My Chillies Won't

Robert, I thought, from the picture, that those plants must be about 7' tall or you are only 3' tall :rotfl: :rotfl:

Andrew, there is no problem with overwintering the plants. I have some that are four years old. For them to be successful it is best to not let the temperature drop below 16C and for them to have plenty of light. They will survive at temps above 5C but they take time to recover from the lower temperature.

From November I take mine into the lounge in front of the floor to ceiling french doors. Their growth slows down from the end of Nov and they don't start flowering again until March. They drop some of their leaves during the winter but keep on growing. It is important to prune them and not to let them get too leggy. Stop feeding them but keep them watered and watch carefully for aphids.

I put them back into the greenhouse in April and usually get some of the new chillies ripening (only a few) in May. They start to ripen in earnest from the beginning of July.

I only overwinter the plants that have small chillies but may try some of the other plants this year. I keep the plants pruned down to 4' - 5' until they go into the greenhouse then restrict them when they are getting near to 7'.

I have started off loads of new plants this month and they are all germinating well. They will have to be brought indoors as well. The normal time to put your seeds in is Feb. I'm doing them early so that they will be big enough to sell when we open our garden for charity in May.

 

It's a little bit hit and miss. As they are leggy already I would be inclined to reduce each branch by a third but not do them all at once. Prune a couple of them and give them a week or two to see whether they recover OK. Then do some more.

During the winter (from end Dec) I found that ours grow about six inches a month and we cut them back by a couple of inches each time. This is easier on new growth and they tend to branch out better.

Try germinating some new plants just in case these don't survive. Then just experiment.