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overwintering Eyes Bigger than Space - Overwintering

C

cmpman1974

I realized today I have some issues. I've got a 10' x 10' portable greenhouse filled with pepper plants in containers. I keep telling myself I'll overwinter this and that and that and.....

SMACK Chris..knock yourself into reality. You've only got room for 5-10 plants in 8 to 10" containers indoors. I have 30+ in the greenhouse and others I am dreaming of digging up in the ground and potting for overwintering

My wife will smack me silly if I tried to bring them all in. We only have a little space in our living room window. Ahhh...the dreams of a 30' x 30' heated greenhouse in the winter. lol.

Anyone relate here?

Chris
 
i think i know where your at! I really need to be sensible next year and so far it's working. (haven't planted any seeds yet though) i've got a chopped choc hab thats already regrowing and have just chopped a naga today and i wanna chop a devils tongue, and another choc hab and, and, and, oh yea i can relate!
 
Definitely Chris...I can definitely relate...I am so scared of losing my best plants that I don't know what to do...cut back to nubs and grow thru winter?...only got room for about 4 or 5 in my grow box...got permission to put 3 or 4 in front of the living room window and no room for anything else...I am getting ready to look into portable green houses to put up in my new grow area. I have found these 8' X 10' portables that can zip together on the ends for a little over $200 each and even if I get 3 of them I can only put 25-27 plants max in there...I don't know what to do except say F*** it and start fresh from new seed next year...

sorry for my bitc***"....
 
cmpman1974 said:
Ahhh...the dreams of a 30' x 30' heated greenhouse in the winter. lol.

Anyone relate here?

Chris
Click to expand...

Yes indeed Chris. That is on the list of stuff I will have if I ever hit the lottery hahaha.
Aside from that how is the shoulder doing? Hope all is well.

AJ
I am trying the drastic cutback this year and will let you know how it goes. If they do well next years plan is to try a range of pots going from the size I used this year down to a very small size to see what I can get away with. The goal being to overwinter a good number of plants in a very small area. I will be sure to let you know how it goes.
 
no hijack intended Chris.

Josh, last year I cut that Orange Hab bush to a nub and planted it into an 8" container december 5th....by the time plantout came, the plant was about 30" in diameterand about 20" tall and it was a 7 gallon container...I only have room for 4 of those containers in my grow box...
 
AlabamaJack said:
no hijack intended Chris.

Josh, last year I cut that Orange Hab bush to a nub and planted it into an 8" container december 5th....by the time plantout came, the plant was about 30" in diameterand about 20" tall and it was a 7 gallon container...I only have room for 4 of those containers in my grow box...
Click to expand...
Well you cut them back and then let them grow though right. I am trying to keep them from growing by keeping them in my basement. That is the real test. Whether or not they will survive my basement. I hope they are still nubs through February. Probably bring them upstairs March 1st that way they don't get too big before I put them out during the second half of May.
It is all a learning experience for me though so who knows.
 
Josh said:
Well you cut them back and then let them grow though right. I am trying to keep them from growing by keeping them in my basement. That is the real test. Whether or not they will survive my basement. I hope they are still nubs through February. Probably bring them upstairs March 1st that way they don't get too big before I put them out during the second half of May.
It is all a learning experience for me though so who knows.
Click to expand...

cool, so you are going to try the dormant thing...if I can learn how before it is time (1 month), I can try that with probably 50 plants or so....

hey Chris..you still online?....talk to us bro...
 
Right now the pots I have them in are 9 inches in diameter by 8.5 inches tall. I would ideally like to jam next years plants into something like 6x6 inch containers but I don't know if that is possible. I will have to experiment with it.
 
What I was thinking was cutting them extremely back to nubs and roots too leaving a little dirt with the root ball...then wraping them in pieces of burlap sacks and shoving them in a dark cold corner for the winter....the packaging is thougth to be kinda like the packaging roses come in when you but them at stores...dip the ends in wax to seal them...
 
