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Wneighbor :" I keep peppers in the same manner but they last longer, at least 3 years and I have 2 in my sunroom with me now on their 5th winter.
(I know you asked about maters, but these 2 nightshades have so much in common.)"

True about both tomatoes and peppers being in the same solanacious family, and many new gardeners don't know enough to rotate the nightshade crops.
Glad to hear about your long-term success with peppers.
Question: do you keep just the mother plant, or do you make cuttings/rootings from side shoots ?
Yes, I agree that peppers may be somewhat more tolerant to decreased light and/or temperature conditions
Are you selectively breeding for over-wintering conditions ?

TIK - Sorry to say I don’t have the space or physical ability to keep my tomatoes from crossbreeding if they’ve a mind to. I do use heirloom indeterminate seed but typically pick up a few new unfamiliar strains at the local nursery each year.

I haven’t managed to keep my varieties separated and labeled as I did in younger years but I know most this year were cherokee purple, some brandywines and another heirloom I can’t recall. Against my rule of thumb I also put out 6 Celebrities this year because my brother recommends them as all he grows. He does not have time to garden as intensely as I but does get huge crops. My celebrities did not produce like his and won’t try those again. I do prefer to start my own from heirloom seed.

That said, I accept the fact that my tomato seed is “hit and miss” because my seed saved could be an unyielding variety.

I have a lot of well lit, non-freezing area affixed to the house due to a large glassed-in porch, a bit less than 500 sq ft and a glassed in balcony which is 240 sq ft. I bring in the healthiest of my small to medium tomatoes in pots. I also take cuttings to root in soil from healthy large tomato plants. I keep the cuttings under old aquariums while they root.

The seed I save I do choose from the plants I’ve brought in. I may miss great seed by not saving any from healthy large outdoor plants.

Over the winter when I see a plant that isn’t thriving but may have good side shoots coming off the root I may cut and root the side shoot to have a fresher start in spring. Often, I’m tied up with other winter projects and don’t get around to rooting the new shoot and will just cut off the old plant come spring and replant the old root and new shoots. Either way, these over-wintered plants are my first producers in spring.

I want to thank you all for your prayers. I had a major case of the blues after 11 days flat on my back when I told about falling. The day I posted on the thread was the first day my head was mostly back to normal after knocking myself out.

I'm giving major credit to your prayer help now, thanking God, that I am finally up walking normally again. Today I am not using my walker.

I'm still taking it easy, per doc (and husband) orders but I am thrilled to be back on my feet again. Praise God we will now be able to spend Christmas with our one daughter in Texas and her family.

Thanks so much for prayers. All of you on this gardening thread have my prayers.

Got an MRI scheduled tomorrow. Hoping 2 weeks has healed all and no more damage will show up there.