Hi Veronica, love your energy & attitude... would appreciate it if you could add a video in 6-8 weeks when peppers are coming on, showing first year peppers compared to overwintered ones. The overwintered plants should have a big head start on root mass, as well as a jump on substantial pruned branches, producing a lot more fruit.
Glad to see you've added more on this topic. I have never thought of peppers as a perennial plant. 100% annual. However, I think I may attempt to save a plant or two toward the end of the season this year to see if I can successfully overwinter a couple. Keep the videos coming.
Hi Veronica :) In your experience do the different varities of hot peppers(habs, cayennes,ghosts) flower at significantly different times. Some of my plants(post prune) have small #'s of huge foliage with no sprouts while others have large #'s of small foliage and sprouts. All are in containers within the same 10x10 area with consistent watering and fertilizing. Have an awesome weekend!
The ghosts/habs have a 96 day ripe tag compared to the 80 day jalp/cayennes. However my habs have full peppers, and the mammoth jap plant is all foliage(looks like tobacco leaves they're so big) - both planted on 5/2 lol
Yes ma'am. I'm pruning back my mammoth jap plant(again) and will be repotting all of em with more soil and fresh mulch as well. They've been fertilized every 2-3 weeks since 5/2 with no extended rain or drought. My Heatmaster tomatoes have some early blight but everything else is rockin!
I appreciate your reply. I just pruned some eggplant in the same manner you recommended pruning peppers. I will let you know how it works out. Now all I need is warm weather in Connecticut so I can plant outdoors
Wow thank you so much it's like you read my mind 😉 I didn't know what to do with my pepper plants.Then you make this video. I thought the pepper plants were dead I cut them down and to my surprise there growing. We are so lucky to see your videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Really great info! I’ve just started wintering peppers over the past 2-3 years and never really knew what to do or expect. Thank you and keep posting!!
Well, at least I know what my peppers would look like if I tried overwintering them, nice! cant wait to see what they look like in the middle of the season. Guess who scored a full-time job at a compost facility! Hope I get an employee discount. They have like 8 acres of land and I will be running most of the stuff as well as taking care of the worms and gonna get to plant some stuff
Have about a dozen that I was lazy with and went without care through our extreme late summer heat, then all the way through winter. All of them are out growing nice variety of peppers today. Praying they make it through our 30 to 50 mph winds today.
Same here! I just planted out a bunch of melons yesterday and the wind was really whipping last night... kind of happy that many of my overwintered peppers are so short now, as I think they might have a better shot should I decide to plant them on the hillside.
Are you in the process of posting any new videos? I'm anxious to see what you can teach me. I've learned so much already from you about gardening and plants.
I am! I got a little caught up in spring planting (plus running the farmstand on weekends as the friends I live with were traveling a lot last month) but plan on shooting a few this week! Sorry for the delay :)
Weather is getting close for this. Im gonna be doing my peppers soon. With last years tips! We chatted briefly in the comments awhile back. Looking forward to sharing the results!
First discovered your content on pruning peppers episode...looking forward to trying your pruning methods out on my channel and in my garden thanks!!!!
Love your videos! Do you have any tips on starting peppers from seed? I saved a bunch of my shishito seeds from last year and not one started. I even tried the bag method with putting them in a wet paper towel in a plastic bag.
In my experience, saved seeds have to be from really ripe fruit. That being said, peppers need more heat/warmth to germinate than other veggie seeds. What were your temps like?
Hi, can you do a comparison of some of your multi year peppers against any new ones from this year when they start to fruit and when they are ready to harvest? I think it would be interesting to see how they perform. Also, how long can the plants live and keep producing fruit?
Good idea- I think I have a shishito and maybe another variety I can try this with! Lifespan depends on so many conditions- food, water, light, heat... I've had some plants 5+ years, and some barely make it through 1. On average, 2-3 tends to be pretty standard for me, and stronger root stock makes it feel worth it year 2.
I just realized that this video is a bit old, LOL! So I left my pepper plants out in freezing temps here in Michigan... will those come back? I wasn't sure if you had played around with letting them sit out in freezing temps. thanks for all the great videos! i need to find a single lady who likes to have fun in the garden with me like you do! LOL!
Hi, I have one suggestion for future vids... sometimes you need to turn away from the camera (to put a pot back on the shelf or whatever.) That's fine, but my suggestion is that you stop your conversation until you are looking the camera right in the eye again. If you watch you will see that the conversation is lost when you turn away. If that doesn't work, you might try a lapel microphone so the sound doesn't cut out. Thanks for all your enjoyable videos!
Great tip- I work 60+ hours a week and shoot when I have time, so it's either use what I get or don't post at all. I'll keep your suggestion in mind though.
This gives me hope for my long suffering ghost pepper plant. It still looks green and healthy but hasn't ever really put out successful blossoms because of the climate and short season last year.
Thanks! And yes I am- have shot a few, just hadn't edited because I accidentally deleted my drivers for FCP and the wifi where I moved to was throttled so it made it impossible to download and work on anything lol. But I found a coffee shop to work at yesterday with pretty fast wifi speeds! So I'm a little behind schedule, but they're coming soon. :) Looking for anything in particular?