Well it sounds doable I guess the only thing to do is try. This is all new to me but I guess that is part of the fun of it. The plants I am trying to overwinter now are 2 orange habs, 1 red hab, and 1 yellow scotch bonnet. I planned on growing from seed again next season but I figured why not give this a try. If they survive awesome. If not oh well. Although now that I think of it if they do survive I am going to have to find probably 3 of them homes because that will certainly add to the number of plants I already planned on growing.
 
you got my mind started now...if I build a 3' wide by 8' long plywood box that was 2' deep with a hinged lid and waited 'till the first frost to cut back, I could depend on colder weather to make the plants go dormant and it would be dark in there...air circulation would be the only thing I would worry about....bingo...design efforts beginning...heck, I could put at least 90 plants in there if I gave each plant six square inches of "floorspace"... maybe 120 or so if I pack them in....
 
I put in the basement about dozen plant plus running hydroponics Aeroflo & bubbler, my wife don't like idea but she come down so far we are good the only think she don't like it when I go down the stairs so many times but we are fine .
 
Well! This thread is near and dear to my heart. I was just thinking that maybe our spouses should have their own forum where they could all complain about us to each other.:lol:

A number of years ago, my wife went through all of this with me. It started with one Caribbean Red Habanero plant which I just had to keep, setting up a corner in the basement near the furnace with a growlight I hooked up and after 3 or 4 years we were up to about two dozen different plants complete with bugs all over the house. It was them or me...apparently, and I decided to avoid the divorce court. I've laid low with the whole over-wintering thing for a few years now, but this year I've brought a plant in that I just have to keep. So far...okay. I am going to try to sneak two more plants in...maybe this weekend. Wish me luck.:pray:
 
good luck PC...we are in the same boat...my wife brings all her plants in the house and that leaves very little room for any peppers...hopefully I can usurp some of her room...

hmmmm...those palm trees in those 25 gallon containers don't look too healthy... :lol:
 
AlabamaJack said:
I could put at least 90 plants in there if I gave each plant six square inches of "floorspace"... maybe 120 or so if I pack them in....
Click to expand...

Hahah I like the way you think. If you do this I am going to need to see some pics.
 
AJ,

Re your grow box: have you considered attaching a kitchen exhaust fan to a side with a sliding panel inside? Once a day (or twice a week - whatever) you could open the vent and circulate all the air you want. Three other things to consider: make it four feet wide instead of three. You won't have to rip the board but you would pick up an extra eight square feet of room. Also, when I priced plywood, it was $32 a sheet for 1/2. 7/16" fiberboard is $11 a sheet, plus it is lighter weight, a consideration for at least the lid. Third, I would add four CFL bulbs on each 8-foot 2x4. Come spring time, you could turn on the lights and start the growing season a couple of weeks earlier.

Mike
 
thanks for the suggestion of the exhaust fan Mike...I had not thought of that...but it is in the design now...

I have also thought of the width issue...instead of making one box that is 3 or 4 feet wide...since width is an issue with space...I may just make two boxes that are 2 feet wide and stack them one upon another with enough room to open the bottom lid...

I haven't thought about growing the plants in the boxes yet, but if I have 64 plants in each box, space will be very limited....this is just to be a "dormancy" box...
 
The exhaust fan is a good idea but would it be cheaper in terms of initial cost and electricity to rig up two computer fans mounted at the top of two of the walls across from each other?
 
Definately for a smaller box. I'm thinking more for a growing chamber where a stronger breeze is necessary. If all I was going to do was overwinter plants, I probably would not worry about a box but instead build stands, six feet tall with three shelves. If there is too much light, go to Big Lots or a similar store and pick up some cheap window blinds and hang them around the plants. They would filter out most of the light yet still allow lots of air to circulate.

Mike
 
Well, here's what beautiful plants look like now in the greenhouse...chopped and ready to be pulled inside before next frost. :)

Chris

P1070500.jpg
 
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