Should dormant Peppers be transplanted now like Fruit trees?

Sun Jan 20, 2013 10:39 pm

Hi,

I have a 2 year old pepper plant I want to put in the ground. Should I put it in now, is it the best time?

Mon Jan 21, 2013 2:43 am

I know you are in southern california, but just for reference point, could you describe the current weather conditions there?

I won't even attempt to advise you. Over here, I think we're finally getting into brass tacks and normal winter weather: Forecasted overnight lows for this week are in the teens Ã‚Â°F ...ending the week with Friday-Sat low of 9Ã‚Â°F according to one wether site. :shock:

...I may have to bring INSIDE the overwintering dormant pepper plants out in the unheated garage...

Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:33 am

I used to keep mine in ground in socal all year. They overwintered fine, if your at elevation wait until night temps are in the 40s

Mon Jan 21, 2013 10:18 am

You should be able to transplant them once you're past your last frost. I had a 2 year old jalapeno and a serrano that was several years old, both were producing peppers until we had a frost last week and both died though they were covered. The serrano survived many winters outdoors in a pot and had been transplanted at the end of August. If they have torn and tender roots they'll be susceptible to a frost. My hot peppers tend to get stressed and bloom when I transplant them, so maybe you'll bring them out of dormancy.

Mon Jan 21, 2013 1:52 pm

All my peppers are outdoors. The ones in the ground are unaffected by the weather. But I have a few in pots and can see some cold damage to their tips. It is starting to warm up more now but like 2 weeks ago it got really cold and windy. We got weather that was pretty uncommon, in the upper 30s.
From all the peppers I have overwintered outdoors I have discovered that some species can handle the cold better than others. I hear peppers do not like their roots disturbed. So I was thinking now that they are dormant it might be the best time to transplant them. We are getting days in the lower 70s and lows in the mid 40s. There is even a few nights in the lower 50s this week.

Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:45 pm

Check the Farmer's Almanac forecast for your area, if it isn't going to get colder I'd put them in the ground. I noticed that my bell peppers get stunted from the stress if they are not dormant when I transplant, but I only grow them as annuals. I grow my hot peppers as perennials, so they have more time to recover and they produce year round. But every few years we have a cold snap (the desert is so unpredictable...) and lose a few. My peppers died this year because it was less than 40 (highs) for almost a week. Low 20s at night and my peppers just said *&$% @&! and died!
I would do it now if it won't get much colder so you can get a a jump on production. Supposed to be a warm spring in these parts.

Mon Jan 21, 2013 4:28 pm

You've reminded me that I want to organize my pepper seeds by species to understand and give them more appropriate care.

Good luck with your peppers. :wink:

Tue Jan 22, 2013 3:23 pm

What do dormant peppers look like? My peppers don't really go dormant. They will slow production in November or December, but they don't drop leaves or anything. They will look ratty after a few years, but I just chop the tops off and feed them and they get better.

Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:00 pm

Imafan26, Kind of like how you describe. Mine just slow way down and seem to do nothing until it starts to warm up. Some of the peppers I have in pots have dropped some leaves and have dead tips. Others in pots and those in the ground are unharmed by the colder weather. I think it has to do with species, some are more cold tolerant than others. I grow Annuum, Baccatum, and have one Chinense. I did the transplant already today. Seemed to go pretty smooth.

Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:51 am

Thanks for the explanation. I know some of my peppers have longer lives than others. Tobasco can live over ten years in the ground but only 4 or 5 in a pot. Habanero can also go more than a couple of years. Someone wrote they had a two year old Jalapeno and people regularly get tons of peppers until frost.
My Jalapeno's rarely make it to a second year and production drops off so much it is not worth keeping. If I get 5 bell peppers from one plant it is good, 8 would be amazing. The only bell pepper that produced successively was Kaala. It is a very small bell pepper 1/3 the size of a normal bell but much more disease tolerant.