r/HotPeppers • u/spicyytao • Oct 05 '24
First time trying to overwinter Discussion
First time trying to overwinter any kind of plant whatsoever, but I liked the peppers from my Scorpion Trinidad plant so much that I had to at least try, really hopes it survives and I hope I didn't bring in any unwanted visitors. I went with the following method : 1. Clipped the branches 2. Removed from orignal pot outside and tried to get rid of as much dirt as possible 3. Rinsed the roots/plants and cleaned it at least three times with insecticidal soap 4. Put in a brand new container with dirt for inside plants from a freshly sealed bag.
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u/TurningTwo Oct 05 '24
I just dig them out of the ground, put them in a pot, and set them on the floor next to a south-facing sliding glass door. They make fresh peppers all winter.
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u/Kotaruchan Oct 06 '24
That's what I thought, is cutting them really necessary if you can just have the whole plant in a pot?
Mine have been indoor plants ever since I grew the originals from seeds; A Carolina Reaper and a Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, both now 8 years old, one cutting taken from each that are now 7 years old and as big as the first two such that I have forgotten which is which, and a newer bunch of cuttings I've been keeping as small as possible for a few years now(or trying to), also indoors; https://imgur.com/a/vSc0mWf
Few of the plants in the foreground seem a bit anemic, that because I DID plant them outside for the summer, until just before the frost came, but they've been sprouting new sets of greener leaves now. This is Finland so the possible period outside isn't too long.
Not that they seem to mind a bit colder either, I warm with wood and sometimes in very cold winter days it can reach in the vicinity of 10°C(50°F) if I happen to be away for longer, and generally I tend to keep temperature at most 18°C(65°F) in wintertime to save on wood. They just tend to drop the larger leaves and sprout a bunch of hardier smaller leaves and then the process gets reversed in the Spring.
I have lost some, though not because of temperature, one new cutting that I accidentally over-watered and a few that I gifted at their new owners(shouldn't have gifted, probably too much water too...).
More of an issue is that I periodically have to go wild with scissors on them as they tend to hog all real estate by the window...
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u/spicyytao Oct 06 '24
It get too cold next to a sliding door here in the winter, I'm in zone 5a. I could try a hydro setup but I would have to reorganize a few things to make the place for it, we'll see if it fails to go dormant I might have to go another route.
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u/Compost-Mentis Oct 05 '24
Looks like a great job. For what its worth I've found the trick to overwintering to be the moisture level of the soil -the first year I tried it I let them get too wet and lost quite a few, the second year I over compensated and let them stay too dry for too long and lost almost all of them! I think watering once a week until they start to wake up and then more often is what to aim for.
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u/PerroCerveza Oct 05 '24
Yeah I just check them daily, and when it feels like they are almost dry, that’s the sweet spot to water.
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u/spicyytao Oct 06 '24
This is the part where I was unsure and I ended up putting some quite moist soil in the bottom and gradually drier to the top and I am checking it everyday to see how it's going.
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u/Para_Para Oct 06 '24
Not sure what your room there is like but you might want to get them into a cooler/darker spot to really get them to go dormant.
I have a few fataliis and red habs that I have overwintered, one just ending it's 4th growing season and a few others ending their 2nd/3rd summer. They're in 5-7 gallon fabric pots.
I cut them just like yours but don't even really repot or rinse roots or anything like that. I do keep them in my garage as warmer temps and light seem to wake them up. Even then they still try to push leaves near end of January and I have to pinch off for a while to get into March where at least we have some outdoor days. (7a/b, North Atlanta burbs). I water every 2-3 weeks during hibernation.
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u/spicyytao Oct 06 '24
It's the coldest/less sunny room I have available, I don't really heat this room so about 90% of the time it will be between 15-18 degrees celsius and it only gets sunlight for about 2 hours at the end of the afternoon.
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u/Para_Para Oct 06 '24
That's probably good then. My oldest plant did it's first winter in our upstairs bathroom WC. It's horribly insulated and is a good 10-15 F colder than the rest of the house in the winter and has a very small window.
Just pick off any new leaves that might pop up in the next few weeks and be ready to move it in/out for sun if it wakes up early.
Best of luck, and if it works out it's a great way to get 2 maybe 3 rounds of peppers in one season!
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u/spicyytao Oct 06 '24
Having a short season where I am from this is exactly what I am trying to achieve, get an head start next summer and hope I can get more out of it, I almost lost the plant earlier this summer and only ended up with a dozen pods that survived.