Hi Veronica, Just a quick question, what's the oldest pepper plant you've managed to keep going and producing fruit? I'm in the UK so the climate is pretty poor for doing so but I intend to try a few methods.
Hands down black cobra, five plus years (it was in the ground though.) In a pot? Hmm maybe rocoto, de arbol, habañero, 2-3 years with some potting up and a LOT of pruning.
@@VeronicaFlores Thanks for the reply, I was thinking maybe I'd get 3 years out of some potted plans if I do it right, but like I said, the UK climate is pretty bad for peppers. I'm thinking about heating my greenhouse to keep some alive as a frost will kill them and below 41f (5C) for any period of time will kill them. I'm thinking if I trim some plants back and keep the greenhouse around 46f they should survive, then have a good base for the following season.
I've done it on eggplants with some success! Have one in the greenhouse right now that's starting to bounce back. Just make sure they're disease and insect free- can often get 2-3 years out of them, easily.
Have pruned my peppers and the side shoots are amazing. Similarly pruned some eggplant as an experiment. Usually mine get overly talk in the garden and maybe this will build stronger plants. Have you tried pruning eggplants? Any suggestions?
I usually prune eggplants mid-season to open them up slightly (and keep them off the ground- like a topiary almost) but I haven't done it so much for production as disease resistance. That's really the only suggestion I have in that space! My eggplants are stocky little trees by the end of the season, and rarely break.
Hello Veronica, Just watched your pruning video and will prune the plants I grow from seed next year that's for sure. Two questions if you don't mind. I have small plants that I grew from seed in my garden right now. They are various sweet peppers and around 15" tall.. Can or should I prune them now and for how long should I remove flowers to concentrate on plant growth rather than fruiting? Thank you for your videos.
At that height, I'd only prune if I wasn't happy with the growth structure/if they seem like they're going to need staking. You don't want to cut your season too short by pruning too late, so it's better to do it as early as you can before you start seeing flowers and fruit emerge. I only remove flowers for maybe the first month or so after planting (and only with new plants- not overwintered ones.) Once the plants look like they're starting to take off (lots of growth) then I'll let them ride.
Still waiting on it to warm up in zone 4. Seeds started and waiting in the window. Growing TFM Scotch Bonnet and 7 Pot Jonah as well as some tomatoes this year.
Enrique Portillo I think you mean a year ago. A year from now will be next year 2019. Same here though, I cut all mine down to the soil at the end of the season last year thinking they were done. I was surprised when 1 of them started to regrow and now is fairly big.
Did you purchase a greenhouse kit or did you build it yourself? I am interested in getting my own greenhouse built and just looking around for recommendations. It is very windy here which is my only concern (north texas). Thanks!
We're super windy here too! This is a bought kit from Harbor Freight. The base is anchored (bolted) to a paver foundation, which keeps it from blowing away lol. I think there are a lot of ideas online for reinforcing these kits as well to make them even stronger! It's held up for at least 4-5 years now though.
I wasn't successful overwintering a really wonderful ghost pepper plant this past winter. Bummed me out. That plant had an incredible number of peppers by fall of last year. I live in the northeast and I didn't have a good spot to keep it warm and provide enough light. :(
Booooo. I had the same experience with a Peruvian white habanero this winter- didn't survive a few days travel in the cold dark trunk of my car- and I don't think I have seeds anywhere for it. 😭
Hey dude, hope you don't mind I ask your opinion: I have a pepper plant that didn't do too well through 2019 due to my own neglect, it maybe put 15 peppers out all year. Right now it's a little green still and has a bit of foliage since we haven't really had winter down here in Florida. Do you think it would cause too much stress to the plant or kill it if I attempted to prune, fertilize, and grow it under a light in it's container indoors? It's a Hungarian paprika plant so I really want to get some more to smoke and grind into powder 😎
I'd totally consider giving it some TLC, though I'd be tempted to just pot it up with good soil and compost (in at least a quart sized pot if not a gallon or three) as well as prune. Fertilizer can be tricky when it comes to struggling plants- can't make any synthetic recommendations unfortunately, as that's not my space. But for sure give it a shot by at least bringing it indoors and nursing it back to health!
I only repot them once, when I dig them out of the garden for the winter. I try to put them in a suitably sized pot that I can fit extra compost in with them so that they'll have fresh food come springtime. I'll move most of the ones with leaves out to the garden over the next few weeks- you can move them into other pots, but I'd suggest nothing smaller than 1 gallon (they love a good 5-10 gallon if you can swing it.)
Veronica Flores Thanks, Veronica. I have a couple in pots that survived the winter in Jordan in the Middle-East. I'm reluctant to put them in the ground because there are lots of snails in my garden. do snails pose a threat?
I have 2 bell peppers left from my overwintering project. I put them on a warming mat and put some root simulator solution in the soil. I see most of the bark is green ( with some brown parts)..so I am hoping that means it is still alive and is going to take some time to come back. When i cut it, it seems like a dry on the inside. I have a to watch our video again...
