Can bell pepper plants survive winter indoors?

Bell Pepper plants are hardy enough to survive indoors over the winter if you give them a little preparation beforehand. Overwintering your pepper plants will enable you to keep them into the spring, where you need them for your earliest crops. Start this little trick, which gives your peppers a second season for producing fruit, well before your first frost, by potting them.

Set your plants near a south-facing window for natural light, or supplement especially on short winter days with grow lights. LED panels set about 6-12 inches above the plants work best. I run mine from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. every day. This will help mimic the growing summer months for dormant plants.

Handle humidity with care in homes that use heat. Group plants together well, so that the trees make their own 'kindergarten'. Place pots on a tray of pebbles filled with water; also, mist the leaves daily or every few days, as this will prevent them from dropping off in the dry atmosphere of overly heated rooms.

Water with extreme caution! Root rot from overwatering is a common issue. Be sure to check your soil moisture level before watering. Dormant plants typically use less water than actively growing ones. Personally, I only water when I feel that the soil is arid at least 2" down in the pot. Overwatered peppers will have leaves turning yellow and/or stems wilting.

"Transition your plants back outdoors gradually in spring. Once temperatures stay above 50°F (10°C) at night, start hardening off, increasing their time spent outdoors each day for 7-10 days. Sudden exposure can shock your overwintered plants, and you'll find they fruit weeks earlier than new seedlings."

Read the full article: How to Grow Bell Peppers Successfully