Over fert'ing results on a 2 yr old

Nuclieye

Nuclieye

This is a pic of my two yr old Long Cayenne / Orange Habanero cross just taken.  Very nice tasting after roasting and the pods are about 5" long.  The plant is only 20 inches tall and I cut it back each year to stubs but the thing is so prolific its just crazy.  I fert it very strong until I see this in the leaves then a weekly dose until I see leaf drops.  Sure does produce like nuts.  
Counted over 50 pods on it tonight.  Snipped 12 off before pic.  Wife thinks I shouldn't prune it back this year to see what happens.  What say Ye?
 
iNR8D23.jpg
 
my .2c
If you don't prune it, then that equals more existing nodes in which to sprout new growth. It may take longer to get going, but in theory, assuming the plant has the energy to bounce back, it should produce more.
Sort of the same way that people argue that if you top a plant you will have more nodes which equals more places to produce pods, the same could be said for NOT pruning it back once you have those nodes. Not that I agree with topping, but anyway.
 
I think pruning (OW's) can help in a couple of ways, and that is to reduce space required to OW a plant indoors, and secondly it seems to help them resist the cold a little better if they are left outside.
 
I saw on facebook a little while back that Seaspring seeds(who created the dorset naga), put out a question asking why people prune their OW plants?, and they stated that they do not. Take what you will from that but it makes sense to me.
 
I do however think its easier for a pruned plant to "come back" after being over wintered, as it can focus its new growth in less places for quicker growth. 
I also think that once a branch starts dying from the cold, it kind of continues to follow the branch back; in which case it should be cut off to stop it "creeping back".
I think it really depends on the growers conditions and how extreme they need to go in order to keep it alive over winter.
 
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