I live in coastal Virginia. If i leave my peppers outside in the garden and continue to water them, they could stay alive through the winter? Or was that for warmer climates?
It really depends on your weather patterns and zone- I was able to do it when I lived in zone 10, but it's proven harder here in 8/9. You could try cutting them back, deeply mulching, and covering them with frost cloth and see if they make it!
Could you do a video on pruning a tomato that has some decent size? Mine is becoming a bit of an animal and I don't know how much to take off. I have limited sunlight and don't want the leaves to cover themselves.
Hi Veronica, If one of my potted plants didn’t produce hardly any fruit should I still overwinter or replant? it’s healthy but just didn’t produce due to bud drop, poor pollination and due to excess nitrogen had more foliage than pods.
Oh no! Yeah you do need to check the plants pretty well for hitchhikers if you're bringing them indoors- the aphids on mine mostly froze to death because the greenhouse isn't exactly heated. ;)
I start and pot up seedlings in what I use as fertilizer (compost and worm castings), and plant out with additional compost as well. I don't add anything from a bag unless I'm targeting a specific issue, and only use things like bone meal or blood meal or other plant matter to do so. (I don't believe in using synthetic nitrogen based fertilizers, as the salt buildup in the soil over time creates more issues than it's worth.)
Do those pruners have a rolled metal spring in the middle? If so I have the exact same pair. I think my wife got them from her grandparents. I wonder how old they are.
Veronica do you actually get more fruit since the root structure on those plants is bigger? Are you sure it would not be better just to start from new plants?
I've gotten equal harvests or more the years that I've done it. "Better" is subjective I suppose, but the added bonus of less transplant shock and more overall environmental resilience thanks to an established root system and main stem works well for me.
I like to think so! They at least have a stronger base structure in terms of roots, so they seem to do better the second year when it gets hot and dry.
What zone are you in to over-winter peppers in the greenhouse? Do you use a heat mat in the greenhouse? Growing peppers from seed (as I do every year), it would be nice to keep them. I'm on the west coast, zone 7-ish. Thx.
Zone 8ish here- no heat mat, just thermal mass most of the time. What I've found to work is keeping more cold tolerant plants closer to the greenhouse walls, and peppers on the floor a few feet away. I know that part of the reason some of my plants died this winter was not being watered, but I think a lot of it was temperature too, based on location (like the ones on the benches were more exposed than those on the floor below, which fared much better and even had leaves when I came back.)
so its a temperature thing? could I plant one inside at my kitchen window that gets most exposure to sunlight all year? I was considering Jalapeno and Habanero for starters, if this matters.
I've heard of people keeping peppers indoors all year. I haven't personally tried it- you may have to supplement lighting during the winter a little, but it's worth a shot!
they are doin fine currently, I went with red habanero because I got some that haven't been frozen. I germinated them in a wet tissue paper. they are currently in soil that I use for my terrarium and the first leaf pair is about to be outside the seed. so far so good^^
Tomatoes are definitely tricky to overwinter (I don't recommend it- they tend to hang on to too much disease the longer they kick around.) Peppers make great biennials- I've gotten 5+ years out of some varieties!
Last year i brought a few peppers back inside. The bad thing is that ik also brought aphids into the house. Is there a way to keep the aphids outside or prepare/clean the plants? So my indoor peppers won't be infected and die like mine did last year :(
I usually inspect each plant when bringing it into the greenhouse- you can blast it with a steady stream of water, or a diluted soap spray (don't use a degreaser like Dawn, as it can burn your plants.)
What's wrong with them? I've had some peppers for 5-6 years (moved after, not sure what happened to them), but 3-4 feels pretty common for a lot of their lifespans, at least in my experience, and depending on variety. (The fuzzy leaved ones like "cobra" and "manzano" seem to fare better year to year than the smooth and tender sub-tropical varieties.)
Veronica Flores You are Wright, i have 2 black cobra, they are beatiful but my jalapeños, and bell peppers did not respond well to my pruning and tender love😊😊 maybe because all I talk about its my new peppers, purple,chocolate and yellow bells and nardello that I germinated this year😊
Here as low as the 20s (F) at night, but the greenhouse helps to insulate them (as does the volume of plants in there over winter.) I don't think the ones I had mulched and covered with light frost cloth in the gardens made it. :(
Oh, so there's be little chance of plants exposed to below zero temps surviving? Not that I tried to save them...I didn't realize you could. I did save some peppers to try and grow some seeds.
I’m a veteran gardener who has never tried or even contemplated overwintering peppers. I’ve got a greenhouse and am always up for a challenge I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. I’m curious how the yields of overwintered peppers compare to first year plants. Any specific disease problems?
No specific disease problems that I've had issues with yet. I keep an eye out for aphids and the like, as they love invading all the early leaves like wildfire. Yields for me have generally been equal, if not better, and I've seen less branch breakage, even with heavier than usual yields. Less prone to drying out if you're planting back out in spring, as the root systems tend to be well established and ready to go. I pot up in a container suitable for the size of plant being overwintered, with plenty of compost late fall before first frost. They won't really use most of it until late spring, but not a ton of growing goes on over the winter with these guys (unless your space is heated) and they'll need the food come spring.
