This topic contains 23 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by bluebell 9 years, 3 months ago.
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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.
This is wonderful, not many of us can recount a story of such a mature vegetable, thanks for sharing it. Lots of helpful tips.
Thanks Charles. Nice web site, plenty to digest if you’ll excuse the unintended pun.
Hi Leif, thanks for the tips on trimming and over wintering chilli plants. You sound to have quite a collection of different varieties, with plenty of them overwintering successfully. Are you in the UK? I have enough plants to try one outside OW to see if it survives, but I’ll leave most in the greenhouse. My Albertos Locoto are growing well and just about to come into flower, whereas the variety Nigel’s have a few fruit formed which is reassuring. Use in soups is great; we particularly enjoy them in a range of curries. Enjoy your growing.
How are yours doing Bluebell?
Hello Stringfellow, I will also overwinter a Rocoto outdoors. It will be interesting to hear your experience, but I bet it dies. I do not know if there is a biological reason why one could not be selected to be hardy.
I do not have that many plants, 6 or so Black Hungarian, 4 or 5 Rocoto, an Orange Habanera and a Paper lantern (C. chinense) picked up on the spur of the moment from a garden centre. They are raised indoors on a window sill/board, until outside warms up, so space is limited. I experimented with a cold frame. It is amazing with courgette, squash and tomato, which I can put out even when there are frosts, but chillis just stop growing if it is cold.
Don’t be so sure! Do please try, but Capsicum annuum is killed by a frost that Rocoto can survive without apparent damage. This year I found that Rocoto seedlings were more tolerant of cold too, thriving in a cold frame, whereas my Hungarian Black, Capsicum annuum, were not happy and I brought them back in to the window sill until the nights were warmer. I have noticed that whereas the Hungarian black in the cold frame is noticeably bigger then the outdoor ones, the converse is true for Rocoto. The Capsicum chinense of course is a complete sissy.
By the way, Capsicum annuum is so called because it is an annual. Except it isn’t, it’s a perennial. Capsicum chinense is so called because it comes from China. Except it doesn’t, it comes from south and/or central America. At least Capsicum pubescens is well named, the leaves being hairy.
I know technically that peppers are a fruit because they produce seeds, I think this link should be filed under ‘Vegetables’ not ‘Fruit’ in the Forums. People may not find this interesting info if they only look in the ‘Vegetables section.
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