any problems developing with the peppers after teh transplant, pick them asap. Usually when I do a large transplant like that the plant needs a recovery period of a week to 3 months depending on how much root damage there is.

[Sickmont]

Awww, Sky doesn't want his wittle babies to die.... just giving ya sh*t sky.

Yep, take em out and re-pot them. It may damage the roots, but the plant should servive. If you see any problems developing with the peppers after teh transplant, pick them asap. Usually when I do a large transplant like that the plant needs a recovery period of a week to 3 months depending on how much root damage there is.

Oops...sorry, bro. I forgot to give credit where credit's due. You've got the know-how for this also.

[Skydiver]

I have a few very large pots in my garage, so I was going to dig out a very big chunk of real estate to hopefully minimize any damage.

And yes, they are my wittle babies :lol:

My neighbor gave me a very funny look one day when I was out there talking to my plants while pulling out a few stray weeds that dared to invade my garden.

[imaguitargod]

Oops...sorry, bro. I forgot to give credit where credit's due. You've got the know-how for this also.
:lol: , so-k.

My neighbor gave me a very funny look one day when I was out there talking to my plants while pulling out a few stray weeds that dared to invade my garden.
You should have shot him a look and said, "People do not like eavesdropping..."

[Skydiver]

You should have shot him a look and said, "People do not like eavesdropping..."

Actually, I told him that me and my peppers were "having a moment" :P

[POTAWIE]

If you pot your plants, try to prune back any unneccesary top growth so the damaged/weakened root system has less to feed. Pick your peppers as soon as they ripen so all the plants energy goes where needed and keep an eye out for insects being brought into your house. Good luck and habby harvest

[Skydiver]

If you pot your plants, try to prune back any unneccesary top growth so the damaged/weakened root system has less to feed. Pick your peppers as soon as they ripen so all the plants energy goes where needed and keep an eye out for insects being brought into your house. Good luck and habby harvest

Sounds good. The plants are pretty compact, the whole thing is maybe 2ft tall and wide, I'll take a look and see what I can prune before I take the shovel out, give them a chance to recover some while they're still in-ground.
When picking them, is there any noticeable difference in flavors if I pick them slightly less than fully ripe?
Bugs: since I do a lot of work with computers, I've always got some canned air laying around, so I'll give the plants a quick blast to hopefully knock loose any little critters on them.

Thanks for the advice all. My little green babies thank you as well. :lol:

[P_Schneider]

Well I just did a final pick over the weekend. Everything that was ripe went into the dehydrator and everything that was still green went into the smoker for chipotle. I was toying with the idea of covering my stuff like I did last year but the weather forcast is calling for cold temps for the next 15 days or so. We are 20f lower than our average here and it's been snowing off and on for 2 days now. I probably got 5 or 6 hundred from the last pick and left around 100 or so immature pods on the plants. ( which were still producing flowers as well.)

I talk to my plants all the time too so no worries on that. Lately I've been telling them that they are in Minnesota and they had better hurry up because winter was soon coming. Well the last 2 days I think they realized that the party was over because they all have drooping leaves now and look quite depressed.:(

Oh well onto next year.

[imaguitargod]

I have yet to tell my babies about the impending doom of winter that is coming. I think they are starting to figure it out, so I quess I should cheer them on a little for the last crop that's growing...

[P_Schneider]

I have yet to tell my babies about the impending doom of winter that is coming. I think they are starting to figure it out, so I quess I should cheer them on a little for the last crop that's growing...

Dude, your in LA, you don't have winter there.

[imaguitargod]

Dude, your in LA, you don't have winter there.
The only seasons we have are Sunny, Rainy, Earthquake, and Fire. :lol:

But it does get cold in the "winter", sometimes it gets as low as 38 degree :shocked:

[P_Schneider]

The only seasons we have are Sunny, Rainy, Earthquake, and Fire. :lol:

But it does get cold in the "winter", sometimes it gets as low as 38 degree :shocked:

That's colder than I would have thought for SoCal but you guys do have mountains nearby so I guess it makes sense.

