Yes, You Can Overwinter Pepper Plants—Here's How to Boost Next Year's Harvest

Do you have a favorite pepper plant that you don’t want to lose to the cold, or do you just want to harvest peppers a little earlier next year? It might have never occurred to you that peppers are perennial plants that live for years as long as they’re protected from winter’s chill.

No matter what type of peppers you’re growing or how cold your garden gets, here are 4 ways to overwinter peppers and reasons why it’s worth doing.

Why Overwinter Peppers?

Overwintering peppers takes a bit of work, especially if you decide to overwinter peppers indoors as houseplants. However, it has a few major perks:

• Preserve your favorite plants. If you have a pepper plant that you’re particularly attached to or that’s a hard-to-find variety, overwintering your plants allows you to keep your favorite peppers going for years and save you the trouble of tracking down rare pepper varieties.
• Earlier harvests. Peppers grown from seeds or transplants usually take at least a few months to fruit after spring planting. Overwintered peppers, on the other hand, have already had a lot of time to grow, which means they typically experience faster spring growth and produce peppers earlier in summer.
• More prolific plants. First-year peppers have a lot of catch-up growing to do, which may interfere with pepper production. But overwintered pepper plants have more established root systems, which usually translates into bigger and more prolific harvests.

What Kinds of Peppers Can You Overwinter?

Any sort of pepper can be overwintered if you’re committed to the task, but some peppers are easier to overwinter than others. Hot pepper varieties that stay small and do well in pots tend to be the easiest peppers to overwinter indoors, while larger bell pepper plants tend to struggle in containers. Hot peppers also grow more slowly than bell peppers, so overwintering them saves you even more growing time.

If you’re new to overwintering peppers, varieties like habaneros, Thai chilis, and chiltepins are some of the easiest varieties to grow indoors.

Ways to Overwinter Peppers

The method you choose to use will depend on where you live and how much time you want to devote to overwintering peppers. As you’ll see, some overwintering techniques are more hands-off than others, and some methods are better for small spaces.

In the Garden

Peppers grow perennially in Zones 9 and above. If you live in an area that’s typically frost-free in winter, you may be able to overwinter peppers outside or under a cold frame or grow tunnel.

Plants that are overwintered outdoors generally won’t need any special pruning or fertilizer, but they should be watered a little less than in summer. Otherwise, mulch your peppers well, and be prepared to cover your plants with frost blankets or move potted peppers indoors if your forecast calls for unexpectedly cold weather.

As Potted Plants

If you live in a climate where peppers won’t survive outdoors in winter, you can overwinter your plants as houseplants. However, this requires more work, and peppers generally won’t flower or fruit until you move them back outside in spring. Simply move potted peppers inside in the fall when temperatures begin to dip below 50°F.

Plants in the garden will need to be dug up and potted into well-draining containers filled with potting mix. The plant may experience transplant shock and show some wilting. Water it deeply and keep it out of direct sunlight until it has recovered.

After potting, pick off any flowers or immature fruit. Also, check carefully for pests, and then spray your peppers with an organic insecticidal soap to be sure they aren’t harboring any unwanted hitchhikers.

Finally, bring your peppers inside and position them in a south- or west-facing window. If your home is dry, place it near a humidifier. During the winter, peppers shouldn’t need any fertilizer, but they will need to be watered regularly when the top 1 to 2 inches of soil dries out.

In the spring, harden off your plants over a 1 to 2 week period, and then move them back outside permanently when temperatures are consistently above 50°F.

As Cuttings

Overwintering pepper cuttings is a great option if you don’t have a lot of space or simply don’t want to deal with full-grown pepper plants. Take 4- to 6-inch long stem cuttings from healthy pepper plants before frost hits. Check carefully for pests, and then root the cuttings either in soil or water. Once they’ve rooted, cuttings should be cared for just like potted pepper plants, and then hardened off and planted outdoors when the weather warms in spring.

As Dormant Plants

Overwintering peppers as potted plants or cuttings is more labor-intensive. For a more hands-off approach, try overwintering peppers in a dormant state. Just keep in mind that this technique is a little riskier, and some peppers may not recover in spring.

Bring potted peppers into your garage, basement, or another frost-free location that stays between 55 to 60°F through winter. If you have peppers growing in your garden, you’ll need to transplant them into pots first, and then bring them in before frost.

Once inside, prune your plants aggressively by removing all their leaves and cutting the stems back to just the main “Y” sections of the central stems. Pruning in this manner reduces pest issues, but it also helps dormant plants conserve energy. Then, place the pruned peppers in a location that receives sun for part of the day, and water them about once every 3 to 4 weeks.

To wake dormant peppers up, move your plants to a warmer and brighter location about 6 weeks before your expected last frost date, and slowly increase watering as your plants begin to leaf out. In mid-April, give the peppers a diluted application of liquid fertilizer and then move your plants outdoors when they have fresh, leafy growth and nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50°F.