• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

overwintering Any special Instructions on digging up plants for winter early.

Benjoe

Benjoe

I am not going to be digging them up just yet, I was just wondering if there is anything I can do to prep them for when I dig them up later. I do not want to compromise there flowers though. This is the first year Im growing a Bhut Jolokia, and it seems like I wont get any peppers this year as they are just now starting to flower and I hear it takes a long time for them to ripen.

Also how would I go about digging them up for winter. Bare root them? and then stick them in potting soil? i have tried to overwinter peppers before, But I believe I did it all wrong. As all of them just finished ripening the peppers on the plant and then slowly started to loose all their leaves before November.

Thanks
Ben

PS: The Bhut plant isnt that big, only like a foot and a 1/2 at the most. But it is very healthy as far as I know. What size pot should I use, And Im going to be using Miracle Grow potting soil, as thats the only potting soil around here that I can find for a decent price
 
What dirt/soil are they growing in now? As I understand your post they are in the ground?
It would be good to know what you did before when you said; "But I believe I did it all wrong".
 
I'd remove the plants from the ground and trim the roots up to fit nicely in the pot you plan to use for overwintering. Now you'll likely want to cut back the tops about the same amount as the roots got cut back to keep things proportional. You may also want to give your soil a good soaking with soap and water to eliminate as many pests as possible.
Now you have to decide whether you are going to just overwinter(let them go semi-dormant) or try to keep the plants growing with as much light as possible.
If you just plan to overwinter, you want very little light and a fairly cool environment. You may also want to use some potassium fertilizer in the fall but then lay off the nutrients.
If you plan to grow over the winter then you'll need adequate lighting, and you'll need to keep fertilizing. Just watch for aphids and other pests, and if you don't have good lighting watch out for your plants getting too leggy
 
+10 P
 
The local plant store told me (for other plants, not peppers specifically) to cut it back, take all the leaves off, and put a black garbage bag over the top and cover the whole plant and stuck it in the bottom of the pot. Now, I havnt tried this with peppers, but I have taken peppers inside (they were never in ground- in pots all season) and it f@ckin sucked! All winter was such a fight to protect the plants from nasty bugs. (Im in NY so winter for us is Nov-April .. so thats a long time to be fighting these f-heads. I cant tell you how much money I spent on organic bug killer and in the end.. the plants are producing smaller fruits and theyre not as good.

So, the moral of the story is: it is SO not worth bringing peppers in- just start earlier next year! I grew some plants from seeds this year and got like 50 from cross country nurseries which is in NJ, all the plants we got from them have been extremely healthy and growing great.

Just my suggestion and experience! Good luck

xo Nicole
 
My biggest problem in overwintering has been over watering. Because the plants have reduced or no leaves, they need very little water. Too much water causes root rot and kills the plant.
 
Thanks for all the responses.

When I tried overwintering them before, I just dug out a big portion of dirt that was around the plant and plopped it into a pot. I know I should have gotten some potting soil instead, but my funds were limited and I was just going to see what I could do with regular soil.

And yes, they are all in dirt right now, in the garden.

Is there any special way of digging them up without ripping the roots to shreds?

Oh, and I am going to be just overwintering them without extra lighting, Just the light that comes through the windows.
 
Just cut the roots in a circle with a spade or even yank the plant out

19828389126dbd3195dfxt3.jpg


Direct window light may be too much for semi-dormancy, and too little for growing a good solid plant. Its a fine balance
 
I overwintered several a couple of years ago but they were already in containers. I cut all the leaves off and sprinkled garlic on the dirt. They sat a a wood floor in a heated but not hot room. Every two weeks, I watered them quite heavily. They grew, but just a bit so I would trim off any new shoots before watering.

They did great, until I got busy starting several hundred seeds and forgot to water them. That did them in.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
I overwintered several a couple of years ago but they were already in containers. I cut all the leaves off and sprinkled garlic on the dirt. They sat a a wood floor in a heated but not hot room. Every two weeks, I watered them quite heavily. They grew, but just a bit so I would trim off any new shoots before watering.

They did great, until I got busy starting several hundred seeds and forgot to water them. That did them in.

Mike
Click to expand...


Whats the garlic do? Never heard of this... for pests?

xo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top