Questions about tomatoes and belle peppers

Both bell peppers and tomatoes are perennial. They can last AGES in the right climate. I am eager to see how large mine grow here. I hope a hurricane doesnt come wipe them all out.

By Alan M. Kapuler, Ph.D.

In the early 1970s, I was working on an organic farm harvesting green (immature) and red (mature) sweet bell peppers. The 2-foot stocky plants each had 6-10 fruits. After picking the fruits, I looked out at the 1/2-acre field and was overtaken by a wave of sadness as I realized that very soon all these beautiful, young, vibrant plants would be dead from the impending frost and freezes. So without much thought, I got a shovel and a dozen large pots, dug up a plant for each pot and moved the pots into a modest cold frame that I'd had built adjacent to the house we were renting. By the following spring, two plants had survived and by the following June they had grown, flowered and fruited so that we had edible fruits months ahead of all the other local growers.

While involved in saving the pepper plants, I remembered that in the mid-altitude mountains of Bolivia where Capsicum-type peppers are native, they grow to shrubby bushes and small trees as perennials. So while those of us in the United States who love and grow peppers treat them as annuals, in their native environment, they live as perennials for 3-10 years, or more.

Now, more than 25 years later, I have significantly expanded the horizon of my perennial pepper project.

Jim Carlock wrote:

Hi jim , I have have had a pepper plant live for 10 years before it croaked from old age.Yes the stem got very woody . It was grown first in soil , then transplanted to a hydro-ponic system for a few years, then was planted back into a soil system .It was called a bolivian rainbow pepper , small marble sized,... firecraker hot!! All the while it gave a steady supply of peppers. It periododicaly needed to have it leaves trimmed off, dont worry as they will grow back , albeit a bit smaller each time. Welcome to the world of bonsai!! when grown in containers you will need to do a %25 root trimming maybe every other year. if you keep the same sized pot.

Btw Strip the tomatoes of the bottom leaves as they start to yellow, the bottom leaves are not needed as the plant gets bigger, the bottom leaves are a bit more shaded and most of the plants energy is directed to the growning tip and fruit production

So > 1) How long can tomato plants live?

Crop rotation is what you're needing info on. Not only does one have to consider the nutrients sucked up by plants, but also the rooting depth. Not to mention will tall plants then shade the short ones. I have yet to work out a successful rotation scheme as too many are similar. I have an old "Mother Earth manual of organic gardening." (editor John Bond, 1976, 0 589 000991 5) that goes into it a lot. But no doubt there are newer books around.

I have a variegated pepper plant that has survived on my back porch for several years now, despite the frost and cold southerlies that come in winter. Sometimes a bare twigged pot plant will rejuvenate if not too badly damaged although I'm not convinced it has an advantage over a new seedling as far as speed of growth goes. But that may be more due to my lassez faire approach and zero mollycoddling. :-)