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How to prune/top pepper plants

MrOneEyedBoh

MrOneEyedBoh

I'm just wondering on HOW to top/prune pepper plants for CFL growing indoors. Bhut Jolokias will be the variety, and possibly habaneras
 
Wait until the plants have several sets of leaves, use a sharp knife or pair of scissors and cut the top of the plant off just above the leaves you want to keep. You can get a lot of ideas if you Google something like "pruning plants."

Personally, I don't recommend doing it until the plant is getting too big for its space.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
Personally, I don't recommend doing it until the plant is getting too big for its space.

Mike
Click to expand...
I will have to agree with that 100%, of course I grow mine outside in the Summer
 
Being that mine are going to be grown soley indoors ( a few are indoors, rest are outside... assuming they last :D )

I just... Cut the main stalk/stem right where I want it to NOT grow any higher/more?
 
MrOneEyedBoh said:
Being that mine are going to be grown soley indoors ( a few are indoors, rest are outside... assuming they last :D )

I just... Cut the main stalk/stem right where I want it to NOT grow any higher/more?
Click to expand...

Yep!

But again, don't worry about this yet! Let the plants grow until they too big to manage and then worry about trimming.

Mike
 
You can also tie the plant down. This is called low stress training, and accomplishes the same thing without removing the growth tip.:

Txclosetgrower said:
Do a google search for low-stress training. It's basically what redeyes said about tying the plants down. Probably will have to find that info on a pot site, but this is what i'm talking about(my peruvian purple chile from '06):
Beginning:
33021164129-1.jpg


Starting to tie over:
33801133986-1.jpg


Flat and bushy:
517591668-1.jpg


Side-view:
517591548-1.jpg
Click to expand...

Someone started a thread about this a couple weeks ago.
http://www.thehotpepper.com/showthread.php?t=9084
 
GrumpyBear said:
if you just pinch off the topmost part it'll start growing out the sides. its a whole auxin thing...
Click to expand...

======================================
Correct. Gotta love those hormones.
 
If I know in advance that I'm going to top a plant, I like to do it early to really keep the height down and promote early bushing. If you wait to long you'll have to cut way back and in the process waste time and energy IMO.
 
I thought I'd repost this:

Topping works good if you want the plant to be smaller and bushier as in your case. You may have to support these bushier plants more than the untopped ones, especially when they get big.

Here's some examples

(left)untouched (center)topped recently (right)topped 1+ weeks ago (back)clone taken months ago now starting to flower

(left)and(rear left)untopped (right)topped quite early,difficult to support
aug10qn3.jpg
 
willard3 said:
You should root prune as well if you want to control plant size and keep them balanced.
Click to expand...

I've read that you can eventually have root problems with long season crops in DWC systems. Do you think root pruning would work well for preventing problems with peppers in DWC?
 
Cytokinins are mainly produced within the roots, so cutting the roots back will affect the vegetative growth. it also works the other way around.
 
Now were talking about somethin over here in this thread:P

Yeah, Omris right technicaly, which is why when you decide to root prune, you also want to prune foliage (naturally). Good way of maintaining vigor for mothers, whether soil grown or not.:idea:
 
I topped some of mine last year when I was moving the lights up and one side slipped :oops: very bushy plant and a nice producer I might add
 
^ They're talking about pruning to control the height for height restricted growing spaces. If yours is outdoors and will stay there, then no reason to prune it. If you are going to put in a larger stake, I wouldn't wait much longer.
 
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