Everythings flowering... snip em?

[benny360]

Hi guys, I know there are quite a few posts on whether or not to pinch early flowers already but I've heard alot of people with conflicting opinions, peaple saying it depends on your location, length of growing season, how much room you've got, variety etc...
 
I live in wales where we never really have much of a summer, the plants will be put out in a heated 16x6 greenhouse probably at the end of april, I got a fairly early start (17th jan) and Im mostly growing annums, apart from a few reapers/habaneros and rocotos. I've noticed most plants are starting to bud, even little 10cm seedlings I planted later, they are under a 300w dual spectrum cfl on 18hrs and seem pretty healthy overall.
 
I've attached some photos, so what do you guys think, shall I snip em??
 
20160325_094902 by beano wallis, on Flickr
 
20160325_094928 by beano wallis, on Flickr
 
20160325_095134 by beano wallis, on Flickr
 
20160325_095035 by beano wallis, on Flickr
 
20160325_102542 by beano wallis, on Flickr

 

[Maligator]

Benny, you're probably going to get answers on both sides of the fence: those that do & those that do not. Since you are going to be placing the plants in a heated greenhouse I'm guessing that your grow season will allow for a bit of extra grow time. Does the greenhouse allow you to keep the plants going year around?

 

[Vicious Vex]

Basically,  it comes down to:  Will you believe that you will get better growth from the stem to allow for more pods that you will snip off now?  From personal anecdotal experience I can attest to both sides.   Slow growing plants rarely produce enough in the long-term to justify snipping pods from a semi-mature plant.   Fast growing plants that produce a single heavy crop....sometimes benefit midly-extremely from sniping the flowers.   
 
 
It really depends on the plant, your growing season, and how large the plants are.  
 
Long Season + Fast growing plant + semi-mature.  I'll snip the flowers 
Short Season + Slow growing plant + Semi-mature.   I'll let them fruit up.  
Long Season + Slow Growing Plants + Semi-Mature.  It is always a gamble.
Short Season + Fast Growing plants + Semi-Mature.   I always let them fruit up.  
 
It is the "bird in the hand, is worth two in the bush" argument.    Do you risk your current definite harvest for a possible larger harvest if all factors are favorable?  
 
 
I'm sorry  if I wasn't much help.  I think knowing how to make these decisions individually is more important than anecdotal advice that is hard to prove either way. 
 
Cheers. 

 

[benny360]

This will be my first propper season growing as I started them too late last year, I guess it stays pretty warm and we usually have a late burst of sunshine in september, but generally I think the season is pretty short here in the uk (hence starting them under lights). All the plants are pretty small. The tallest one being about 8". I tried to chose early varieties with the exception of chocolate/red savina habaneros and the reapers. 
 
Here's my list
 
Albertos Locoto
Ohnivec,
Yellow cherry,
Black Hungarian,
Carolina reaper,
Orange Wonder,
Chocolate Habanero,
Bulgarian Carrot,
Red Savina Habanero,
4 Compact annums from seaspring seeds:
Loco,
Sparkler,
Spike,
Stumpy.
 
I was wondering aswell if having a dual spectrum cfl rather than just a veg one would allow them to flower early, or is it inevitable?

 

[Phil]

Personally, Iwouldn 't snip them. I let them grow as they see fit.

 

[NeedsWork]

+1 vote for letting them flower provided 300w is enough for them to fruit.  
 
 

I was wondering aswell if having a dual spectrum cfl rather than just a veg one would allow them to flower early, or is it inevitable?

 
I am growing my peppers under a 1000w MH (veg bulb) and everyone is flowering.
 
 
Here is an experiment similar to your question:
 
Both of these plants were started on the same day (January 10th).
Both are fast growing Big Thai Peppers.  Link: https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/peppers/pepper-hot-big-thai-hybrid-prod001146.html
Both have been in the same tray and under the same conditions since they were started.
 
The one on the left was allowed to fruit after an initial topping and the one on the right was topped twice.  They are getting their bi-weekly watering tonight, that is why they are so dry.
 
I will not have an answer until the end of the season (October), but the fruiting plant seems to be happier. 
 

 
Edit: typo

 

[AJ Drew]

I -think- snipping the flowers will let them put more energy into vegetative growth.  Thing is, if you leave them on you are likely to get early pods.  I used to always snip, now I snip most but leave some for early pods cause I get impatient.

 

[cefncanol]

I to live in Wales and grow under T5's same question i asked myself ...
 
Both plants planted Xmas time
 
1st I left the flowers on and will enjoy a few fresh pods soon, When ready she will go out into the greenhouse.
 

 
2nd I topped an will now leave in the grow tent and have a few more fresh pods when ready ...
 

 
3rd Ia an Apache that was topped and left to flower, Pods just showing
 

 
So try 2 plants and see what happens , I'm very new to growing as well but a lot of help is always available on here.

 

[Student of Spice]

I like the experimentation going on, let one go natural and keep on trimmed and count the number of pods they both produce of the season. I look forward to the results. Definitely make a new thread this fall showing topped versus natural.

 

[benny360]

The plants are looking good
 

I to live in Wales and grow under T5's same question i asked myself ...
 
Both plants planted Xmas time
 
1st I left the flowers on and will enjoy a few fresh pods soon, When ready she will go out into the greenhouse.
 

 
2nd I topped an will now leave in the grow tent and have a few more fresh pods when ready ...
 

 
3rd Ia an Apache that was topped and left to flower, Pods just showing
 

 
So try 2 plants and see what happens , I'm very new to growing as well but a lot of help is always available on here.

Plants are looking really good cefncanol, making me think I should have started mine a bit earlier, where abouts in wales are you?
 
I've snipped a few buds on some but think I'll just leave the rest. When do you usually plant your peppers out in the greenhouse? And when is the growing season usually done here? This will be my first full year growing

 

[cefncanol]

The plants are looking good
 
Plants are looking really good cefncanol, making me think I should have started mine a bit earlier, where abouts in wales are you?
 
I've snipped a few buds on some but think I'll just leave the rest. When do you usually plant your peppers out in the greenhouse? And when is the growing season usually done here? This will be my first full year growing

I live in Cardigan so the temps are not to bad ... still had 4 nights of frost last week, I got plants in the greenhouse at the moment (heated) but they are not as advanced  as the ones in the grow tent,
Also got some of my "culled" seedlings in an unheated poly-tunnel just to see what happens to them.
As for the buds ive read a plant has maybe 2 fruit stages, Like one at the beginning of the season and one later, I started my "hots" around November and they are doing ok,
as for the season with a grow tent it all year as long as you got the room