container Larger container to save leggy plant?

[FinInGermany]

Hi Guys. Got this plant about three weeks ago from a local hobby grower. I absolutely HAD to have one with black(ish) leaves, so even though it was a bit leggy, I took it because it was the last specimen of this type which she had (and it cost me next to nothing ). So far, nothing is happening between to leaves really low down, and the crown. Otherwise the plant seems really healthy and is growing well. What kind of worries me is that if it continues to grow the way it is, it may get really top heavy when it starts producing chilies and could end up snapping.

If I plant it deep in a larger pot so that the large top leaves are only a few inches above the soil, is it likely to just grow like normal and turn into a bushy plant, or would the roots be too far below the surface? If this is an option, should I remove the lower leaves before doing so, or wouldn't it make any difference? No idea. Maybe I should give it another few weeks first, to see if it fills out in the middle after all . Before I joined up with you good folks here, I would have just have done it as an experiment, but since I'm pretty sure somebody will have tried it out before, I decided not to risk losing a perfectly good plant by doing something stupid. Well it wouldn't be the first time .

 

[CaneDog]

That's a cool looking pepper. I've always been a fan of the dark foliage.

My thoughts are first, that it's not very leggy; it's more that it has dropped some of it's lower leaves giving it that appearance. Leggy is based on the distance between the leaf sets/growth nodes and perhaps also height relative to diameter of the stem. This one looks like it has a reasonably sturdy stem (perhaps a little narrow is all) and doesn't appear to have above average distances between each node. I'd leave it as is and if it did load up with pods and appear risk of breaking, I'd tie the main stem to a stake.

While tomatoes and tomatillos will form roots all the way up the plant if they planted deep or in contact with the ground, peppers aren't the same. Some varieties will root a bit farther up the stem than others, but generally it's a risk planting higher than the cotyledons as planting too far up the stem could result in the stem rotting in the ground. With older plants and hardened stems, I don't plant them any deeper at all on transplant.

Another option with stretching peppers is topping the pepper down low, perhaps just above the second set of leaf nodes. It forces the plant to branch out low and healthy pepper will grow back quickly from this. When they do, the stem will have continued thickening and you will have a lower branching pepper with a "double-strong" stem to support it. I don't recommend that in this case because it will slow down the pepper a few weeks and I don't think there's any need.

My opinion is it's not really that leggy and will be fine the way it is. The stem will likely be strong enough - you can stake it later if you have to - and lower branches will likely grow in at some point during the season.

EDIT: You may want to stake the plant now if you plan to put it outside into the wind. The stem will thicken with time as the plant gains weight, but a hard wind now could possible break the stem if you put it into a heavy enough pot that the pot won't blow over first.

Good luck!

 

[FinInGermany]

Thanks for your advice and your correction on the terminology, CD. As you correctly identified, it seems for whatever reason to have lost a couple of larger leaves further down the stem, which is exactly where I was hoping for new growth. I'll do just as you suggest, and practise being patient in the meantime. Waiting in the sunshine for something to happen is always a good excuse to have a beer anyway .

 

[HellfireFarm]

I would agree, it looks fine to me, just a few leaves lost. Keep us updated!

 

[CaneDog]

Waiting in the sunshine for something to happen is always a good excuse to have a beer anyway .

Couldn't agree with you more. Cheers!

 

[FinInGermany]

Will do, Hellfire. Thanks.

 

[DWB]

Going back to the title of the post. Yeah, nothing at all wrong with upgrading the container. It can't be a bad thing but I wouldn't do it to plant it deeper. Just to give the roots more room to do their work.

 

[FinInGermany]

Thanks DWB. Pots are all there just waiting on their time. Don't have any root binding yet, so I'll wait another couple of weeks. Running out of space - only have a small back yard - so I'll have to figure out where I can put larger pots and still get enough sunlight. TBH I think I'm going to have to gerrymander something to put some of them on the roof . That's what you get when you buy "a couple of plants" just in case your first attempts at growing from seed don't work out .

 

[FinInGermany]

I would agree, it looks fine to me, just a few leaves lost. Keep us updated!

So I finally realised I was going to update . As you guys all suggested, the plant was sturdy enough as it was, and has grown well and borne fruit - that's it in the middle of the photo about 4 weeks ago. A few of the pods have now started turning green, which makes me suspect it may not be a Black Aztec after all as I had previously thought, so I have created a thread in the "Identification" section to try and find out what it is .