If your growing seasons are too short for peppers and tomatoes

[Ole Fosshaug]

...Just grow them as perennials.

I have had success with overwintering both peppers and tomatoes.
The second year harvest is much earlier and doubled and tripled compared to the first year.

Unfortunately I was to late last fall and all my peppers and tomatoes froze early September(some people just have to learn it the hard way)

I just trim the tomatoes down some and bring in the plant before the first frost and let tomato and pepper plants stand by a large window in the living room.
I completely defoliate the peppers but the tomatoes I have left with the leaves on over the winter.
Late July/early August is a great time to take cuttings for overwintering.
Just limit the watering to a minimum so they doesn't drown.

In February when the sun starts to regain its strength I increase the watering and the mother plants and the cuttings come back to life.

So this is a method to keep the plants alive so you can get a harvest and collect mature seeds the second year.

[stone]

I haven't had any luck with tomatoes...

Over wintering peppers is easy...
Not sure why you feel the need to defoliate...

I pot up my peppers out of the garden and bring them inside... if they have peppers on the branches... those ripen...

The trimming that may be required is only enough to get the plants through the door... I've had some very large plants...

[Ole Fosshaug]

I haven't had any luck with tomatoes...
 
Over wintering peppers is easy...
Not sure why you feel the need to defoliate...

Nice!
I defoliate the peppers because that's how I learned how to do it.
I guess it's a way to prevent bugs.

Anyway this year I'll try your method and leave the leaves on   

For me overwintering tomatoes have been even more easy.
They just hang around until the sun get strong enough to wake them up

[Sledgehammer Potato]

I have overwintered indeterminate tomatoes many times for various reasons.  The longest I have had tomato plants survive is 4 years.  I am pretty sure they can last a lot longer if looked after and protected from frosts. 

I find overwintered tomatoes usually produce fruit 2 months earlier than seed grown.  It doesn't matter how early I start seeds, they don't get much growth under cool conditions, whereas overwintered plants are already at flowering size once the weather warms. 

[Adam Igra]

Im overwintering my peppers, and I defoliated just because thats what the guide said, but I left some leaves on. Alas, Aphids abound, so I eventually cut those off too. It looks healthy but hasnt started regrowing leaves yet. Ive heard peppers do produce more after their first year, but people are quite dogmatic that tomatoes produce less the longer they live, with the 2nd year always being worse.

The claim is the plant "exhausts" itself but im skeptical. Perhaps they have semiannual genes, whatever mechanism causes that. In the UK I imagine every tom eventually dies of blight even if you keep it years after, but cuttings can be taken easily to avoid this.
Could this 1st year dominance be genotypic, or do all tomatoes have it, if true at all?

[Justin Jardinier]

Im overwintering my peppers, and I defoliated just because thats what the guide said, but I left some leaves on. Alas, Aphids abound, so I eventually cut those off too.

Did you ever try using predators? There are various aphid predators on the market, plus spider mite predators and so on. I found them to be the best way of dealing with indoor pests. So long as humidity levels are sufficient, you can make a pretty nice balanced ecosystem indoors. And it's nice to see the various creatures doing their thing. Just make sure to get rid of any sticky traps that you might use if you don't have predators.

[Cathy A]

I think this would only work in low disease environments, or using varieties that have near total resistance to local diseases.

In most if not all years, most of my tomatoes are already dying of disease by the time first frost kills them off.

The situation is bad enough that I don't compost tomato or potato plants.

Can anyone here recommend OP varieties with near total resistance to all forms of blight?

[Justin Jardinier]

Yes that's a good point. I grow tomatoes indoors over winter but have not brought them in from outside. I would consider though, maybe taking cuttings from outdoors before late bight comes, and grow them indoors if I needed to continue that plant. What§do you think about that?

I have some important F1s that I want to keep going also. I thought to plant out cuttings this season but also keep some going indoors, until the time comes that I don't need these anymore. (They were extremely difficult to create).

Can anyone here recommend OP varieties with near total resistance to all forms of blight?

Galahad is an f1 but homozygous for Ph-2 and Ph-3, so you whilst it might change a bit, you won't loose the late blight resistance. There are a few others also homozygous for both, there should be details of them on the late blight thread. For example:
Primabella
Rondobella
Resibella

I'm not sure if they are OP or F1s. It seems Primabella has the highest resistance, more than just Ph-2 + 3 combined.

Purple Zebra has some good other forms of disease resistance too, but is only heterozygous for Ph-2 and 3. Some people are working on dehybridizing it. If you could get hold of some that already has Ph-2 and 3 homozygous, that could be a nice option.

I know you were asking specifically about OP varieties, but these are the best options I know of.

