I bought a "Hottie" Pepper Plant from Home Depot about 1.5 months ago. I had never heard of a Hottie pepper, but the picture looked like a habanero and it was only $1.25. So I bought it, and a quick search on the web when I got home revealed that it was some sort of habanero hybrid.

OK good. So I decided to move it out of its small pot, and moved it into a pot about 5" high and 6" around and watered it every other day. I also placed the plant in the window sill to get as much sunlight as possible.

The plant grew very well for about a month, and even started to flower(!). Unfortunately, the plant got attacked by my roommates cat and many of the leaves were chewed. I clipped off the most horribly chewed leaves, but left a few because I was afraid of leaving the plant bare. Within a few days, the flowers fell off :(.

Post-cat attack, the plant has recovered and continues to grow leaves like mad. The plant started with one stalk, and now has two. The second has more leaves than the first and new leaf sprouts are pretty much all over the plant from base to tip.

The whole time I have had the plant, I have watered it almost every other day, and kept it in the window sill for a long day of sun. I believe the window faces southwest, so it gets a lot of light during the afternoon. Normal temperature in the apartment is 75, give or take 1 or 2 degrees and there was a week of 80 - 90 degree temps when my AC broke.

My questions are along the lines of if I can get some peppers out of this plant before the season ends.

1) In the forums, I have read that this could be a symptom of too much nitrogen in the soil. I planted it with soil from an old pot that had been sitting outside at my girlfriends house, so the quality of the soil is unknown. Is there something I could buy to even out the levels or to encourage pepper growth? I live within walking distance of a Home Depot.

2) Should I clip the remaining two chewed leaves? They are the biggest leaves on the plant, but it doesn't really need them any more since it has so many other leaves. I'm not sure if they are helping or hurting.

3) Is it too late in the season to hope for peppers from this plant? Should I go into damage control and try to keep the plant alive over the winter for next year? Its a strictly indoor plant, so keeping it warm shouldn't pose an issue. Any tips?

4) What peppers would you recommend I pick up next year in the spring so I can try to really grow some stuff. My space is limited to basically one window sill for full sun and small desk area for partial sun. The hotter the better!

Thank you for your time and I appreciate any help you can provide this aspiring pepper planter. :)

If I have done anything incorrectly, mods, please edit my post accordingly.

Info Card:

On Chair:

On Floor:

On Sill:

2) I don't think the leaves are hurting anything, so I would just leave(no pun intended)them alone.

3) It is not too late, especially if it is inside and there is no danger of frost. You may not get a huge harvest, since your plant is smaller, but not all is lost. Habaneros have a long growing season.

4) Jalapenos, cayenne, habanero,

The few things that might help you out are as follows:

1. Don't water them so much. Peppers hate wet feet. I usually water my pepper plants at the point where they are showing signs of needing water.

2. Having them outside would help them out a lot. I would figure that in the summer, your house/apartment has air conditioning. Peppers like hot weather. You might think about putting them in containers(like 5 gallon buckett). Then they ould be outside and you can bring them in when needed.

I hope this information is helpful. Others will chime in and give some more pointers

I am also trying to use as few chemicals as possible, but I'm not above giving nature a helping hand. I'll check out the Miracle Grow.

I'm not looking for a huge harvest. Since this is my first attempt at growing anything edible, I would be happy with one pepper :)

I will hold off on the watering. How can I tell when they "show signs of needing water?" The info card that came with the peppers says keep soil damp. After about 2 or 3 days, the soil becomes pretty dry.

I do have a balcony, so I could conceivably put the plant outside, but its getting down to the mid 60's at night. Would this be too cold for the plant? At what temperature should I be concenred?

Link to my weather forecast: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Columbia&state=MD&site=LWX&textField1=39.203&textField2=-76.858&e=1

If I put the plant in a 5 gallon bucket, do you have a reccomendation on the type of soil I should buy to fill the bucket? This is a maybe option, because I'm not sure where I would put a 5 gallon bucket in my room. Although it would be really cool to see the plant get that big. :)

Thanks!