How many varieties of chili peppers will you grow this year? I plan on growing around 50 different varieties and will isolate some of the plants in hopes of getting pure seed. Would you be up for trading some chili pepper seeds in the fall?
Totally down to trade! I think we're somewhere between 50-100 varieties, not that I have started half of them yet eeeep. Gonna sow a lot over the weekend- planning on isolating as well!
So last year I was watching Veronica pruning peppers....A concept new to me. So we did prune the babies last year as she showed and they grew into good productive bushes. Growing in pots..biggish pots.Great crop of chillis running into Nov.,Then I brought 7 of them in...did what Veronica is doing now, and put them on a warm..and sunny! Window sill., First they looked a little ahocked...then a little confident...then started pushing out chillis! So I fed them and we had Lots by February and now so many we're freezing some( which totally works BTW). So 7 chilli plants up and running in march in Southern England. I wonder how well they'll carry on into the summer. Of course I am so delighted with Veronica's advice last year. So glad to be subbed...she's a great teacher! Thanks Veronica!
Pruning and low stress training is a must
Hi Veronica, love your energy & attitude... would appreciate it if you could add a video in 6-8 weeks when peppers are coming on, showing first year peppers compared to overwintered ones. The overwintered plants should have a big head start on root mass, as well as a jump on substantial pruned branches, producing a lot more fruit.
The overwintered ones are the only ones really producing right now lol. The others are just getting started.
I’m Montagnard indigenous , I learn from you today thanks.
You know more about gardening than I ever want to know. I only watch your videos because you are beautiful.
Glad to see you've added more on this topic. I have never thought of peppers as a perennial plant. 100% annual. However, I think I may attempt to save a plant or two toward the end of the season this year to see if I can successfully overwinter a couple. Keep the videos coming.
Thanks- I already have peppers on two of these! Just planted them out a few weeks ago. They really took off so quickly. :)
Hi Veronica :) In your experience do the different varities of hot peppers(habs, cayennes,ghosts) flower at significantly different times. Some of my plants(post prune) have small #'s of huge foliage with no sprouts while others have large #'s of small foliage and sprouts. All are in containers within the same 10x10 area with consistent watering and fertilizing. Have an awesome weekend!
Yeah the super hots seem to flower later for me than the "standard" hots. I haven't dug into why exactly yet tho.
The ghosts/habs have a 96 day ripe tag compared to the 80 day jalp/cayennes. However my habs have full peppers, and the mammoth jap plant is all foliage(looks like tobacco leaves they're so big) - both planted on 5/2 lol
Hmmm... same planting medium too?
Yes ma'am. I'm pruning back my mammoth jap plant(again) and will be repotting all of em with more soil and fresh mulch as well. They've been fertilized every 2-3 weeks since 5/2 with no extended rain or drought. My Heatmaster tomatoes have some early blight but everything else is rockin!
I appreciate your reply. I just pruned some eggplant in the same manner you recommended pruning peppers. I will let you know how it works out. Now all I need is warm weather in Connecticut so I can plant outdoors
Your video is chock full of great information and excellent. Your smile is even better. Thanks!
You're knowledgeable and so good on camera. Your channel will grow quickly. Keep at it, Vern!
This is the reason i watch her vid...im learning n the vids are clear
@@queendiy6245 She's not difficult to look at either lol
Great pepper pruning video ^.^ They will be happy pepper plants soon enough.
Great video Veronica., I'm learning a lot from you keep them coming.
Never tried to grow peppers I will now thank you...God bless you
i appreciate you rtie you put in to make these videos ,i have learned so much and love your pruning method i see many results in my own pepper plants
Another terrific, informative video. Thanks !!
Wow thank you so much it's like you read my mind 😉 I didn't know what to do with my pepper plants.Then you make this video. I thought the pepper plants were dead I cut them down and to my surprise there growing. We are so lucky to see your videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Really great info! I’ve just started wintering peppers over the past 2-3 years and never really knew what to do or expect. Thank you and keep posting!!
Well, at least I know what my peppers would look like if I tried overwintering them, nice! cant wait to see what they look like in the middle of the season. Guess who scored a full-time job at a compost facility! Hope I get an employee discount. They have like 8 acres of land and I will be running most of the stuff as well as taking care of the worms and gonna get to plant some stuff
Woot! Now there's a job with perks! Composting FTW!!!
instablaster...
Have about a dozen that I was lazy with and went without care through our extreme late summer heat, then all the way through winter. All of them are out growing nice variety of peppers today. Praying they make it through our 30 to 50 mph winds today.
Same here! I just planted out a bunch of melons yesterday and the wind was really whipping last night... kind of happy that many of my overwintered peppers are so short now, as I think they might have a better shot should I decide to plant them on the hillside.
Great vid still got 6 weeks here in northern alberta but enjoy seeing the green growth
Are you in the process of posting any new videos? I'm anxious to see what you can teach me. I've learned so much already from you about gardening and plants.
I am! I got a little caught up in spring planting (plus running the farmstand on weekends as the friends I live with were traveling a lot last month) but plan on shooting a few this week! Sorry for the delay :)
Very good, informative show. Thanks. Keep going!
