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Picking off peppers

DatilDaddy

DatilDaddy

Banned
When you go to harvest peppers, is it best to clip it off its stem or take off the whole stem where it is growing from the plant? If you cut just some of the stem, will new shoots grow from that stem?
 
I pop them off where they come off. Usually at the node the pepper is coming from. So I end up with peppers that have the "stem" attached. That is part of the "cap" I remove during processing.
 
I may be wrong but think the portion that attaches the fruit to the stem is called a peduncle or pedicle. With that clarification, if it is a small structure and you cut it in the middle, the plant will usually starve what remains and it will dry out and break off at the stem eventually, when it's ready to. If it is a larger structure (for example the first bell pepper that formed at the first fork in the plant) then the whole thing may not dry out and break off on it's own or at least right away, but you don't want to cut that off at its base where it meets the stem because that will leave a big wound on the plant and it will deaden a larger area with more of an effect on both of the forks that grow out of it... so generally speaking, cut the middle of the peduncle or pedicle, not at the stem.
 
Depends. Some peppers, like Thai, break off very easily at the junction of the stem with the plant and I just pull those off by hand. Others, like tepins and Tabasco types, separate very easily at the calyx (the little cup that holds the base of the pepper). For that kind I like to snip the stem with some scissors because it makes sure they stay attached to the stem and I like to have a little handle to hold while I am munching on my spicy treats.
 
i like to break off the plant at the main stem about an inch above the soil.. then i take the plant and hold it out the window of my pick up while ddriving down i4 at 95 miles an hour and what ever peppers that are ripe that blow into the bed of the truck are what i harvest..

i call this method agressive pruning...
 
Ok
2fishminimum said:
i like to break off the plant at the main stem about an inch above the soil.. then i take the plant and hold it out the window of my pick up while ddriving down i4 at 95 miles an hour and what ever peppers that are ripe that blow into the bed of the truck are what i harvest..

i call this method agressive pruning...
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks! I think i'll try this.
 
2fishminimum said:
i like to break off the plant at the main stem about an inch above the soil.. then i take the plant and hold it out the window of my pick up while ddriving down i4 at 95 miles an hour and what ever peppers that are ripe that blow into the bed of the truck are what i harvest..

i call this method agressive pruning...
Click to expand...
I thought the speed limit on I4 was 100 mph? You have to atleast do the speed limit or your impeding the flow of traffic!
 
lol i think i was a bit tipsy last night haha.. i found some grey goose in the freezer..

anyhoo.. i use a pair of wire nippers.. cuts clean and then i leave about 1/4 inch of stem on the branch..
 
I second the cutting them off.
I've broken a few branches in my time and for my own sanity just use either a very sharp knife or scissors. I have a pair of very small fine tipped ones that I use for snipping herbs and general pepper pruning anyway that I'll use this year, but any sharp scissors will work. Clip the stem off itself and you should be fine.
 
I usually usee the emergency/EMT type scissors like these:
http://www.amazon.com/UTILITY-SCISSOR-7-1-4/dp/B001CWMJBI

They're cheap, have good leverage, and will cut through a penny let alone a pepper stem. One blade is serrated for better grip on what you're cutting too. The handles are a bit undersized for larger hands though and they don't get into tight places good. For tight spaces I use something more like the following except mine have regular, non-soft grip handle:
http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-98887097J-5-Inch-Softgrip-Scissors/dp/B000B7MUE6
 
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