2013-14 Winter Indoor Peppers (and eggplants)

[applestar]

Peppadew are turning red:

[ReptileAddiction]

Looking great as always!

[gixxerific]

I so wish I had a window I could use. Those peppers look good you are doing a great job Applestar as ususal.

I said I would start peppers a page or so ago which I did. I dropped a bunch of seed for some reason only one popped up and it didin't make it (mice might be the reason for it dissapearing). So nothing for me, my winter trials went to hell fast, I am worried my spring starters will have problems. If so I may just start growing grass.

[applestar]

Don't be discouraged, Gixx. This is particularly tough time of the year to grow anything inside.

Mine have deteriorated quite a bit now. It's the combination of super cold temps this winter has been dishing out, which causes the heater to run constantly and drag down the relative humidity (By lights out, the RH reads 45-48%, then I thoroughly mist in the morning and barely bring it up to 65% or so. Now at mid-day it's already down to 52%) Then there are the ants that have established my indoor garden as their winter aphid pasture. Yep, aphids and more aphids.

I will have to make a decision soon and eradicate them so MY warm weather spring starters will not be affected. I think my peppers are telling me they are getting tired anyway, so I will most likely let them hibernate -- back off on watering, put them in colder areas and give them a stumpy cut (main stem and a few sturdy side branches). This is a good time to do it since they can have their 4-6 week rest during the winter's coldest period, then be ready to leaf out with the longer, warmer days. My "Winter Wonderland" faces SE and right now the sun is rising in the horizon directly facing the window. Sunrise will migrate further and further east to ENE as the days get longer and they will get more sun exposure by late Feb.

I can't prune them down until the aphids are gone because they will suck the tender new pepper leaves dry

[gixxerific]

I may be discouraged but I am not down for the count. I removed all my plants as well, as you know I had problems so I wanted to TRY and take care of that before the spring seeding onslaught.

Sounds to me you are ready for the Praxxus pepper method. This would actually be a great time giving them time to regenerate before there spring debut, good luck with them.

[applestar]

Someone's doing an awfully good marketing job, because I think of it more as a container pepper variation of Fatalii's "Bonchi" method since that is where I first saw it....
https://www.fatalii.net/Bonsai_Chiles_Bonchi

...but who knows who had the original concept

Yeah I have been trimming down my overwintering peppers at some point -- early on in Fall as I bring them in, some time after they drop their leaves in the chilly garage, or just before they start to leaf out as the days lengthen between the winter solstice and the spring equinox ever since I started overwintering them.

Don't know if the garage ones will survive this winter since we had such plunging cold temps, and I lost a couple of the peppers inside (but that's why I try to bring in extras), but I'm starting to prune down the indoor ones as they finish producing fruits, and one of the two eggplants I brought in the house is still alive and actually trying to bloom (though I think it's too cold for it to set fruit -- first blossom dropped off last week).

[PennyG]

Looks great!!

[applestar]

One surviving eggplant in the house -- despite suffering from tomato leafminer and aphid attacks, is blooming again.

[beakhouse]

I'm going to have to show my ignorance here and ask a question - when you overwinder peppers, are they in the ground and you pot them up or have they always been in a pot and you can bring them inside? I'm thinking, if I'm going to start from seed soon and they can do well in a container, I won't have to take up in-ground garden space? Perhaps?

[applestar]

It depends on the variety and required container size.

Most of this year's over wintered hot peppers grew in containers last year and were brought in after uppotting or repotting, but most of the peppers in this post were in-ground 32"-48" pepper plants that had been dug up and severely pruned to minimize container size and growing space taken up in the limited winter indoor space.

[beakhouse]

And peppers will continue to grow/produce during the winter? That just opened up a whole new avenue. Can these same plants go back into the ground when the weather warms up sufficiently? If so, at what point do you start with new plants, if ever, to maintain production?

[beakhouse]

I think I just found the answer to my question - I started poking around (you know how it is on forum threads) and am finding huge amounts of overwintering info. My word! Ya'll know yer peppers!

[applestar]

Have fun! I'm slowing increasing the number of variety in my "collection" even if there are only one or two plants per variety -- but you really don't need a whole lot of hot pepper plants for home use.

I probably won't be posting much more in this thread this year -- some of my overwintered as dormant plants in the garage plants have been sent outside on the patio for the rest of spring. I didn't get the chance to bring them in back at the end of Dec-beginning of January timeframe and it got so very cold this winter, so I'm not even sure if they all survived.

The ones inside had become pretty tattered and ragged looking during the winter, and some of them lost all their foliage due to cold or aphid infestation. Some but not all have been pruned down to sticks. I think one that was pushed back in a corner died from neglect, but others are starting to leaf out and grow flower buds and some are setting fruit already.

I'm starting to give them dilute fertilizer, but I don't want to encourage huge flush of growth because I just don't have room for them under the limited number of best light set ups which are needed for the spring seedlings. The inside ones won't be permanently going out for another 6 weeks or so. I'll repot them or plant them in the ground and cut them back again at that point so they can grow good sturdy growth under the sun. They should start blooming immediately.

This eggplant is blooming again -- so far basically bloomed and dropped blossoms all through the winter. I buzzed this one too and it pollen puffed, but I may pinch it and repot it instead of letting it try to grow fruit. The way it grew in this arched way has caused all the buds to grow along the stem. It should be interesting to see how it ends up looking once it gets warm enough to go outside and really take off.

[applestar]

Heh. I was wondering why the pepper photos I posted weren't here. It looks like I posted some interim pepper photos since February in this thread:
Subject: Embrace Your INNER APE –dealing with APHIDS >> got ladybugs