I had no idea you could do this?!?! Can’t wait to learn more, keep these videos coming!
The pepper queen! Thanks for the tips.
Weather is getting close for this. Im gonna be doing my peppers soon. With last years tips! We chatted briefly in the comments awhile back. Looking forward to sharing the results!
Can't wait to see how it worked out for you!
First discovered your content on pruning peppers episode...looking forward to trying your pruning methods out on my channel and in my garden thanks!!!!
Can't wait to watch this. I tried overwintering 4 plants and so far none have survived :(
Great instructional video. Keep it up!
I love bell peppers and your channel happy spring gardening
Love the videos, cant wait to see those peppers back out in the ground and growing delicious food :)
Great video, Veronica!
Thank you!
Congratulations on 10,000 subscribers
Thank you!!!
Love your videos! Do you have any tips on starting peppers from seed? I saved a bunch of my shishito seeds from last year and not one started. I even tried the bag method with putting them in a wet paper towel in a plastic bag.
In my experience, saved seeds have to be from really ripe fruit. That being said, peppers need more heat/warmth to germinate than other veggie seeds. What were your temps like?
Hi, can you do a comparison of some of your multi year peppers against any new ones from this year when they start to fruit and when they are ready to harvest? I think it would be interesting to see how they perform. Also, how long can the plants live and keep producing fruit?
Good idea- I think I have a shishito and maybe another variety I can try this with! Lifespan depends on so many conditions- food, water, light, heat... I've had some plants 5+ years, and some barely make it through 1. On average, 2-3 tends to be pretty standard for me, and stronger root stock makes it feel worth it year 2.
Great info . Thanks , rudy
Watch again and again,You making me a Pepper King.lol TY
You're awesome, love your videos!
Exactly the video I was looking for! Thank you!!!!!
I just realized that this video is a bit old, LOL! So I left my pepper plants out in freezing temps here in Michigan... will those come back? I wasn't sure if you had played around with letting them sit out in freezing temps. thanks for all the great videos! i need to find a single lady who likes to have fun in the garden with me like you do! LOL!
Thanks again for taking time to do the video, it was very helpful.
Thanks for clear explanation of pruning.
You're welcome! There's really so much to cover that's difficult to describe, but I try to do it in bite sized chunks whenever possible.
Hi, I have one suggestion for future vids... sometimes you need to turn away from the camera (to put a pot back on the shelf or whatever.) That's fine, but my suggestion is that you stop your conversation until you are looking the camera right in the eye again. If you watch you will see that the conversation is lost when you turn away. If that doesn't work, you might try a lapel microphone so the sound doesn't cut out. Thanks for all your enjoyable videos!
Great tip- I work 60+ hours a week and shoot when I have time, so it's either use what I get or don't post at all. I'll keep your suggestion in mind though.
Good tips Veronica! thank you sister!
Chuck
Thank you! I overwintered my peppers outside (I'm in SC). I'm going to go check them!!
Great video. Keep them coming!
This gives me hope for my long suffering ghost pepper plant. It still looks green and healthy but hasn't ever really put out successful blossoms because of the climate and short season last year.
Thank you on scratch test,I have 4 peppers that wintered indoors way North,Thank you for your tips.88s
Nice information
Best winter pepper video ever. Clear and informative. Thank you. Are you doing videos this year?
Thanks! And yes I am- have shot a few, just hadn't edited because I accidentally deleted my drivers for FCP and the wifi where I moved to was throttled so it made it impossible to download and work on anything lol. But I found a coffee shop to work at yesterday with pretty fast wifi speeds! So I'm a little behind schedule, but they're coming soon. :)
Looking for anything in particular?
@@VeronicaFlores carrot seeds haunt my nightmares:(
@@VeronicaFlores awesome I'm sure I speak for the rest when I say we cant wait. Your videos rock!
Sunny sunny Victoria......just never had success overwintering them.. :-( Still, great vid as always!
Hi Veronica, Just a quick question, what's the oldest pepper plant you've managed to keep going and producing fruit? I'm in the UK so the climate is pretty poor for doing so but I intend to try a few methods.
Hands down black cobra, five plus years (it was in the ground though.) In a pot? Hmm maybe rocoto, de arbol, habañero, 2-3 years with some potting up and a LOT of pruning.
@@VeronicaFlores Thanks for the reply, I was thinking maybe I'd get 3 years out of some potted plans if I do it right, but like I said, the UK climate is pretty bad for peppers. I'm thinking about heating my greenhouse to keep some alive as a frost will kill them and below 41f (5C) for any period of time will kill them. I'm thinking if I trim some plants back and keep the greenhouse around 46f they should survive, then have a good base for the following season.
Where I am can get to -7 Celsius, which I think is around 20 Fahrenheit
@@mikel4159 I think it's worth a shot!
nice vid . Im in the Caribbean.lol. this was interesting for obvious reasons. Nice voice
You're awesome. 😀
I watched it twice to get the knowledge to stick or maybe i was looking for that bug again. :)
Hahahaha yeah- the aphids are NUTS this year!!!
