??Keeping Peppers alive through the winter??

I have a bunch of Caribbean Red Habernaros that have been grown outdoors in containers of a modified MSM mix.

I have a 10 x 12 greenhouse that I plan on keeping plants in this winter. It gets COLD. We had 20" of snow in my yard from Dec till April one year. My house is on a Eastern facing slope so we get a lot of sun in places throughout the property. I placed the GH in one of these hot spots. Got tooooo hot in july so I had to place most stuff outside to keep it from frying ,even with shade cloth.

Looking for advice on what type of heater I need to add to the greenhouse to keep the peppers alive, not flowering or fruiting, just Alive. So next year I'll have monsters to get a head start.

Are heat mats enough to keep life or will I need mats and some type of ambient heat. On days the sun is out I dont think there would be need for additonal heat.

Would it be better bringing them indoors until next spring?

"Would it be better bringing them indoors until next spring? "

1 cold night that you think you're ready for and not is always the one that gets ya. Heat mats won't, imvho, provide what you need. If the roots are warm and the leaves get cold they still fall off. Some type of heater, maybe a portable propane type or a natural gas heater set on a temp controller would be the best bet as it will provide the heat needed to keep your leaves from over exposure to the cold and you know where that would lead. Some venting may be needed to release fumes.
Keeping them inside in your normal controlled temps would probably be best and cheaper than heating your green house. Along side in your veg room would be ideal.
A friend and I had a small green house back home. It didn't get as cold as your area and we damn sure didn't get the snow you had, but keeping the inside of the green house and the plants warm enough was a challenge when the temps dropped into the teens.

Hope that helped a bit.

We cut them back to the main stem leaving a few major branches with visible nodes / growth sites attached. Then bring them indoors and reduce watering over Winter.

Alternatively ,, you can wrap the pot in insulation material and keep it in a glasshouse overwinter.

In Spring the plants are given a root-pruning and re-potted into a fresh growing medium.

This plant is 2 years old in photo..

.. now in it's 3rd (and final) season this year

Always aim to keep the plant pest and disease free,, that's the MOST important thing.!

Hope this helps

Thanks.

I have some Bhut Jolokias growing inside under the big lights. One in the modified MSM mix and one in a drip system.

If bringing them inside is the final choice I have a 400mh or I'll go buy a couple of T5's to keep em under in a separate area. Prune em back etc.

I planted strawberries outdoors in one of the hotspots 4 years ago and I cover them with pine needles every winter we now have the biggest freakin patch of berries in the Mtn's youve ever seen. Keeping the deer, bears and skunks off them is a full time job.

My greenhouse is a full square alum framed 6 mil plastic panels, sealed well, gets hotter than hell so Im thinking I can put a small heater on a thermostat and as soon as that sucker kicks on 1 time; bring em inside and put them in a spare closet.

To add:

The objective is to keep the pepper plant in stasis over-Winter. Reducing watering slows growth,, as does the photo-period (number of light hours). Because chillies come from a warm climate,, it is possible to treat them as bi-annuals,, even tri-annuals,, so long as you dont push it.

We like to select only the healthiest plants in each variety for over wintering. Normally the ones with the most potential for next season; based on a balance between the "good croppers" and the ones that grew most uniform and to type with the best flowers and most flavourful fruits. (not always the hottest)

Hope this helps

AFIK, you have two options:

You can to hack them down and put them in cool/dark location and keep them dormant for the winter.

OR

If you don't hack them down, you need to put light on them, and keep them warm and happy.


Peppers loose their vigor each year, and I wouldn't recommend keeping the plants for more than 3 or 4 seasons.
I've also done this with citrus with amazing results. I'm sure there are tons of other perennials you can put into stasis for overwintering.