Chillies - growing and overwintering 2021

[stigs]

Just North of Lisbon they grow Padrons in polytunnels, so it could just be down to watering/spraying

[Snoop Puss]

Does it have to be Padrón peppers or would you consider growing something else, more reliably the same flavour rather than some hot, some not? Italian frying peppers, for example. I ask because I don't actually like Padrón peppers, as much as anything because the ones I get locally are often a bit bitter.

[ameno]

Harvest my first ripe pepper today, although it was only the size of a cherry tomato. It's a long (or at least it's meant to be long; this one wasn't) orange sweet pepper which I grew from seeds I saved from a supermarket fruit. This was from an overwintered plant. I overwintered two of this variety, and they've both really exploded with growth the last 6 weeks. Loads of leaves, and absolutely covered in fruit and flowers.

As for my seed grown plants, all are going well, and all have plenty of swelling fruit on except for my Boneta plants. This is meant to be an early, short-season variety, yet it's behind all of the others, and as yet only has pea-sized fruit on it. And it was the same size as the others when I planted them out, so it's not like it was just delayed, either.

[burnie]

One of my hybrid Cayenne/Hungarian Hot Wax, I had a green one sliced on my pizza on Saturday, quite spicy but with that nice Hot Wax sweetness.

[SimpleSimon]

Some of my superhots are now setting some decent and evil looking fruit. This is a 7pot brainstrain from the seed swap. Least I think it is as I've mixed it up with a 7 pot primo pprimo none of the fruit has tails so I'm assuming it's the brainstrain.

[Ms-T]

Looking good , my 7pot brainstrain is only just flowering .

[Bren In Pots]

I have tiny fruits on my over wintered Orange hab.

[Mark Rand]

Jalapeno is fruiting up nicely. Carolina Reaper has nice wrinkley fruit on it. Got a couple of Aji Lemondrop starting to turn colour.

[greenishfing]

I grow Padrons every year. I love them. I lived in Spain for a while. I am in Yorkshire so I have to grow them in the greenhouse. Most of mine are mild about the typical 9/10 until the end of the Summer when the percentage increases. Mine get no special treatment at all.

[ameno]

Picked a load of jalapenos the other day, and today I made two jars of pickled jalapenos.

Also, I know it's a tad early, but does anyone have any experience with potentially overwintering peppers outdoors?
I'm curious because I don't have room to overwinter too many indoors, and two cape gooseberry plants survived the winter in the ground last year, and since they are similarly tender and are related to peppers, I wondered if I might do the same.
How much light do peppers truly need over winter? Would it be feasible to cut them back to a trunk in autumn, pack them with straw, and cover them in plastic to keep the rain off, the uncover them next spring? Might they survive and grow back?
Frosts are not overly heavy nor numerous here. The ground is only ever frozen for a few days each winter, and only to a depth of about 1 inch at most.

[SimpleSimon]

I attempt to overwinter all 40 of my plants every year in the tunnel, none of them made it this year. It's worth a go but I'd leave them getting some light unless rally cold weather is forecast. If you can stop the roots getting frozen then you certainly have a chance. I don't really mind if mine die, it's more of a let's see what happens type of thing. There are 2 I'd like to save this year so they are gonna be given some special treatment although if anything very cold is forecast they'll be coming inside.

[SimpleSimon]

Getting lots of ripe pods now. 7 pot nebru from the swap 2 years ago. Really like this plant, lovely big glossy yellow pods.



And a not ripe but somewhat manacing looking 7 pot primo!

[SimpleSimon]

Also whoever sent in the Jamaican yellow mushroom seeds to the swap, thanks. Might have been 2 years ago. I grow the red ones every year as they are fruity like a habenero but not that hot so great for cooking Caribbean food. These yellow ones are similar but absolutely massive. Some are almost like small bell peppers. At first I thought maybe they had crossed but the tell tale mushroom shape is perfect and they have the fruity but relatIvely mild heat level (relative to a habanero, they are still hot of course).

[annie8]

Starting to get chillis finally -been late this year like so many things. One of my cayenne plants is commuting suicide in a rather sudden and dramatic way. It’s gone yellow and the leaves are dropping off. Have fed it but not sure it’s going to survive tbh. None of the rest are doing the same thanks fully. One of the branches came away with several fully formed but still green chillis on it. Are they useable or will they have no heat because they aren’t ripe?

[ameno]

I attempt to overwinter all 40 of my plants every year in the tunnel, none of them made it this year. It's worth a go but I'd leave them getting some light unless rally cold weather is forecast. If you can stop the roots getting frozen then you certainly have a chance. I don't really mind if mine die, it's more of a let's see what happens type of thing. There are 2 I'd like to save this year so they are gonna be given some special treatment although if anything very cold is forecast they'll be coming inside.

Well I overwintered 11 of mine in the conservatory last winter, and 8 survived, including two of three which I had dug up from the ground and potted up for overwintering.
Those two had died back to bare stems by the time spring came, but they are actually the ones which are doing the best now, with loads of new branches and dozens of fruit.