Here in the UK the snow is falling and winter is most definitely here. As i mentioned a few weeks ago while i was having a tidy of the chilli house, over wintering some of my best plants is very much on my mind.
On our main over wintering article we discuss how to over winter chilli plants. Success rates can be a bit hit or miss (as i found out last year when i lost all of my plants) but it is well worth doing, particularly for late fruiting or slow growing varieties like habaneros, naga, bhut jolokia etc.
For not much effort you can have a chance of having fully established plants raring to flower as soon as Spring arrives in earnest. Definitely worth it in my opinion…
To over winter my plants I simply strip back all of the foliage and cut back the main stem so it is about 20cm high. In the past i have trimmed back the root balls slightly however this years plants were kept in quite small pots so i’m not going to bother.
After trimming I keep the plants indoors to avoid the cold and water them about once a week. Fingers crossed this batch will fare better than last years!
I am overwintering my Bhut Jolokia’s. I brought them in in the middle of October. Left them as they are did not cut back left the unripened chillis on the plant which have now turned red. I don’t have any windows that has good lighting. Any leaves that fall I put in the pot for natural fertlizer. I am watering once a week or once every two weeks as they look like they need a drink. Treating them as a house plant. We see how they do. It’s Decenber and they are looking good.
I do the same thing with my chilli peppers. I keep it in a greenhouse, and most of them usually survive the winter!!
I’d like to try your Chilli Bread Recipe one of these days!!!
Have a nice day!
Laura