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Peppers...pinch or no pinch?

JesseDJesseD Posts: 23
edited May 2020 in Fruit & veg
Hi there, I’ve got mini bell peppers and chilli peppers growing in pots, soon to be moved out to the mini greenhouse. I’ve read that it’s a good idea to pinch out the growing tips to encourage bushier plants and prevent long, lanky pepper plants. I’m curious if anyone here does this? My minibells have lots of side shoots showing, the Midas peppers less so. They’re all about 7 inches tall. Is this a good time to pinch out, before I move them on to their final pots and out to the greenhouse? 

Any comments appreciated 😊



Posts

  • HouseFinchHouseFinch Posts: 328
    I do. Yours are looking very healthy. You could always do a test run and pinch out half the plants to see which you prefer in future.
    I would recommend pinching out at this point. Yours are already quite tall, and removing more might cause added stress to the plant. I've read somewhere that they do better planted in pairs, and have done this the past couple of years. I suspect it works by helping them to support each other, but it could be like trees, where they share nutrients. Great job, they are looking good so far!
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    Hi - I pinch my basil plants to promote growth, but I have never pinched the tops of pepper plants because they bear fruit.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Having noticed this thread I was looking at my chili plants yesterday and wondering what to do, but they appear to have already started branching out right at the top and there are lots of little flower buds there which would get nipped out too.
    So I decided not to - I've never done it before and generally had good results.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • KiliKili Posts: 1,104
    I had mini bell peppers last year in my green house and did not bother to pinch. Had dozens of mini peppers which sounds great but, mini meant just that. There so mini that they were a pain to cut and you needed loads of them for a meal.

    I'm going back to normal sized peppers.

    Enjoy growing them I had loads........

    'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.

    George Bernard Shaw'

  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I don't know why but this reminded me of that old Honda advert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxPg7CwtG2w
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    I don't pinch mine either, but I do try and overwinter the plants at the end of the year by defoliating them and keeping them in my unheated conservatory with virtually no watering until they show signs of life in the spring, so extra height is useful, as some cutting-back is necessary in the spring.  Some years it works great, others not so well but this year has been ideal.  Here are a couple of the six which overwintered successfully and are now growing strongly again.  They were re-potted into fresh compost as soon as I saw new growth appearing at the old leaf joints.  With the weird warm spring, there are even flower buds starting to form on them! (I will remove those for now to promote the growth of new branches.)
    I'm also growing new plants from seed as usual.
    Worth trying if want a head start.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    Wow!  I have never thought of wintering peppers for the following year.  Mine are planted in the vege patch which gets ripped clean, manured and dug up over winter.  We are having milder winters (no frost this year).  Could be worth a try as I like growing the cayenne peppers.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Much easier to do it if grown in pots (10" in the photos) as they need bringing inside before temps drop below 5C which will usually kill them, but digging-up and potting over the winter may well work.  If you have a suitable space indoors, many of the capsicum family can be grown year-round as they are perennial in ther native habitat.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
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