Capsicum pepper over winter question

[glosterwomble]

I grew some capsicum peppers from seed in the late spring and grew them on during the summer. I only ended up with 3 plants which are potted up individually and reached approx. 2ft tall. One of them produced fruit but the stem they were on broke due to the weight so they were too immature to eat. I bought this plant inside and it is in my window.

My question is, will this plant produce more fruit next year? I have left the other 2 outside and was wondering if I should bring these in. I wasn't sure if they were only an annual but someone said to me that they will keep until next year. What do others think?

Many thanks.

[glosterwomble]

[tim]

NO!

E&OE

[glosterwomble]

Thanks Tim, that was a quick reply! What does E&OE mean? (am I being stupid, it's probably something very obvious!)

[kitten]

E&OE

Eh???  ???

[manicscousers]

I've always thought that sweet peppers were annuals, maybe I'm wrong ?

[saddad]

Blocky Sweet Peppers are... chillies are shrubby perennials...
???

[Robert_Brenchley]

E&OE = Errors and Omissions Excepted. In other words, no responsibility taken for bloopers in the text.

[saddad]

Thanks Rob.. I wasn't familiar with that abbreviation either.
;D

[tim]

Exactly - still used on many legal agreements. One of Fougasse - the cartoonist's books pre-war bore that name.

[petuariapete]

My question is, will this plant produce more fruit next year? I have left the other 2 outside and was wondering if I should bring these in. I wasn't sure if they were only an annual but someone said to me that they will keep until next year. What do others think?

Yes it should produce fruits next year.  Because of the British climate they tend to be grown as annuals. However, with the right conditions some species can last for up to ten years.

Keep the plant on a sunny window sill in a warm room at constant temperature and  out of drafts. Do not leave it behind closed curtains at night. Water sparingly. Wait until the compost dries out before watering. Do not leave them standing in water as the roots will rot.

I am  currently overwintering  fifteen chilli plants on my lounge window sill. which I planted in late summer/early autumn.  They don't seem to be doing too bad, so far. This is the first year I have tried growing them. But be warned, it can become addictive.

PP

[Barnowl]

Bring them indoors then cut them back at the end of the year - if they don't re-sprout within 2-3 weeks they probably never will.  The Apache was cut back three weeks ago. The Bolivian (photo taken in the autumn) has been over wintered twice

[triffid]

Barnowl: what a fantastic photo of the Bolivian chilli ... has that also been cut back as hard as the Apache now?

[Barnowl]

It is now looking a bit unhappy, got a bit frosted last w.e. - it's by a drafty French window - and has lost some leaves, so I'll probably chop it this w.e.

Also I can't keep running the frost prevention heater in the greenhouse so those chillies will have to get snipped soon  -  a bit sad since some of them are still putting out flowers!

PP is right - growing them is very addictive :)

[cleo]

This is interesting. Chilli plants can survive a winter,so I guess `sweet peppers` can. The only caveat being those F1 hybrids specifically bred to crop in ideal conditions and sold as annuals?

[Barnowl]

I haven't brought the sweet pepper (Toreador) in - might as well stick it in the garage as well and see what happens.....

[saddad]

I'm fairly certain that most sweet peppers are "Capsicum Annum" crosses which aren't perennials....
:-\

[tim]

I was, of course, assuming a sweet pepper in no heat, in which case I would have thought it more productive to re-sow/plant ecah year. Would certainly avoid carrying over any disease.

[mc55]

I've still got a sweet pepper in the potting shed that I can't bear to throw on the compost heap just yet as it looks so healthy, I was hoping it might survive the winter, but doesn't sound hopeful (difficult to bring in as its in a huge tub).