Nice video 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
This is so helpful thank you! It was the only video I could find on the subject. Would this work for eggplant plants??
I've done it on eggplants with some success! Have one in the greenhouse right now that's starting to bounce back. Just make sure they're disease and insect free- can often get 2-3 years out of them, easily.
Thank you! I thought mine were dead. I'll check them before tossing them.
Have pruned my peppers and the side shoots are amazing. Similarly pruned some eggplant as an experiment. Usually mine get overly talk in the garden and maybe this will build stronger plants. Have you tried pruning eggplants? Any suggestions?
I usually prune eggplants mid-season to open them up slightly (and keep them off the ground- like a topiary almost) but I haven't done it so much for production as disease resistance. That's really the only suggestion I have in that space! My eggplants are stocky little trees by the end of the season, and rarely break.
Hello Veronica,
Just watched your pruning video and will prune the plants I grow from seed next year that's for sure. Two questions if you don't mind. I have small plants that I grew from seed in my garden right now. They are various sweet peppers and around 15" tall.. Can or should I prune them now and for how long should I remove flowers to concentrate on plant growth rather than fruiting? Thank you for your videos.
At that height, I'd only prune if I wasn't happy with the growth structure/if they seem like they're going to need staking. You don't want to cut your season too short by pruning too late, so it's better to do it as early as you can before you start seeing flowers and fruit emerge.
I only remove flowers for maybe the first month or so after planting (and only with new plants- not overwintered ones.) Once the plants look like they're starting to take off (lots of growth) then I'll let them ride.
Veronica Flores
Thanks for the info. I will just let them do their own thing this year. Next season I'm pruning.
I overwinter mine outside. Zone 10b. The hardest part is keeping the whiteflies off.
Thank you Veronica,,Had a .30 commercial for Round Up..OMG...
OMGGGG. So sorry. Hopefully at some point they'll let me pick the commercials??? Lol. That's super dark humor around these parts.
Thanks for the video. Which zone are you in?
great info thanks !
Hi, Like your pepper pruning videos a lot! What is the media you are using to plant the peppers in? How often do you fertilise?
I plant in screened compost mixed with worm castings- it is my all in one medium and fertilizer.
How productive are the peppers after their first year? How many years can you keep them going for?
I've found them to be about equal or better. I've had plants for 5+ years before in Los Angeles where it doesn't freeze!
Still waiting on it to warm up in zone 4. Seeds started and waiting in the window. Growing TFM Scotch Bonnet and 7 Pot Jonah as well as some tomatoes this year.
I can't imagine living in 4! You're definitely a tougher gardener than I.
And here I am wishing I had a longer growing season! I'll have a greenhouse eventually and it won't matter quite as much.
OMG I probably threw most of my trinidad scorpion peppers, now I just have one... Wish I saw your video a year from now -_- ... Thanks!
Enrique Portillo I think you mean a year ago. A year from now will be next year 2019. Same here though, I cut all mine down to the soil at the end of the season last year thinking they were done. I was surprised when 1 of them started to regrow and now is fairly big.
Right, I meant a year ago thanks for catching that. u_u
My pepper plant is about three years old, do you know how old they can go?
2-3 is pretty standard, though I've kept some varieties for over 5 years (in ground in Los Angeles) without issues.
neat, I'm a bit north so hope mine can last 5 too, thanks!
How often and how much do you have to water when overwintering? Thanks for the great video.
Maybe once a week when stuff feels dry, sometimes less. So much is dependent on environmental conditions
Did you purchase a greenhouse kit or did you build it yourself? I am interested in getting my own greenhouse built and just looking around for recommendations. It is very windy here which is my only concern (north texas). Thanks!
We're super windy here too! This is a bought kit from Harbor Freight. The base is anchored (bolted) to a paver foundation, which keeps it from blowing away lol. I think there are a lot of ideas online for reinforcing these kits as well to make them even stronger! It's held up for at least 4-5 years now though.
I wasn't successful overwintering a really wonderful ghost pepper plant this past winter. Bummed me out. That plant had an incredible number of peppers by fall of last year. I live in the northeast and I didn't have a good spot to keep it warm and provide enough light. :(
Booooo. I had the same experience with a Peruvian white habanero this winter- didn't survive a few days travel in the cold dark trunk of my car- and I don't think I have seeds anywhere for it. 😭
Hey dude, hope you don't mind I ask your opinion: I have a pepper plant that didn't do too well through 2019 due to my own neglect, it maybe put 15 peppers out all year. Right now it's a little green still and has a bit of foliage since we haven't really had winter down here in Florida. Do you think it would cause too much stress to the plant or kill it if I attempted to prune, fertilize, and grow it under a light in it's container indoors? It's a Hungarian paprika plant so I really want to get some more to smoke and grind into powder 😎
I'd totally consider giving it some TLC, though I'd be tempted to just pot it up with good soil and compost (in at least a quart sized pot if not a gallon or three) as well as prune. Fertilizer can be tricky when it comes to struggling plants- can't make any synthetic recommendations unfortunately, as that's not my space. But for sure give it a shot by at least bringing it indoors and nursing it back to health!
