Advice on Pruning This Plant

B

Bakemeacake

Howdy, guys!
 
I wanted to ask a quick question about one of my larger ghost plants. It has a few side shoots coming off very close to the soil. They were already there when I bought the plant, but are now much bigger and seem to be hogging the growth of the plant. I am wondering if I should go ahead and snip those off since I've heard you don't want very low hanging limbs. If so, would that encourage growth at the top limbs, which is where I want the buds?
 

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juanitos said:
i trim off those low ones close to the soil.
 
i like my plant to look like a small tree, with bottom 12" just bare trunk. 
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That's exactly what I want. Would cutting those encourage it to grow bushier up top?
 
here is the one i have growing. i left the plant to do it`s thing and it has a couple of low branches that have pods on them. it`s really a personal preference on trimming or not. 
 
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luvmesump3pp3rz said:
here is the one i have growing. i left the plant to do it`s thing and it has a couple of low branches that have pods on them. it`s really a personal preference on trimming or not. 
 
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Good lookin' plants! Another motivation for me to prune it back was I had figured it would be more manageable to overwinter if I shape it nicely. Not sure how achievable that is though.

Also, the plant seems to be directing more growth at the bottom limbs instead of filling out on top.
 
Bakemeacake said:
Good lookin' plants! Another motivation for me to prune it back was I had figured it would be more manageable to overwinter if I shape it nicely. Not sure how achievable that is though.
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yes i`ve read that pruning is done when overwintering. even the roots are pruned in some cases. there is nothing wrong with pruning. if i had a problem with lower leaves getting diseased from being too close to the soil i would trim them off but never had any problem.
 
luvmesump3pp3rz said:
yes i`ve read that pruning is done when overwintering. even the roots are pruned in some cases. there is nothing wrong with pruning. if i had a problem with lower leaves getting diseased from being too close to the soil i would trim them off but never had any problem.
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Yeah I also worry about getting disease from actually pruning though. I have a small ghost that developed a lot of brown spots on the leaves after being topped and im wondering if it was actually that that introduced infection.
 
Bakemeacake said:
Yeah I also worry about getting disease from actually pruning though. I have a small ghost that developed a lot of brown spots on the leaves after being topped and im wondering if it was actually that that introduced infection.
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That's too much worrying.  You are on a forum where pruning is literally a way of life for a significant portion of the participants.
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I have an electric fence near my plants. I have to constantly prune, lest they fall upon the wires, and I end up losing entire branches of the plant.  People overwinter. (that's far less than ideal conditions)  Plants break under wind, animals, etc, etc, etc.
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Check those irrational fears, and pull out the pruning shears. (if you're so inclined) 
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Call me a cynic, but I've always believed that if there is anything worth doing, it's worth breaking at least twice, figuring out how it's done.  You can't learn anything if you hide behind your fear of "what if".
 
I would prune any leaves touching the soil but leave the stems on otherwise.  I would go for bushy rather than tall in a container if having to chose, especially since your plant is very leggy.
 
juanitos said:
i trim off those low ones close to the soil.
 
i like my plant to look like a small tree, with bottom 12" just bare trunk. 
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You guys that get a little bit of cool relief at night seem to always have those low branches in your pics.  But down here in the land of the perpetual Sauna, this is how my plants seem to grow, anyway.  I never take off my lower branches, but the lower leaves drop of naturally, and don't come back. (meanwhile, the plant stretches at the main stem)  My plants all get "saplings" more like a tree, later on.
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I'd say that's a pretty good indicator that low branches are somewhat vestigial.  Plus, it's just a good practice for prevention of leaf damage (elimination of a disease vector) and airflow under the drip line.
 
After my plants are a few months old, I generally pull off enough of the bottom leaves from the main stem so that I can see the soil. I want to be able to see and pull weeds, prevent mold and mildew, and not provide any safe habitat for colonies of critters.
 
On chinense plants, this means quite a heavy defoiling. Same thing with annuums and baccatums. Not so much with rocotos. In fact, I usually need to do a heavy defoiling on chinenses at least twice during a season.
 
A week or two after this type of operation, chinenses usually rebound with a vengeance.
 
Side shoots, however, are a different story. I always let them grow. They do not "hog" the growth of a plant - that is not possible. The more leaves you have on a plant, the more photosynthesis is occuring and the greater the overall life force and growth power.
 
I would let it grow.
I have several plants looking like this, where the "side stems" are almost as big as the main stem.
Now the plants have a wider canopy and less weight on each of the stems.
They produce great.
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Well, a few days ago I went ahead and trimmed the side shoots and I'm glad I did. Could just be coincidence, but since I trimmed, it has really put on a lot of foliage up top, has gotten much bushier, and just looks healthier in general. It had gotten to a point where it wasn't really growing and looked pretty unhappy. Maybe this stimulated something? I'm not sure.
 

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Glad it worked out for you Bakemeacake, that is a happy looking plant. 
 
 
podz said:
Side shoots, however, are a different story. I always let them grow. They do not "hog" the growth of a plant - that is not possible. The more leaves you have on a plant, the more photosynthesis is occuring and the greater the overall life force and growth power.
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What podz says is true, but I think the growth you see has become more concentrated at the top now, instead of split between the top and side branch.
 
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