[coop-de-tat]

I bought some "Big Jim Numex" chilli seeds from Amazon a few months ago. Apparently they are an 80 day sprout-to-fruit type.

I planned to plant and grow them on through this summer..........anyway when I looked for the packet I couldn't find them so forgot about it until they turned up (in a coat pocket) weeks after they should have been planted. Anyway they didn't get sorted until mid-July. 12 of the 15 seeds germinated and I've potted on the best 5 of these.

Is it a forlorn hope of mine that I might get anything out of these this year? If not is it possible I might over-winter them successfully In a cold greenhouse? I've heard (and read) conflicting accounts of over-wintering chilli plants. Thanks if anyone can help.

CdT

[Sparkyrog]

Cold GH no frost free maybe !

[polly nator]

I tried overwintering four chilli plants in the house last year after first cutting them back. Three didnt make it it. The remaining plant looked vaguely alive - a few branches with some minuscule patches of even more minuscule vaguely leaf like things. As spring and summer went on the plant (now outdoors) looked more and more shrivelled up and dead.  Almost three weeks ago I was just about to empty the pot and chuck it in the green bin when SUDDENLY it sprang into life all over and now looks like  a normal plant and has several chillies. Very very odd, I thought. August springtime.  I realise this is not much help, but it may suggest its worth a try!

[seaside]

I've had fine successes and hopeless failures in the past with over-wintering chillies.
I would say it is almost impossible for chillies to survive Winter in a cold greenhouse.. it is difficult enough in a heated home. Nothing is gained by putting them in the greenhouse as light levels are pretty irrelevant in this "dormant" period.

[mumofstig]

If you can bring them indoors to a windowlwedge before it gets too cold, they should fruit this year 

They can be overwintered, with a bit of luck, on a window-ledge, but cold/damp winter greenhouse conditions are not worth trying IMO

[JayG]

This pic, taken 10 minutes ago, is of my 2 cayenne pepper plants, now in their 3rd full year.

They've only ever lived on the windowsill in a sunny spare bedroom - after the first year they were taken out and repotted, but I didn't even bother doing that this year (the "trouble" is they never really stop producing, even in winter, so although they certainly ain't pretty any more they are still productive and I haven't got the heart to replace them with new ones.)

From what others have said it seems likely that some varieties aren't as easy to overwinter, but I can't see any chilli plant surviving in an unheated greenhouse.

[compostqueen]

I agree after trying several times. I lost some Friar's Hats and it hurt. Waaaaaaaah

I had to chuck some away last winter as they got a vile sooty mould on them.  It spread quickly over everything else too.

So, any that I do want to try and keep over winter will definitely make it into the house. My husband will be delighted 

[Sparkyrog]

Has anyone tried to over winter sweet peppers ?

[compostqueen]

Good looking cayennes there. Do you make pepper?  It's dead easy once they're dried.  It has a sweetness to it which I like. More so than the shop bought stuff I think which may have salt in it to eke it out I suspect

[BabbyAnn]

About 3 years ago I bought some Orange Wonder chilli plants from Mr Fothergills - 5 plants + a couple that had 2 plants per plug which I teased out and repotted.  One turned out to be something completely different (might be a Fresno not sure)  The first year only 4 plants survived overwintering, and this year, 3 (including the unknown)  I've managed to overwinter Lemon Drop, Cayenne, Jalepeno, Tabasco and even Hungarian Hot Wax - some of the less hot/big fruiting ones don't survive too well so

Has anyone tried to over winter sweet peppers ?

not with any success.  They aren't called "annums" for nothing  but at the same time, always worth a try unless limited windowsill space is scarce for something much more precious.

As for the Big Jim - I sowed some of these in February, and they've only just started flowering/setting fruit in the last week or 2 (compared to everything else I sowed at the same time which are now well ahead and some are even starting to ripen) so I'm surprised by the 80 day claim.  I've also got some Nepalese Bell plants (enormous things) which are only just showing flower buds so unless they get a move on, I might be attempting an overwinter with those at this rate (hmmmm, I might need a bigger pasting board for the back bedroom  )

[sunshineband]

Like JayG, I find that chillis indoors (or in a warmish greenhouse) just keep on fruiting 

I had a scotch bonnet that went on for about four years but then sadly fell down the back of the staging and broke off when I tried to get it out 

I took it as a sign to start again 

Most types seem to be perennial, unlike sweet peppers

[JayG]

Good looking cayennes there. Do you make pepper?  It's dead easy once they're dried.  It has a sweetness to it which I like. More so than the shop bought stuff I think which may have salt in it to eke it out I suspect

Yes CQ, some are used fresh, some as dried whole chillies, but mostly they finish up being blitzed down into pepper in an (old!) coffee grinder.

They take a long time to dry out if just placed on a rack, and I sometimes used to find mouldy seeds inside which made the whole chilli unusable. I now cut the top off each chilli before drying them to let air get inside - seems to work as long as you dry them on a piece of kitchen paper to catch the seeds which inevitably fall out.

[sunshineband]

I string mine up. I guess the hole that I poke through each one lets them dry more evenly than the ones in a basket (which is what I do some years when I don't have time to make a rista )

[compostqueen]

I've just dried some sweet peppers I got from a festival. They look like Cubanelles but I'm not sure. I've dried peppers before, jarred them up only for them to go mouldy but my niece bought me a drier.  I dried some lovely Biala Shipka's last year and they're still in good condition in the jar.  Boy they're hot   

Whizzing up chillies is a game if they're hot. Sheesh 

[JayG]

Whizzing up chillies is a game if they're hot. Sheesh 

Sure is - very important to remember Bill Clinton's advice and to "not inhale"!