Thx for the Vid and for sharing your knowledge with us ! Do you also repot these plants ?
Pushpower1
what do you mean by "report these plants"?
I only repot them once, when I dig them out of the garden for the winter. I try to put them in a suitably sized pot that I can fit extra compost in with them so that they'll have fresh food come springtime. I'll move most of the ones with leaves out to the garden over the next few weeks- you can move them into other pots, but I'd suggest nothing smaller than 1 gallon (they love a good 5-10 gallon if you can swing it.)
Veronica Flores Thanks, Veronica. I have a couple in pots that survived the winter in Jordan in the Middle-East. I'm reluctant to put them in the ground because there are lots of snails in my garden. do snails pose a threat?
Thanks for the video. Very helpful. I subbed
I am considering building a greenhouse for this purpose. Are there other perennials you would pull from the soil to overwinter?
I did eggplants with success, and a handful of more tender herbs. A lot of things tend to go to seed though, so they might not overwinter as well.
I have 2 bell peppers left from my overwintering project. I put them on a warming mat and put some root simulator solution in the soil. I see most of the bark is green ( with some brown parts)..so I am hoping that means it is still alive and is going to take some time to come back. When i cut it, it seems like a dry on the inside. I have a to watch our video again...
If the exterior looks green, I'd just wait it out. They will look REALLY dry and brown inside and especially out if they are truly dead.
I have a Trinidad scorpion that was root bound. It's about 18" tall, and focusing completely on upward growth. Should I prune it?
Great info 👍Thank you! Your 👀 are so beautiful with all dew respect .
I live in coastal Virginia. If i leave my peppers outside in the garden and continue to water them, they could stay alive through the winter? Or was that for warmer climates?
It really depends on your weather patterns and zone- I was able to do it when I lived in zone 10, but it's proven harder here in 8/9. You could try cutting them back, deeply mulching, and covering them with frost cloth and see if they make it!
Could you do a video on pruning a tomato that has some decent size? Mine is becoming a bit of an animal and I don't know how much to take off. I have limited sunlight and don't want the leaves to cover themselves.
I can! But mine won't be a decent size for a few more weeks. Are you pinching out suckers?
Moringa
Hi Veronica,
If one of my potted plants didn’t produce hardly any fruit should I still overwinter or replant? it’s healthy but just didn’t produce due to bud drop, poor pollination and due to excess nitrogen had more foliage than pods.
You could give it a shot at overwintering if it's a variety you'd like to keep.
I remember the year I tried digging up and wintering pepper plants. What a nightmare! Aphids took over the house come spring.
Oh no! Yeah you do need to check the plants pretty well for hitchhikers if you're bringing them indoors- the aphids on mine mostly froze to death because the greenhouse isn't exactly heated. ;)
Off topic but do you fertilize seedlings at all after starting from seed in the greenhouse?
I start and pot up seedlings in what I use as fertilizer (compost and worm castings), and plant out with additional compost as well. I don't add anything from a bag unless I'm targeting a specific issue, and only use things like bone meal or blood meal or other plant matter to do so. (I don't believe in using synthetic nitrogen based fertilizers, as the salt buildup in the soil over time creates more issues than it's worth.)
Do those pruners have a rolled metal spring in the middle? If so I have the exact same pair. I think my wife got them from her grandparents. I wonder how old they are.
Yes! They're a classic (don't think they're quite that old though.)
@@VeronicaFlores same model, different generation 🤗
Veronica do you actually get more fruit since the root structure on those plants is bigger? Are you sure it would not be better just to start from new plants?
I've gotten equal harvests or more the years that I've done it. "Better" is subjective I suppose, but the added bonus of less transplant shock and more overall environmental resilience thanks to an established root system and main stem works well for me.
My second year habaneros produced more that twice what they did in their first summer. Similar quality but I had more than I knew what to do with!
Wonderful thank you for the information. I guess the second year the plant is also more adapted for the climate of your specific region.
Amazing, wow.
I like to think so! They at least have a stronger base structure in terms of roots, so they seem to do better the second year when it gets hot and dry.
What zone are you in to over-winter peppers in the greenhouse? Do you use a heat mat in the greenhouse? Growing peppers from seed (as I do every year), it would be nice to keep them. I'm on the west coast, zone 7-ish.
Thx.
Zone 8ish here- no heat mat, just thermal mass most of the time. What I've found to work is keeping more cold tolerant plants closer to the greenhouse walls, and peppers on the floor a few feet away.
I know that part of the reason some of my plants died this winter was not being watered, but I think a lot of it was temperature too, based on location (like the ones on the benches were more exposed than those on the floor below, which fared much better and even had leaves when I came back.)
Can I ask what is your growing zone is? Thanks🌱🌳🌾
Technically 9a, though we get lower temps from time to time.
Veronica Flores Thank you.
I'm in 8b, I was wondering if I could overwinter my pepper plants.
I guess I need to find a heat source. Great video👍
so its a temperature thing? could I plant one inside at my kitchen window that gets most exposure to sunlight all year? I was considering Jalapeno and Habanero for starters, if this matters.
