[...] for the last three years I have overwintered chilli plants, albeit with varying degrees of success.
Every autumn I have the same dilemma: should I overwinter my chilli plants or not? I probably shouldn't bother, as they quite often die, but I always end up taking them indoors. It seems so wasteful throwing them in the compost bin.
Although they're usually grown in the UK as annuals, chilli plants (native to South and Central America) are perennial, so overwintering them shouldn't be a problem, if you live somewhere nice and hot. The theory is that if they survive winter, the plants flower and fruit far earlier than those sown in spring. Overwintering chillies can be a bit of a struggle in the UK though, unless you can offer them plenty of warmth and light (which I can't).
Nevertheless, for the last three years I have overwintered chilli plants, albeit with varying degrees of success. The first year I brought two 'Cayenne' plants indoors in autumn. They lived on the sunny kitchen windowsill and (just about) survived winter. The following year they flowered and fruited before those I grew from seed, but they didn't yield as good a crop as they had produced the year before, or as much as the younger plants.
The second winter they gave up the ghost, and died. Luckily, I also overwintered four 'Cheyenne' chilli plants I had raised from seed that year, but three of those died (I suspect vine weevil was involved), leaving the smallest, weakest one alive. It's still alive now, but hasn't so much as flowered this year. At what point should you give up on a plant? (I know, a year ago.)
Apparently, certain varieties are easier to overwinter than others. This year I grew a yellow variety called 'Hot Stuff', which is supposed to overwinter well. The plants are still in fruit (which are delicious) and look healthy. It would be a shame to let the frost get them. If I do bring them in I'll repot them in fresh compost and keep them in the warmest, lightest part of the flat. Who knows, perhaps these will be the ones that survive winter and go on to flower and fruit their socks off next year. I like a challenge.
Have you successfully overwintered chillies?
Gardeners' World Web User
21/10/2011 at 21:47
I've been growing many chilies for the last five years or so, only last year I tried overwintering them (I wanted to experiment). I brought them in on the windowsill but the house was invaded by aphids, literally (lots of them flying around and sticky substances around the window). I managed to control them to some degree by giving them a jet of water in the shower, but after about two months of doing this, I'm starting to wonder if it was worth it. Those I left in the conservatory didn't make it, but the ones in the house on the windowsill was ok. In late winter, I gave them a drastic cut until about 20 cm of the soil level. They grew back very well, but now at the end of the season I also find their fruits are not as big as those I started from seed this year, though there are as many of them. So, I think the conclusion of my experiment is it's not worth the effort of trying to keep control of the aphids for the whole winter. On the other hand, lots of the fruits are still green until now so I don't really want to kill them yet. I have one more experiment I want to do: overwinter them, and in late spring give them a hair cut and root cut, then re-plant in new compost. Maybe then I'll get a good result?
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