Chinenses flowering too early? Photo.

[Roguejim]

My chinenses were sown in mid-January. Plant-out isn't until mid-May, but they have been flowering for the last 1-2 weeks. They are getting 18 hours a day of T8 light. This is my first grow season, so what do I do? Leave them be? Pull the buds?

 

[SeanW]

Doesn't hurt to pull the buds, now. You'll have time for them to grow back, and the plant will be able to grow some more before it starts setting fruit.

 

[romy6]

Very common . Might want to ease up on the potassium a bit and have a fert with a little more nitrogen. But that isn't always the case. I would pinch and see before you change the feeding habit though. Plant looks very healthy.

 

[Dave2000]

Depends on how much space you have left in the grow area. If there is enough room for them to get larger, pinch the blooms. If there isn't, might as well let them get some pods started, -OR- pinch off most of the blooms but let them each start a pepper or two so you have some early fruit and also some assurance that each plant is growing what it's supposed to be growing, not a seed mixup or cross-pollenized hybrid plant.

 

[Dulac]

Pinch the buds. You don't want the plant to get bogged down supporting peppers yet.