I've heard of people keeping peppers indoors all year. I haven't personally tried it- you may have to supplement lighting during the winter a little, but it's worth a shot!
just ordered Jalapeno seeds, I'll give it a try. Thank you! ;-)
they are doin fine currently, I went with red habanero because I got some that haven't been frozen. I germinated them in a wet tissue paper. they are currently in soil that I use for my terrarium and the first leaf pair is about to be outside the seed. so far so good^^
Pepper pruning is legit, just have patience and you will get bushy plants with more flowers= more peppers
i didn't know green peppers come back to life i thought they died like tomatoes or lettuce. I'm in zone 9b, thank you very much for the videos.
Tomatoes are definitely tricky to overwinter (I don't recommend it- they tend to hang on to too much disease the longer they kick around.) Peppers make great biennials- I've gotten 5+ years out of some varieties!
cool thanks. it's my first year gardening. i started some pepper from seed👍
Did you get any peppers off them during the winter?
A few early on! Provided that they get watered enough lol.
You can get more through the winter if you give them a big enough pot and keep them somewhere warmer.
Last year i brought a few peppers back inside. The bad thing is that ik also brought aphids into the house. Is there a way to keep the aphids outside or prepare/clean the plants? So my indoor peppers won't be infected and die like mine did last year :(
I usually inspect each plant when bringing it into the greenhouse- you can blast it with a steady stream of water, or a diluted soap spray (don't use a degreaser like Dawn, as it can burn your plants.)
Veronica Flores Thank you, will give it a try. Keep up the good work! Love your video’s!
I have the almost same peppers for the las 4 years, but this year they are not looking too good I think I will get rid of them.
What's wrong with them? I've had some peppers for 5-6 years (moved after, not sure what happened to them), but 3-4 feels pretty common for a lot of their lifespans, at least in my experience, and depending on variety. (The fuzzy leaved ones like "cobra" and "manzano" seem to fare better year to year than the smooth and tender sub-tropical varieties.)
Veronica Flores
You are Wright, i have 2 black cobra, they are beatiful but my jalapeños, and bell peppers did not respond well to my pruning and tender love😊😊 maybe because all I talk about its my new peppers, purple,chocolate and yellow bells and nardello that I germinated this year😊
I have yet to have great luck with bells overwintering tbh- idk what the deal is!!!
How cold does it get when you over winter them? Do they have to be in a greenhouse?
Here as low as the 20s (F) at night, but the greenhouse helps to insulate them (as does the volume of plants in there over winter.)
I don't think the ones I had mulched and covered with light frost cloth in the gardens made it. :(
Oh, so there's be little chance of plants exposed to below zero temps surviving? Not that I tried to save them...I didn't realize you could. I did save some peppers to try and grow some seeds.
do you ever grow fish pepper plants?
I’m a veteran gardener who has never tried or even contemplated overwintering peppers. I’ve got a greenhouse and am always up for a challenge I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. I’m curious how the yields of overwintered peppers compare to first year plants. Any specific disease problems?
No specific disease problems that I've had issues with yet. I keep an eye out for aphids and the like, as they love invading all the early leaves like wildfire. Yields for me have generally been equal, if not better, and I've seen less branch breakage, even with heavier than usual yields. Less prone to drying out if you're planting back out in spring, as the root systems tend to be well established and ready to go. I pot up in a container suitable for the size of plant being overwintered, with plenty of compost late fall before first frost. They won't really use most of it until late spring, but not a ton of growing goes on over the winter with these guys (unless your space is heated) and they'll need the food come spring.
Veronica Flores Thanks for taking the time to give me such great detailed information. Can’t wait to try it. Almost can’t wait for next winter
beautiful eyes,excellent pepper skills also
What are your thoughts on ratooning chilli plants with mild/moderate/severe anthracnose?
I don't keep diseased plants, period. I also don't get them very often.
@@VeronicaFlores yeah, I just learned that the hard way.
How many varieties of chili peppers will you grow this year? I plan on growing around 50 different varieties and will isolate some of the plants in hopes of getting pure seed. Would you be up for trading some chili pepper seeds in the fall?
Totally down to trade! I think we're somewhere between 50-100 varieties, not that I have started half of them yet eeeep. Gonna sow a lot over the weekend- planning on isolating as well!
What's the oldest pepper you have ?
I had one that was over 5 years old before I moved (black cobra.) I think here at the farm I don't have any older than 2 though. :(
So last year I was watching Veronica pruning peppers....A concept new to me. So we did prune the babies last year as she showed and they grew into good productive bushes. Growing in pots..biggish pots.Great crop of chillis running into Nov.,Then I brought 7 of them in...did what Veronica is doing now, and put them on a warm..and sunny! Window sill., First they looked a little ahocked...then a little confident...then started pushing out chillis! So I fed them and we had Lots by February and now so many we're freezing some( which totally works BTW). So 7 chilli plants up and running in march in Southern England. I wonder how well they'll carry on into the summer. Of course I am so delighted with Veronica's advice last year. So glad to be subbed...she's a great teacher!
Thanks Veronica!
hot peppers n corn bread yummy