Old annuum

[Devabriel 95]

If you overwinter C.annuum how old have you gotten it to become? Read in a seed saving book that they only survive for two years.. I got mine to three (prik leung). And I can't understand why they would die after two years. As I understand you can find tepins/pequins plant year after year... so think it's wrong but wanna check your experience.

[Lonewolf 18,106]

I never grew C.annuum for more than 1 year, but I think there is no problem to grow them for 3 years or more, providing good conditions to let them pass the winter (no frost etc).

 

I grew some C.chinense for at least 3 years, many wild such as C.flexuosum or C.lanceolatum for 3 years or more.

I grew a Rocopica for 12 years; I had to cut it, altough still productive, because (asymptomatic) carrier of viruses.

[Rapace 9,606]

My experience is the following:

 

It's not very rare to have C,annuum cultivars which can survice and produce "regularly" for 3 or 4 years if correctly overwintered 
In my recent experience I had one (cultivar "Vietato" - C,annuum var annuum) living for 3 years on my balcony.

My parents have a "Numex Twilight" - C.annuum var annuum which is still alive, overwintered for 4 years.

 

According to my experience "2 years limit" is disavowed by the evidence "on the field" (and "on the balcony" too in my case :) ).

 

[Devabriel 95]

Thanks then I wasn't wrong in this, I thought it sounded strange based on my experience.

Now I rarely want to overwinter annuums anymore as I think they have more problems than they really are worth, they are so easy and fast to get fruits.

Hopefully in a couple of years I'll learn to only save that's really needs to be saved, but it's hard to kill a nice plant.

My oldest chili is a baccatum that's 4 years. Hope it survives this year to.