Last summer, a friend shared a video about overwintering pepper plants. Every year, it seems like I wait FOREVER to start getting decent size peppers, especially bell peppers. By the time they start really producing in August, I know our time is limited.
So, last winter, I tried something different. Peppers are supposedly perennial plants where it’s warm, so the theory is that is they can brought in and kept somewhat dormant over the winter. I did just that. I brought them inside in buckets after a very dramatic pruning (like down to two or three short branches and removing all leaves). I divided some 3 gallon buckets into thirds with cardboard, filled them with dirt and transplanted my outdoor pepper plants into each of the sections.
After placing them on a low bench behind our couch which backs up to a sunny west window, I watered them lightly about once a week all winter. Guess what… they started growing their leaves back and by early spring they were flowering and starting to produce a pepper or two. By the end of May when I went to plant them outside again, they had quite a few small peppers on them. It’s still early, but I’m anxious to see how they take to being back in their native habitat.
Sable Creek Farm 