Overwintering my plants?

[CrazyConure]

Hey guys. First let me say, I love in a tropical area and I don't get any frosts on the winter.

Is it possible to continue growing my tomatoes and peppers in the winter? Do I leave them all as they are right now, or do I trim them short? What's the process for overwintering?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Chuck]

Hey guys. First let me say, I love in a tropical area and I don't get any frosts on the winter.

Is it possible to continue growing my tomatoes and peppers in the winter? Do I leave them all as they are right now, or do I trim them short? What's the process for overwintering?

Thanks in advance!!

As long as it doesn't frost your plants will continue to grow, albeit very slowly. If you prune them the required photosynthesis will slow because of the lack of foliage you pruned away. In all reality you should remove the plants and replace them with cole crops, and then as soon as they produce replant with tomatoes and peppers. Remember that tomatoes and peppers require a certain temperature to reproduce. In every instance I have ever had with overwintering, the plants did not produce nearly as much as plants that were planted new.

 

[CrazyConure]

Oh ok.

Here's the plan. I'll keep everything as is (not going to expect any harvests) and right before the spring, I'll trim the tomatoes down and let them start with a big root system. I'm not going to plant any cole crops because I don't have any extra containers for it.

Next year, I'm going to grow vegetables by season. This year was my experiment at growing. Now that I get the jist of things, I feel like I'll do better next year.

Also, the reason I'm not just yanking the plants out and just restarting them on spring is because I bought them as plants. Once I get a fruit, I can save seeds and grow the rest of my plants as annuls.

 

[zigs]

I've overwintered Tomatoes and Peppers before, they slow down when the days get short but give you a head start in the spring.

 

[CrazyConure]

I've overwintered Tomatoes and Peppers before, they slow down when the days get short but give you a head start in the spring.

Did you do anything to them when you wanted to overwinter them?

 

[zigs]

Did you do anything to them when you wanted to overwinter them?

Just brought them inside, didn't water very much, and kept them in the sunniest part of the house. Looking back, an LED growlight would have kept 'em cropping.

Something like this

 

[Chuck]

Are your tomatoes and peppers the correct varieties for seed saving? That is, not hybrids?

 

[CrazyConure]

They aren't. I guess I'll just buy them as plants before spring. They aren't that pricy anyways.

 

[marlingardener]

Both peppers and tomatoes are "tender perennials" which means they are cold sensitive, but will live over winter (and possibly several years) in a climate without frost.
I'd cut them back by 1/2, keep them in a sunny spot where there was protection from wind, and see what happens. You may get a jump start on fruiting in the spring, or you may end up with a larger plant that fruits later. It is an interesting experiment.

 

[GardenStateGardner]

I am overwintering 1 Carolina reaper, 1 Habenaro and 2 Jalapeno. This is year 2 coming in the house for 1 jalapeno.

This is what it looked like after one winter being inside. The funny thing is I found out that Jalapeno plants are not great for overwintering. This baby produced hundreds of peppers.

 

[CrazyConure]

That's beautiful! Gives me hope for my plants.