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Tiny plants with pods aready?

Poisonette

Poisonette

I've got Orange Habanero, Ceyanne, Hot Wax , Jalapeno, & Sweet Banana all outside in the garden. They're all Bonnie Plants & they've been outside for about 3 weeks.
The tallest is about 10", the smallest only 5", and they've all got at least one pod on them.

Is this normal this early on such small plants?

Any tips for keeping these alive through summer?

Thanks in advance.
 
It all depends on who you ask. Most people pinch flowers off until the plant puts on some good growth in the thought that it will put more energy into vegitative growth if it isn't supporting pod devolopment. Others just let em go and grow whatever the plant decides it wants too. In my opinion its a crap shoot either way.
 
Welcome from Stuttgart/Germany....

I had also 10 cm/5" Jalapenos with flowers and pods on it.I let them grow,but the plants are very small bushes now. Other Jalas I pinched of the first flower are nice big plant now....

Phil
 
Welcome!


Poisonette said:
I've got Orange Habanero, Ceyanne, Hot Wax , Jalapeno, & Sweet Banana all outside in the garden. They're all Bonnie Plants & they've been outside for about 3 weeks.
The tallest is about 10", the smallest only 5", and they've all got at least one pod on them.

Is this normal this early on such small plants?
Click to expand...

Sure, those Bonnie plants usually have extensive root systems by the time they make it to the big box stores. Being a bit pot bound makes the plants go to fruit production. As has been pointed out, some of us, myself included, prefer to pinch off the first few blossoms to encourage the plant to put more energy into root and leaf production early in the season. Others think that's silly and let the plants produce so they can get some early fruit.



Any tips for keeping these alive through summer?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Regular water and plenty of sunlight.
 
ahh the 'ol chicken before the egg debate:P:P

I think this subject gets split on a 50/50 basis as to nip or no nip. Pam summed this up perfectly and I don't think you can go wrong with either choice. I myself cut off the first few as I think it encourages growth and better yielding.

If you have more then one of each of your peppers expierement and cut off some and see the differences later on if any.

Good luck!
 
hmmmm.... Experiment Time!
I think, since I've got an even number of each, I'll try pinching half.

Thanks for the advice ;)
 
chibi said:
I've let mine go and even though they started fruiting early they're doing really well now. Let 'em go.
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I planted some seeds of an unknown pepper plant I recieved as a gift. 3 came up and they are all completely different size and bushyness, they all started flowering at once, I assume its to do with the length of daylight??? but Im just a beginner, however because they are different sizes I am just gonna let them go and see what the story is, not messing with them they all seem like happy little plants.
 
Poisonette said:
I've got Orange Habanero, Ceyanne, Hot Wax , Jalapeno, & Sweet Banana all outside in the garden. They're all Bonnie Plants & they've been outside for about 3 weeks.
The tallest is about 10", the smallest only 5", and they've all got at least one pod on them.

Is this normal this early on such small plants?

Any tips for keeping these alive through summer?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


Welcome Poisonette!

I grew Cayennes from Bonnie last year and was happy with them. 10" doesn't sound like a small plant. I still have some slow growers (Naga peppers) that are still only about 4" tall.

All my Cayennes this year already have green pods on them and from what I recall last year I started having ripe pods in July so it sounds like yours are right on schedule.

As for keeping them alive, just plant them in full sun and don't overwater them. Peppers don't like soggy roots.
 
I have question about smaller plants that are already growing flowers. will the plants still grow bigger (up & bushier) once its growing flowers/pods but at a slower rate of growth or will the plant kinda stay at the same height when its producing flowers/pods ?
I pinched the flowers on some of the chile plants but I couldnt bring myself to pinch the flowers off some of the others that are late/very late season growers because IMO our season isnt that long.
 
Before I stumbled on this site I had been growing chiles for years without nipping off anything. I noticed that early season many plants seem to discard buds themselves but even those that didnt still ended up being large plants. I had Cayenne plants that were literally full of pods that still endeded up growing from 4" to about 36" during the season. I didnt grow many Chinese in those days and to be honest my attempts at growing Scotch Bonnets and Orange habs were very poor offerings so I gave up growing them...until this year. Planning on growing natural again this year so I will find out if it impacts my fire kids.

old_001.jpg
 
herne_the_hunter said:
Before I stumbled on this site I had been growing chiles for years without nipping off anything.
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You do realize that when I talk about pinching off the first buds, it's just for the first week or ten days after I put them out. This isn't an extended bud pogrom.

Chilehunter, I doubt you have the extreme heat that I get, and I'm sure my season is longer than yours. Experience has taught me that getting the peppers to put energy into roots and leaves for that short period of time gives me healthier plants and better production at the cost of a couple of weeks delay in getting peppers. My first frost isn't usually until late Oct/Nov, though; and a lot of years we go until Thanksgiving without a frost. I have the luxury of time that you may not.

So, do what works best for you. We're not talking about a huge difference in production in a well tended garden. However,it's often very hot and dry around here by August, and some years we have watering restrictions. For me it's important that my plants have good, deep root systems because I may not be able to water them but a couple of times a week when the temps are in the high 90's and low 100's.
 
pam - yep, the BEST advice "do what works best for you" so true because for some people somethings dont work great for them but others it does great, just like certain strains of chiles grow great for some but for others they dont do so well. which I'm trying to find the best strains that grow well for me that are hardy, easy to grow, HOT & some sweet, prolific & to my liken for the taste of the chile.

so I guess by what you've said & Herne said, by letting the plant grow pods right from the begining it'll still grow bigger (the plant) but maybe just not as big or as many pods since the plant didnt spend as much time into the growth only stage (w/o pods/flowers)

as for weather, we do get in the 90's, close to 100 is kinda rare. we've had several days this week of 90-95 temps w/sun & no rain but gonna get a break from this shit starting this weekend & for next week, I dont like temps over 70 :lol:
as for watering, thats not a issue since I have my own well.
about frost I dont know when we get our 1st frost but yea its before you do, ahhhh the good old days of getting snow around thanksgiving at least a dusting (1991 3'-4'? on thanksgiving :cool:) but nowadays we can still see our grass come feb. :beer::(
 
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