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Topping a plant?

orrevs

orrevs

I think the proper name is Branching or something.
And i say sorry for my bad grammar. But i try my best to be understood.

Anyway, when and how do i know if my chiliplant should be topped (cut of the "head") So new ones will grow out and it will become more bushyier



I belive that all ornamentals can be topped i.e Numex Twilight.
Also i think that chilis that gives small fruits like Tepin and such fits.



This year i want to try to see the different.
Last year my tepin plant got pretty tall and got bushy at the top. i rather want it bushy from the dirt up ;)

So what plants fits am i right or am i totally wrong?
 
I've never topped a plant on purpose, so can't really say too much. Pulling off the lower leaves helps light reach the bottom and new branches will form. I'm on mobile right now but when I get back to a computer I will toss out some pictures.

I've never topped a plant on purpose, so can't really say too much. Pulling off the lower leaves helps light reach the bottom and new branches will form. I'm on mobile right now but when I get back to a computer I will toss out some pictures.
 
I have topped several different varities, I personally think you get better brancing by pruning out the lower leaves. Chili plants branch out alot more than the other popular plant that people recommend topping.
 
Most of mine branched on their own... in many cases, the growth starting from the bottom eventually overtook the top growth. One of my Hab seedlings is already forming offshoots and it's barely 3 inches tall...
 
synclinorium said:
Most of mine branched on their own... in many cases, the growth starting from the bottom eventually overtook the top growth. One of my Hab seedlings is already forming offshoots and it's barely 3 inches tall...
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Same here. They may not branch much inside but once I get mine outside they throw out a ton of new lower shoots.
 
I recommend both if pruning the bad leaves on the botttom isnt making your plant bush out then I would top it!
 
different species have different techniques for pruning.

my orange habs end up looking like a bonsai design but my ultimate favourite for pinching is the goatsweed. i would take pictures and show you but my plant is in overwinter state and has no leaves on it and my new seedlings are still too small.

as a goatsweed branches show new growth the new leaves are clustered in about 6 leaves, the precise pinch of 2 of these 6 leaves causes even more new growth and new branching. once you see a goatsweed plant you instinctively want to pinch those leaves. i can spend an hour on just one plant mentally designing its new design structure and how i would like the plant to develop. i am sure if i could grow outside in the ground, i wouldn't spend as much time on the plants. i attempted to grow a goatsweed weed outside, in the ground and it was a failure.

as for tepin, my 5 year old plant looks more like a tree and unless one of the branches dies off i just leave it alone. as for the dried dead branches, when it does happen, i cleanly cut the branch.

good luck.
 
Burning Colon said:
different species have different techniques for pruning. my orange habs end up looking like a bonsai design but my ultimate favourite for pinching is the goatsweed. i would take pictures and show you but my plant is in overwinter state and has no leaves on it and my new seedlings are still too small. as a goatsweed branches show new growth the new leaves are clustered in about 6 leaves, the precise pinch of 2 of these 6 leaves causes even more new growth and new branching. once you see a goatsweed plant you instinctively want to pinch those leaves. i can spend an hour on just one plant mentally designing its new design structure and how i would like the plant to develop. i am sure if i could grow outside in the ground, i wouldn't spend as much time on the plants. i attempted to grow a goatsweed weed outside, in the ground and it was a failure. as for tepin, my 5 year old plant looks more like a tree and unless one of the branches dies off i just leave it alone. as for the dried dead branches, when it does happen, i cleanly cut the branch. good luck.
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More info on this would be great! I have a goatweed overwinter that is really starting to take off as well as 5 new seedlings. I had cut the overwinter back after rescuing it from a nursery (it frosted back got for FREE!!!). It had 3 stalks starting at the bottom that basically just grew straight up...it is putting out new growth bottom to top. So I'm interested in your stategy with which ones to pluck and when??? Also, what type of results I can expect to see from this. I am really hoping to put it in the ground, and it should overwinter here without issues in Socal. I was also wondering what issues you had when yours went in the ground? I will keep the seedlings in containers for their first season, then maybe in the ground next year...
 
+1 Shane - I'm always nipping and tucking my plants, trees and shrubs.
It would be nice to see some photos of folks' pruning strategies - before
and after pics as the season develops.
 
I'm going to prune one plant of the same type and leave the other one unpruned to see if pruning is worth doing. I think it will give more peppers if pruned properly. I'm going to do what you call toping to promote lower growth. Should be an interesting experiment.
 
Like I said, I have never had an issue where I have needed to top a plant, or thought that for me it would increase production. Here are a few pictures of how mine naturally branch out.

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millworkman said:
Like I said, I have never had an issue where I have needed to top a plant, or thought that for me it would increase production. Here are a few pictures of how mine naturally branch out.
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I'm wondering about the goatweed specifically. They have a natural tendency to send up one or a few main shoots and just go straight up...most peppers aren't like that and as has been said, trimming a few leaves so the sun can get to the stalk will usually pomote new growth. I want to make my goatweed more of a bush than a stick.
 
Yeah, they do tend to grow straight. I grew one last year that ended up falling over and had new main stems pop off the one that fell over, it created like a line of plants. It was pretty cool.
 
millworkman said:
Yeah, they do tend to grow straight. I grew one last year that ended up falling over and had new main stems pop off the one that fell over, it created like a line of plants. It was pretty cool.
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Maybe that's the answer! I'll transplant it sideways into my raised bed and bury the stalk every foot or so!
 
millworkman said:
Yeah, they do tend to grow straight. I grew one last year that ended up falling over and had new main stems pop off the one that fell over, it created like a line of plants. It was pretty cool.
Click to expand...

I intentionally tied a cayenne plant down once it was about 18 inches tall at a 90 degree angle, I ended up with 7 main stalks and great yield. I don't typically get a lot of side shoots from cayennes, but I dont generally give them much attention either.
 
theghostpepperstore said:
I intentionally tied a cayenne plant down once it was about 18 inches tall at a 90 degree angle, I ended up with 7 main stalks and great yield. I don't typically get a lot of side shoots from cayennes, but I dont generally give them much attention either.
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That's a good idea.

Edit:

millworkman said:
Like I said, I have never had an issue where I have needed to top a plant, or thought that for me it would increase production. Here are a few pictures of how mine naturally branch out.
Click to expand...

Depends on the plant. That plant looks naturally bushy. I was also thinking some cuttings might be cool too. Anyone have an easy time planting pepper cuttings? Seems like they would do it with ease.
 
Dulac said:
That's a good idea.

Edit:



Depends on the plant. That plant looks naturally bushy. I was also thinking some cuttings might be cool too. Anyone have an easy time planting pepper cuttings? Seems like they would do it with ease.
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You can do a search for topics related to cloning. I have never had any success but others seem to have it down to a science.
 
I've had pretty good luck tying plants down too... though I don't really know if it increases overall yield. I noticed most plants have a sort of maximum number of peppers they can maintain at any given time... it seems like once they reach point the growth and flowering slow down considerably until you start picking peppers off. It might just be my imagination though.

Anyway, this is the Hab I was talking about. Admittedly this variety (White Hab) is naturally compact and bushy, but still... don't think I'll need to think about topping this guy.
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