On Todays 5minute Friday, we are going to show you, how prepare your Chilli plant for the winter.
Today we are going to prepare this fantastic chilli plant for winter. You may or may not know that chilli plants are perennials, so they come back every year. They actually get more productive, as the years go on. They do tail off over time, so you do need to replace your plants here and there, over the years.
To take them through the winter, isn’t as hard as people think, but there are a few tips to follow, to really boost your success.
One of them is really cutting the plant down, reducing the size of the plant. This time of year, I would take any remaining fruit off it, remembering that chillies can be frozen, or can be eaten when green (dark green), you don’t always need to wait for them to ripen. We are going to reduce the plant height by about 1/3.
Doing this really helps it go through the winter, it won’t perspire as much and will be easier to look after. Remembering your chillies must come inside to a warm spot, so if you want it on a windowsill, it’s easier when they are not as big.
Another tip is, you have to reduce the amount of watering, so that it goes into a state of dormancy, it may lose its leaves, especially in the uk, as we don’t get a lot of sun through the winter months. I am not saying, let it go bone dry, just keep it on the dry side, and the plant will like you for it.
When it comes into growth, February, March next year, that’s when you give it a good feed, and you will see it sprout up again, easy as that.
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- Remove all the remaining fruit.
- With a sharp pair of secateurs, take the top growth off. Be cautious, as clearly if you take too much, you can’t stick it back on.
- I take a look and I still want to take more off. Cut back lower, just above a leaf node.
