Extreme pruning

[ebh]

Quick update on what I've noticed... The pruning I've done on the coco peppers helped them withstand the outside winds much better (smaller leaves, bushier plant). The hydro reaper has now 5-6 "main" stalks instead of the one. It has just started to put out flowers (I think it has about 10), but it has hundreads of buds.
 
I think pruning makes a pepper plant put out more peppers in one season, but the first ones come much later than if it weren't pruned (for me and my growing conditions, at least).

 

[Geonerd]

I feel like I'm in the twilight zone.  They spent all that time building up leaves to promote good growth then you went and robbed them of that.
 
No, it is wrong to prune those.  Either grow fewer plants or spread them out to catch more light, unless you're so bored with this hobby that growing large healthy plant with lots of peppers is no longer the goal.
 
Plants have evolved over billions of years to grow leaves where it benefits them to do so.  When you cut those off you are making sure the plant looses the best opportunity biology adapted it to take advantage of.

 
I do question that it is somehow necessary to whack ALL the leaves off the plant.  Doing so represents a tremendous waste of resources and hard work.
 
Here's a question for the pro-pruner crowd:
What happens if you trim only half the leaves, or 25% or 60% or ... ?
Will this still stimulate the plant to grow the way you want, but without setting it back so far?

 

[John1234]

 
I do question that it is somehow necessary to whack ALL the leaves off the plant.  Doing so represents a tremendous waste of resources and hard work.
 
Here's a question for the pro-pruner crowd:
What happens if you trim only half the leaves, or 25% or 60% or ... ?
Will this still stimulate the plant to grow the way you want, but without setting it back so far?

 
Yes some of it does look rather extreme, and while it doesn't kill the plant and in the end provides bushier growth, shutting down a plant for a few days by overpruning is generally counterproductive, especially if under lights or into fruitset.

 

[YAMracer754]

Bend them over and tie them down!
 
 
You guys know what I'm talking about
 

 
and a few weeks later
 

LST rocks!

Regards,
-Tristan