Do I cut these off?

[JamieThompson]

Hi, this is my first chili plant, and it's starting to bud chilis. One thing I am not sure about, and should have looked up a few months ago probably, is whether I should cut off the stems that produced the previous chilis?
 
As you can see in the photo, they are brown and look pretty lifeless to me, so I'm wondering if they need to be removed to give way for new ones? The four chilis that are budding at the moment are all growing from green, healthy looking stems. 
 
Any help on this greatly appreciated! 

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

I would. the brown stems are dead and should be cut where they meet the green portion as can be seen in the pix below.
 

 

 

[JamieThompson]

Thanks for the advice! Stems are now cut, and hoping there is still enough summer left for them to come back and bring me some more peppers. Wish I had asked this question 2 months ago haha.... 

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

You're welcome.
 
Quick question, is this a plant from this year or overwintered from last season?

 

[JamieThompson]

Umm assuming that overwinter means that it stayed alive through winter, this plant is overwintered from last year. I'd say I got given it around September or October, with chilis almost ready to be harvested. Since spring approached around March/April in Madrid, Spain, it has been outside, and has since started growing a lot of healthy leaves and has sprouted 4 chilis so far. 

 

[Mitzi]

Are you feeding it?  I'd expect it to have had more than four chillies by now, in your lovely warm climate.  And what size pot is it in?

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

Umm assuming that overwinter means that it stayed alive through winter, this plant is overwintered from last year. I'd say I got given it around September or October, with chilis almost ready to be harvested. Since spring approached around March/April in Madrid, Spain, it has been outside, and has since started growing a lot of healthy leaves and has sprouted 4 chilis so far. 

 
Yes, a plant that goes dormant due to poor growing conditions would probably be the way to describe this for those who don't experience what a winter is to others......
 

 

 

[JamieThompson]

It was in pretty bad shape after winter, and had received almost no sunlight as I didn't want to leave it outside in the cold, so I'm not too surprised it is only just starting to bud chilis. Hopefully the cutting of the dead stems will help it bud more.