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u/cemeteryqueen Oct 06 '24
When do you cut yours back? I'm in the same zone and I'm not sure when to start. Do you go by temp only or do you let the plant give you clues too? Mine are trying to flower again at this point because it's still high 70s here though its dropping to 50s at night more often now. This will be my first year trying to over winter
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u/Para_Para Oct 06 '24
I go by the temperature, when it starts getting into the low 40s at night I'll cut them and pull them inside. Last year it was Nov 2 based on a picture I took.
I have a few peppers left ripening and there are some buds popping out too, I've just been kinda pinching those off for the past few weeks and will continue to do so. The cooler night temps usually stop the flowers and they start to wind down and drop some leaves.
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u/geronimogriza Oct 05 '24
Okay okay an Aston Martin - LOTR fan here… good luck overwintering!
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u/stu1710 Oct 06 '24
Aragorn; you have my sword Legolas; and you have my bow Gimli; and my axe Lawrence; and my Lance?...
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u/Mattu47 Oct 06 '24
I would think that would be good...I have a 3 year old Trinidad scorpion I have done this too each winter and never had an issue
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u/btvb71 Oct 05 '24
Please explain further the insecticide soap process. Brand/mixture of things/etc. TIA
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u/Scrappyz_zg Oct 05 '24
Use a 5 gallon bucket with insect soap and water and dunk the roots so they are submerged. Let them soak for a bit. Peppergeek on YouTube has a nice process showing it
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u/spicyytao Oct 06 '24
I used insecticidal soap from a company called Safer's and also black soap, submerged the roots in a container 3 times and did a big wash of all the plant with the black soap 2 times.
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u/phrk Oct 06 '24
Perfect prune. gonna be fine. I overwintered two scorpions last year and they both survived. I placed them near a basement window and gave them a tiny bit of water once in a while. I’m surprised you pulled yours already. My scorpions are still producing. I have a sugar rush peach pepper plant that is 3 years old. Not sure I’ll overwinter again. My new plants seem to produce just as much. At 2 years old, my scorpions are about 4 foot tall bushes.
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u/spicyytao Oct 06 '24
I'm from Canada and it's starting to get too cold, nights are 6-8 (42f-46f)degrees celsius and days varies anywhere between 10-16 (50-60f). Seasons are short here and this is why I am trying the overwinter process to get a head start next year and I also hope it will be more resilient to the occasionally random cold days we can still get late may/early june, I almost lost it earlier in the summer.
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u/rilytryn Oct 06 '24
Not sure where you all are.
In central Jersey and will try to over winter my plant.
Remove all the leaves?
How cold can they handle ?
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u/spicyytao Oct 06 '24
The cold tolerance changes alot depending on the pepper variety, my cayennes/cayanetta and my basket of fire are producing as long as it's not freezing outside, my Scorpion leafs started yellowing like autumn leafs two weeks ago.
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u/Due_Platform_5327 Oct 05 '24
The harsh treatment usually gets rid of the bugs, now it’s whether the plant survives it and through the winter.
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u/Bowzer Zone 5, Intermediate Gardener Oct 06 '24
I've been hearing that Systemic granules work very well at killing any nasty bugs from outside for overwintering plants. I've done the same setup as you have, but unfortunately got fungus gnats from potting soil that had been stored outdoors. Thanks, Lowe's!
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u/proxyclams Oct 06 '24
I did same procedure last season with several Reapers, and a couple Ghosts, and they all survived. (Until the next year when they caught some sort of fungus after I moved them back outside and I didn't fungicide aggressively enough - RIP - but the overwintering went just fine!)
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u/spicyytao Oct 06 '24
Such a bummer that you had issues with fungus after a successful overwintering, hope your next try goes better.
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u/proxyclams Oct 07 '24
Well I learned my lesson. Apply generous amounts of Copper Fungicide quickly and frequently until it disappears!
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u/Washedurhairlately Oct 06 '24
Going to try overwintering myself this year. We’re still in growing season in 8b, but I’m racing against shrinking daylight hours and long ripening times for super hot pods for this year. I got cheated a little this grow season because our 90+ days started really early and haven’t let up since Spring. Jalapeños love it, but Reapers not so much.
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u/spicyytao Oct 06 '24
I'm in 5A, my basket of fire is still strong but other than that everything was last harvested 2-3 weeks ago. Hope your overwinter process goes well !
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u/Justic3Storm Oct 06 '24
I just overwintered all my peppers but one. My first time too. Hard to do at first
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u/Scrappyz_zg Oct 05 '24
Same method I will use for my habanero. Post again in spring and let us know how it goes!