[imaguitargod]

That's colder than I would have thought for SoCal but you guys do have mountains nearby so I guess it makes sense.
That's night time temps. We have the desert problem of warm in the day, cold at night for winters. Ya, and the Mountains to the north and ocean to the left doesn't help.

[Skydiver]

odd question that's been bugging me: When the weather starts turning cold, does it affect the peppers at all? I'm curious about whether the cold affects the amount of sugars or capsaicin that the pods make/store.

[Sickmont]

The only seasons we have are Sunny, Rainy, Earthquake, and Fire.

But it does get cold in the "winter", sometimes it gets as low as 38 degree :shocked:

hmmph...lucky you. All i get is early summer:fire:, mid-summer(usually known as hurricane season):fire:, late summer:fire: and 2 weeks of spring time right around new year's eve.

So basically it's 1 season here with a 2 week humidity respite at the holidays.

[marcosauces]

question for you guys.....i had frost last night..plants gonna die on me or survive..?

[imaguitargod]

question for you guys.....i had frost last night..plants gonna die on me or survive..?
Good question, only time will tell. Are they getting droopy in the leaves, are they turning yellow?

[Skydiver]

Well, after about an hour of careful excavation to try and preserve as much of the root structure as possible, my hab is now in a pot in my dining room (bay window~lots of sun).

I never realized what a pleasant smell a hab plant has. Sweet, just a little fruity, very nice.

Gonna be a nervous time watching it, but I did my best and will be paying special attention to it over the next few weeks.

And yes, I talked to it. I've got some music playing for it (Paul Galbraith playing the Bach Sonatas and Partitas, if you're curious)

[marcosauces]

Good question, only time will tell. Are they getting droopy in the leaves, are they turning yellow?

no they seems fine...but tonite freeze warning...better cover them right...the freeze is going to last only for 2 days

[imaguitargod]

Ya, cover em, that's the best thing for em, minus moving them indoors of corse.

And classical music is always the best for plants! Your babies should do fine, Sky.

[setzuanfire]

We gave up on over-wintering our plants this year due to repeated aphid and spider mite infestations, but decided to pot them in water to finish ripening, just like cut flowers. Just hose off all the dirt from the roots and keep the roots submerged in water, change the water every 2-3 days, give 'em a little light. Works like a charm!

brookthecook

[Skydiver]

A few days post potting and I'm getting wilting and leaf dropping.
Not looking good at this point, but I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet.

If all else fails, it will be sort of like pulling them out and just leaving the pods on it to ripen.

[imaguitargod]

Don't give up hope yet, Sky. They may just be going through a phase of shock.

[ross]

i thought my hab was done, but ive brought it in the garage for the past few days and then set it out in the sun when its warm outside, and its got about 15 nice sized pods on it right now, they arent ripe though :rolleyes:

[Skydiver]

Don't give up hope yet, Sky. They may just be going through a phase of shock.

Shock indeed. 99% of the leaves have dropped off leaving only a few. It doesn't "feel" dead, though. The stem still feels alive, and the peppers that are left aren't drying up.

I'm still watering it and talking to it and trying to send some good growy happy cappy thoughts to it.

[imaguitargod]

Sounds like it will survive. Be sure not to overwater.

[Scotty]

Mine are toast. Got 4 inches of snow the other day. :(

[marcosauces]

Welcome to the club scotty..lost mine too..

[imaguitargod]

Mine are still producing, flowers, peppers, and new leaves!

[marcosauces]

Mine are still producing, flowers, peppers, and new leaves!

Yeah..you don't get 28 degrees in November ..:)

[imaguitargod]

Yeah..you don't get 28 degrees in November ..:)
Well, ya, that's true... :hell:

[marcosauces]

oops...i meant October

[Skydiver]

Leaves are all pretty much gone.
a few of the larger peppers are still on the plant. They haven't turned leathery or wilted and seem to be ripening.

there may be two small leaves opening up, but not 100% sure.

guarded optimism.