Lee Goodwin has some tomatoes that have some resistance. But I don't know how much resistance. I would really love to see them trialed against Ph-2 and 3 homozygous tomatoes. Apparently his Wild Child may have some resistance. I would love to know what others of his do, and how good. If you find any more info on this I would love to hear about it! Here's his Wild Child:
https://jandlgardens.com/xencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=577

[Ole Fosshaug]

Yes that's a good point. I grow tomatoes indoors over winter but have not brought them in from outside. I would consider though, maybe taking cuttings from outdoors before late bight comes, and grow them indoors if I needed to continue that plant. What§do you think about that?

I have some important F1s that I want to keep going also. I thought to plant out cuttings this season but also keep some going indoors, until the time comes that I don't need these anymore. (They were extremely difficult to create).
https://jandlgardens.com/xencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=577

I say cuttings is equal important as seeds when it comes to breeding.
Especially if we talk about any disease or bug resistance.

Because as stated earlier in the thread, you get at least a two months advantage and if they look fresh and disease free you can take cuttings to multiple your plant population to a large number just from one overwintered mother plant.
And you can start early with the crossing with other tomato lines you desire.

Propagating tomatoes from cuttings are a blessing 💖

[stone]

Re aphids on overwintering peppers...
Rarely occurs here.

When it does?
I set plant outside on warm day.
Ladybugs show up.

If I had aphids, and it was cold?
Still wouldn't cut plant...
Ladybugs try to come inside to overwinter... They've dealt with the aphids on those times when it was cold and aphids were an issue...

https://www.google.com/search?q=ladybugs+coming+inside

Seems nutz that everything that comes up on google acts like it's a problem...

[Adam Igra]

Did you ever try using predators? There are various aphid predators on the market, plus spider mite predators and so on. I found them to be the best way of dealing with indoor pests. So long as humidity levels are sufficient, you can make a pretty nice balanced ecosystem indoors. And it's nice to see the various creatures doing their thing. Just make sure to get rid of any sticky traps that you might use if you don't have predators.

I think two lacewing larvae would be enough for my house! Perhaps aphidius but a dozen lil waspies flying around wouldnt be tolerated either. Im not too fussed with pyrethroids indoors since its not harming the enviroment.

I looked into case studies of pyrethroid toxicity and apparently some loonies huff the stuff to get high and didnt have chronic problems so im not too worried, caffiene and nicotine are toxic too.

Unrelated note but pyrethrins seemed to damage my plants whilst oids have no effect.

[Adam Igra]

Re aphids on overwintering peppers...
Rarely occurs here.

When it does?
I set plant outside on warm day.
Ladybugs show up.

If I had aphids, and it was cold?
Still wouldn't cut plant...
Ladybugs try to come inside to overwinter... They've dealt with the aphids on those times when it was cold and aphids were an issue...

https://www.google.com/search?q=ladybugs+coming+inside

Seems nutz that everything that comes up on google acts like it's a problem...

Ive never seen ladies indoors here. Aphids outside get decimated unless being farmed by ants but indoors they do seem to breed until the plant dies, they also make a gross mess. There are a few species of them too which go for different plants. Fluffy white ones that go for roses are very cute but kill it rapidly.
Perhaps not worth defoliating entirely, you can wash them off but they come back.

[William Schlegel]

Lee Goodwin's Wild Child impressed me when I grew it out. A nice early red. I remember sharing seeds I saved with others. I should grow it again.

[stone]

Something else that controls aphids...
at my house, the green anoles will crawl in under the door... so cute!
Sometimes they hitch hike in on one of the plant pots...
They consume aphids, & catch stuff in the window...

[Steph S]

Most tomato plants can shrug off the aphids here, but peppers are another story.
Ants get into the attached greenhouse, I do beat them back with treats of borax-sugar-water but I have had to take a fallow period in fall, otherwise the infestations are beyond controllable.  Fall carrots or cabbage in the greenhouse is just an invite for ants to extend their season and make it a horror movie for the cleaner-upper (unless you eat aphids, there's no reward.)
It's too bad the anoles find it a little too cold here.  Very cute.
Pepper plants are fine in the off season (winter) after the first hard frost and before ants wake and realize there are green plants indoors already.
Sure the peppers are fine when I put them out by the door, they're aphid free in no time.  Unfortunately it's still too cold for them in early spring.  Bringing in in the fall hasn't worked beyond the first year I grew them, when the ants hadn't figured out their indoor plan.
Another problem with indoor peppers is the amount of pollen...  I've had several computers crash after letting peppers flower and fruit in their vicinity.  It's really too bad because I like everything else about cohabiting with peppers.