I know some gardeners in cold climates dig up their peppers at the end of the season, plant them in pots, trim them back quite a bit and keep them inside either in a sunny window or under lights. In my area you can overwinter them outdoors in a protected place, but as most of the posters on this old thread say, I haven't really noticed any benefit to doing so. I generally just restart them every year.

thanks, more of what lights, & a little more on heat. I think I'm only looking at a few permanent plants. A dual tube regular 24" long 2 x 20W with reflector seems to get 70° to 80° for germination, and may do what: 1-3 of these plants? I'll be more specific and have questions: I think I would be the coolest guy on the block to say I have to grow my own peppers for my killer wing sauce preference. I have tried all kinds of commercially available sauces (a liter of Tabasco is to drink), and I need major heat not available anywhere but in the hottest of fresh peppers. So I have found where I can purchase a tray of fresh Scotch Bonnets (which are near the hottest of all; maybe half by average) and depending on the source, they vary from weak (useless) to hey, I need some ketchup here. Additives to the sauce may or may not be necc., and the taste may vary. I want to know the consistent heat too. So I have narrowed down, through research - incl. 'Hot Peppers' forum, the hottest on the planet, but their are factors, of course. They are Red Savina, Chocolate Hab, Devil'd Tongue, Caribbean Red, Red Fatali, in no order. I will mail order the seeds of these 5 peppers, which are not avail as plants here. Scotch Bonnet is available as a plant also here in Toronto. And I've got Scotch Bonnet seeds. I may also do small flower seeds, whatever, but that's another story - pansies... In order to get a taste of these 5 or 6 pepper varieties, I'll need to start more than one seed each, and probably start at more than one time. Say 6x2x2= 24 8oz. styrofoam coffee cups. The size of a case of beer. With the size of enclosure I was planning I will have some room for the pansies. eg 24" long. But in the long run, after I have tried them all, I will probably only want to keep tied to one or two plants in pots 365 days a year, as long as they last. If they die, I'll start again with seeds of the same type/source. I can always buy trays of fresh SBs. Hmm, I also may not know which ones I prefer to keep alive more than one year for some years. I understand some may grow 3 or even 4 feet, and last 3-6-10 years. I DON'T know. Never seen one. In regards to the box for germinating. In my head I have pictured (at this moment): A cardboard box, about the size of a 20" TV set, and maybe 15" high. Inverted to easyily lift off. Holes for spying, temp gauge, ventilation. On a board. All lined with tin-foil. The light suspended for adjustment. May cost....nothing. Any good? I am curious now about using the same fluorescent for heat also. I have recently seen a picture of an incandescent, in a similar box, with 25 cent garage sale type-fixtures. A 15 or 40W regular light bulb puts off a lot of heat as you can tell with your hand. I know you need the fluorescent when they poke through the ground, and to get them to the next outdoor growing season. Now what to do with those styrofoam cups for drainage and how to cover them before the seedlings poke through? And I'm really not clear on what it is to keep them alive or keep them fruiting to the next outdoor growing season.

That would be us. Kinda like the blind leading the blind, eh? Hello. My name is Dennis, and I'm a chilehead. [chorus: "Hello Dennis"] Nice selection! I did the same thing last year, planting multiples of each (not quite as many) variety and ended up with 100+ babies. By the time they got up to half gallon pots I had 80 or so. I put an ad on craigslist and gradually sold them down to 35 by September. Met some very interesting people that way. Ghost, any chocolate variety, ornamentals sold well. One guy bought four of my five red fatalii. Scorpions ("world's hottest"), thai, and korean did not sell as well as I expected. I guess I made about $120, but that wasn't as important as finding them good homes. Rather than thin the herd now, I'd try to keep them as long as possible. No way I thought I'd be able to support 60 large pots but it worked out. Here's a hint: use wire shelf racks - the kind with the bent-over edges - to hold the pots up off the ground and you can set them out on the lawn without killing the grass. Let us know how it goes. And know that -- we're here for you. This post was edited by DMForcier on Thu, Mar 13, 14 at 13:35

Edy, your roots over skull in my head lives in my head XD! I don't have as fine an eye as you do, but about 2 wks ago I chopped 2 hot pepper plants. Both were about 3' tall and just as wide. I cut 'em down to about 7" and this weekend, I will bare root, gritty their feet & bring them in. Here's the before & after...