Red pepper plants

Could You Get Pepper Plants To Produce During Winter?

You can keep your pepper plants alive indoors during winter, but they will not produce fruit. 

They will need a certain temperature and sunlight to do so. Greenhouse can help you with keeping your pepper plant alive over the winter, or you can keep your plant indoors, such as in the garage, basement, or anywhere near a window. 

Can I Overwinter Pepper Plants? 

Most pepper plant owners want to have a good head start for the next growing season, so they overwinter their pepper plants and keep them somewhere that has an above-freezing temperature.

They also make sure that there is a provision of light for their plants even when kept indoors. 

Prepared pepper plants that are already growing in pots are more ideal since there is no need to re-pot, and unnecessary to disturb the roots. 

If there are no potted pepper plants, those growing directly on the soil will be placed in pots, making sure that the roots are careful not to slice off the root ball then planted on a fresh pot with ideal soil and other mixture. 

Planters pick healthy plants cause it won’t be a problem when they are kept indoors, plus there are no more parasites such as aphid clinging to the leaves. 

Will Bell Pepper Plants Survive Winter?

When brought indoors, the pepper plants will have a higher chance of survival. Keeping them outside during winter will surely kill them, and you don’t have any use for your plants for the next growing season. You will need to start from scratch by then. 

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What Do Pepper Plants Need For Survival During Winter?

Ideal Temperature. Space should be fitting for plants. A temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit and below will freeze your plants. It is up to you to protect it from cooler temperatures. 

Although there is protection against the cold weather for plants such as row cover or cloches, the perfect protection is keeping your pepper plants indoors. 

Some variations of pepper plants are more tolerable of the cold, while others will simply freeze with any hint of coldness in their surroundings. 

Picking a pepper plant that will do better in cool climates is also the key to making sure you have a survivor in your hands. 

Lighting. You cannot be sure that sunlight during winter will suffice for your pepper plants, so you require a strategic location to place your plants, such as the windowsill or conservatory is ideal as well. 

Providing a lamp or a fluorescent bulb will work for your plants in the same way. 

Water requirement. It is still vital to keep the soil half moist cause there is just a low level of light. There is no need for frequent watering and removing excess moisture by draining is vital. The roots will sit in water if you do not drain the excess water or moisture. 

Spritzing water once or every two weeks is alright, and your plants will survive on the lesser water ration. 

Pruning and trimming. It is best to trim the leaves that will start to die during the dormancy period of your pepper plant. You can remove dead branches as well cause it will give way to a new growth spurt of leaves in the spring. 

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Protection from Pests. Aphids are one of the enemies of pepper plants, and you need to ensure that your plant is safe from them, even indoors. They can hide under the leaves, tips of branches, new sprouting leaves and will multiply if unchecked. 

Aphids love to attack weaker plants, and even if your plants are indoors, there is also a possibility they can survive as well. 

Advantages of Overwintering Pepper Plants

  • No hassle with seed-starting. If you already have a pepper plant in a pot that you have brought indoors, you now have the edge come growing season. You require some steps to make sure that your plant will grow healthy throughout. 
  • It gives you a head start for the growing season. There is a shortened time until fruit production compared to starting from scratch that you need to wait longer to get a pick of your favorite pepper harvest. 
  • You can keep your favorite pepper plant. There is no need to throw your favorite pepper plant or just let them die outside during the winter season. Overwintering is another way to ensure that you will still enjoy them for another year or more. They won’t need sizeable space to grow when indoors, and it won’t be hard to help them survive as long you meet the requirements. 
  • Overwintering can extend the picking period. If you overwinter your pepper plants, you can harvest more peppers as you keep them safely tucked away from the starting cold temperature. 
  • Repotting them is easy. If you want to make sure that your pepper will survive the winter, getting smaller pots is also doable. The pepper plants will still survive with smaller-sized pots. This way, there is no need to prepare a bigger space for your plants, and you can keep them in one area to observe them closely. 
  • They require less. Watering them is not a frequent requirement cause your bell pepper plant will start its dormancy period, and keeping them with less water ration will ensure their growth. Providing your pepper plants with just enough moisture is enough, as long as you don’t let the soil dry out completely. Watering can be done once a week or once every two weeks. 
  • You can use vacant space in your house. Even a garage can offer protection for your favorite pepper plants. There is just enough heat inside a garage during the winter compared to leaving your pepper plants outside to freeze. This way you are using your space to grow not just pepper plants but other plant varieties as well. 
  • It will be easy to transplant them come spring. When it is time to bring your pepper plants outside, there is little to do cause you only require transplanting them in another bigger pot or any size appropriate for your pepper growth. 
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Remember not to place them immediately in direct afternoon sunlight cause you have to expose them gradually to the sun. Overwinter plants can experience scalding where the leaves will turn pale and drop off one by one.