Late autumn in Sydney is the quiet time in the chili garden. The summer fruit has finished. The plants are tired. The cool nights have started to slow everything down. But this is the part of the year where you set yourself up for a great season starting in September. Here is what I am doing in the garden through mid-May 2026.

Harvest the last fruit.

Whatever fruit is left on the plants needs to come off. The plants have done their work for the year and any remaining fruit is not going to ripen well as the temperatures drop. Pick the green chilies and use them for hot sauce ferments, pickle them, or freeze them for cooking. The fully ripe fruit can be dried or made into hot sauce. Do not leave fruit hanging on the plants over winter — it does not improve and it draws the plant’s resources away from where they need to go.

Cut back annuals.

The annual chili varieties — the Capsicum annuum types, which is most of what most people grow — are typically pulled out at the end of the season. Compost the plants if they are clean. Burn or bin them if you have had any disease issues during the year. The bed gets a chance to rest over winter and you start fresh in spring.

Overwinter the perennials.

The chili varieties that can be kept as perennials in Sydney — Capsicum chinense (the habaneros, ghost peppers, scotch bonnets), Capsicum baccatum (the ajis), and Capsicum frutescens (the tabascos and some of the African varieties) — can be cut back and overwintered. The pattern I use:

Cut the plant back hard. Reduce the foliage by about 70%. Leave the main woody structure intact. Do not remove all the leaves — leave a few small shoots.

Move potted plants to a sheltered position. The garage with some light, the north-facing porch, the side of the house out of the worst of the cold and wind. Reduce watering significantly. The plant is dormant or near-dormant and does not need much water.

For in-ground plants in Sydney, the overwintering is usually possible without moving them. Cover with a frost cloth on the colder nights if you are in one of the cooler suburbs. The plants will look sad through August but will surprise you in September.

Save seeds.

Save seeds from your best fruit. Pick fully ripe, healthy, well-grown fruit. Cut it open, scrape the seeds onto a paper towel, let them dry completely (a couple of weeks in a dry indoor spot), then store in paper envelopes in a sealed container with silica gel. Label with variety and date.

The seeds are good for two to three years if stored well. The seed of varieties you really love is worth saving — you can lose access to a specific variety if the seller stops carrying it.

Plan next year’s garden.

This is the right time to plan. Look back at this year’s results. Which varieties produced well? Which didn’t? Which did you actually use? Which sat in the freezer or the dehydrator and didn’t get eaten?

Make a planting list for spring. The realistic number of plants for most home gardens is smaller than enthusiasts always plan for. Six to ten plants of varieties you actually use is usually better than twenty plants where half the harvest goes to waste.

Order seeds early. The good chili seed sellers in Australia run out of popular varieties through July and August. Order in late May or June for the best selection.

Prep the soil.

The beds that are now empty get prepped for spring. Top up with compost, well-rotted manure, or a slow-release organic fertiliser. Cover with a thick mulch layer. Let it rest over winter and break down. The bed will be in better condition in September than it would be if you tried to amend it just before planting.

For pots, the spent potting mix needs to be refreshed or replaced. The old mix can go on the compost heap. The replacement should be a good quality potting mix with added compost and fertiliser.

Start dreaming about next season.

This is the part of the year where you can think clearly about what you want to grow. Read about new varieties. Watch the chili growing accounts you follow. Think about whether you want to try fermentation. Decide if you want to commit to a Carolina Reaper, a Sugar Rush Peach, or a 7 Pot variety this year.

The best chili gardens are planned. The growers who just plant whatever the nursery has in September usually end up with a chaotic patch and a mixed harvest. The growers who think about their garden in May and order their seeds in June end up with the garden they actually wanted.

A few specific recommendations for what to think about for the 2026–27 season.

If you want a productive workhorse, plant Aji Limon or Sugar Rush Peach. Both produce huge amounts of fruit and are reliable in Sydney conditions.

If you want serious heat without going to the extremes, plant Trinidad Scorpion or Carolina Reaper. Both can be grown in Sydney summers and produce useable amounts of fruit for fermentation.

If you want flavour over heat, plant Aji Amarillo or any of the Aji Charapita line. The flavour profile is brilliant for cooking.

If you want a beautiful plant as well as a productive one, plant Pimenta de Neyde for the purple foliage or Bishop’s Crown for the unusual fruit shape.

The autumn quiet in the chili garden is the foundation of next year’s success. The grower who treats it as time off ends up with a mediocre next season. The grower who treats it as planning and prep time ends up with a great one.