I have an Alberto’s Locoto that is maybe 10 years old. She was looking a bit tired last year, but this year has perked up somewhat, and now has some pods and quite a few flowers on. I found the harvest improved markedly as well as being early, up to about 7 years of age when the harvest fell back. However, that coincided with the rains of 2012, when she suffered very badly losing most leaves as a result of them being shredded by gales followed by months of rain.I also have an Orange Habanero which is two or three years old and now doing quite well outside.It should give a nice harvest, and keep me in pods over the winter.
Overwintering is not hard. I leave the plant until the new year, and then trim to an ~8″ stem. I trim the root ball to ~8″, and repot with fresh compost. This stresses the plant so it must be kept warm. I once lost one which was in the cool porch after trimming. Capsicum chinense, C. baccatum and C. pubescens all seem to thrive with this winter trim. The next year you get a very early harvest, and often another in late autumn. As I said earlier, in the case of C. pubescens I found bigger harvests, and oddly the fruits became larger and more apple shaped rather than rugby ball shaped.You can leave the plant untrimmed if you want pods over winter, but you won’t get many.
This year I have 5 or so Rocoto outside, in beds, and I am amazed how well they are doing. They are about to come into flower, later than the C. annuum which is not surprising. The ones in pots seems to be doing no better or worse than the ones in my compost enriched clay soil. I have one in the ground under a cold frame and it does not seem to have benefitted. The C. annuum in the cold frame is doing better than one outside which was a similar size before its sibling went under glass.
As an aside, a mature Rocoto will survive multiple light frosts, as will C. baccatum whereas C. chinense is a real wimp. I discovered this by accident. My Rocoto went through some very cold nights, and I would be curious to know how hardy they are. I will leave some in the garden this year to see. I would be interested to hear how your Rocoto does. It is not the most exciting flavour, but I like them in thin soups, they add a fruitiness.