Chilli plants pictures progression so far

As long as you don't leave them outside when the temperature drops below 60F they should continue to ripen. With some of our plants, we bring them indoors in a bright area and they have still been producing new fruit and ripening well into November.

 

Sorry, Harry, but they prefer it to never drop below 60F although they survive OK as long as it isn't frosty. 55F-60F at night shouldn't be too bad for them if the daytime temperature picks up OK. A touch of sunshine helps them a lot.

The difference is between thriving and just getting along OK. That's why it's always better to try and keep them under cover - a blow away is good and a greenhouse is better.

We bring some of ours indoors in October and keep them in the lounge by the french doors. They are then getting plenty of light and enjoy the temperature we keep the house at. They can then survive the whole winter (sometimes still producing new chillies in January) and we prune them back in January ready for them to start growing well in April.

 

As they are perennials they don't necessarily need to be dormant to be overwintered. If you keep them warm enough and in enough light they will keep on producing almost indefinitely. I don't keep my plants that long because, in our conditions, they don't produce as many chillies by years four and five.

The photos I showed earlier in this thread were taken in November '07 (cosy, in our lounge) when they were at least into their second or third season




These are the same plants, taken in February '09. They had been pruned somewhat at the end of December but fed and watered. I'd taken them out into the garden for some maintenance as the sun was out. They had a good wash and the top layer of soil was replaced after I took the photos. By June/July they were in the greenhouse (unheated) and 6ft - 7ft tall.





You can see that the leaves are young ones, as they are a lighter green and are slightly longer and appear more delicate.
As the leaves are on the plant longer they then become darker and seem to shrink a little and become thicker.

A similar thing happens to the leaves of mangoes but in a more exaggerated way. They start off becoming very long and with a reddish tint and very thin. Then they shrink considerably and become thick and green.

 

I admire your dedication . We just grow ours for eating and much prefer them fresh and not dried or pickled etc.

If any variety comes up to our idea of what we want for taste and heat (very hot) we then overwinter the best producing plant. These then provide us with chillies throught the autumn and a lot of the winter before they have a brief dormant period. We just treat the overwintered plants as house plants.

Excess chillies go for the personal use of the staff at the local Indian restaurant. The ones they buy for use in the restaurant aren't as hot or tasty as ours.

I hope your crosses go well.