Is it possible to bring my aubergines and peppers into my conservatory before winter sets in, and provide them with enough heat that they continue to fruit through the winter....or will they naturally stop flower due to the reduced daylight? Similarly, thinking about it, if I took a couple of cuttings from my toms, could they carry on through the winter? Oh, no, thinking about it, they won't ripen in my greenhouse now in the midst of summer, doubt they would ripen in winter.....ho hum, just a thought really.
They will ripen EJ but, as you said light levels are too low during the winter to set fruit, unless supplementary lights are used. Ripening is a question of economics (heat will be required to keep the plants healthy enough to ripen the fruit).
One year while I was at college their long season tomato crop failed to set almost it's entire first truss of fruit due to excessive cloud causing really low light intensity- and that was in March! It certainly counted as an economic wipe out, a few set but not enough to come close to covering the cost of production. Most crops (and growers) in the south (this was Essex) suffered similarly.
EJ wouldn't the plants also be more suseptible to disease the longer you keep them? My cousin grew paprika on his farm and at a certain time of year the farmers had to destroy the plants and plant new to avoid spread of disease throughout the area.
I ordered some chilli seeds from VidaVerde - according to their catalogue, this chilli is a perennial - no sign of chilli flowers yet so far, but I will attempt to keep it overwinter in the hope of many years of chillis to come.
Have already taken some sideshoots of tomatoes and bunged them in rootrainers to try and get a christmas crop (Kitchen Garden Mag, July issue?)
The heat isn't an issue as our conservatory is heated on the same circuit as the rest of our house, so is toasty all winter. The light is another story. Wonder if father Christmas could be convinced to give me some of those daylight bulb thingys that Tim and Ozzy are so fond of?
As for disease, I did read that with peppers, they are okay for a couple of years, but do start to go downhill so better to replace, but I was thinking of overwintering them to get an earlier picking, then I could bin those ones as the new seed sown ones replace them.....if you catch my pepper like drift. ;D
They do overwinter - but isn't it much simpler, & less subject to trauma (tlc etc) to sow each year??
MV - sideshoots work fine - but in a greenhouse - or indoors? With warmth?
BTW Emma - before you think more about lights, look at www.growthtechnology.com - there is lighting & lighting! I use 'Whitefire' over 2 seed trays! Ina has used 'blue bulbs' with advantage, but everything comes at a price. Depends upon what you want to achieve. The extra lighting, to get strong plants, which I've shown before, cost me 6p per 2.2 kilo lettuce. Worth it. Initial cost discounted, of course!! = Tim
I was thinking about grow lamps. Would you be able to create the same conditions as what you have in an unheated greenhouse by installing grow lamps in a garage.
Is it expensive to set up? How much equipment would be involved?
The trouble for me is that I do not have enough space in the house to start off all the seedlings in trays, and no greenhouse either.
Sarah
Tomatoes are currently in unheated greenhouse. Though later, I may move them across to Spalding to my mother's - there is an unheated greenhouse and a heated conservatory. Going to give it a go anyway.