pruning Pruning question

B

bigflies

Hello All,
 
Question from newbie on pruning pepper plants.
 
I've seen and read several posts on the topic of Topping pepper plants for higher yields.  It seems the topping method causes the pepper plant to become more wide and bushy, which leads to improve yields.
 
But, what if I wanted to keep my pepper plants (which I intend to grow in 15 gallon nursery pots) less bushy and wide?  I've seen some pictures of end of the season pepper plants grown in 15 gallon pots, and have noticed that some of the pepper plants get quite large and bushy.
 
If I wanted to keep the width of the pepper plant to say within a 30 inch diameter, as the plant grows and extends its branches beyond the desired 30 inch diameter, is it ok to trim back the branches so that the plant stays within the desired width without doing significant damage to the plant?
 
What would be the pros and cons of pruning the pepper grown in a container so that it stays within a general cylindrical area having a 30 inch diameter?
 
Thank you.
-Will
 
Just a few ideas that pop into my mind:
 
 
Con - you would be cutting off the new growth of side branches, which will in turn stifle flower production, which occurs at the ends (later on becoming nodes)
Con - you will be delaying output of pods, though not preventing their growth, just a delay.
Con - will likely need to stake the main upward shoot(s)
 
Pro - the plant is under your control, you decide how it will be shaped
Pro - can fit more plants next to each other
Pro - can brag about how big/tall your penis plant is
 
     If you want to maintain a certain habit in your plant, my advice would be to start training it early instead of waiting for the plant to invest a bunch of energy in lateral growth that will be lost.
     Subordinating growth in areas where you don't want the plant to bush out will "teach" the plant to direct more energy towards the areas that haven't been pruned. I can be as simple as pinching off growth tips on the sides of the plant. After a few rounds of light prunings, the plant will more or less forget about these areas as all of it's growth potential is pushed elsewhere.
     If you do it right, you won't slow production at all - the pods will just grow on a different part of the plant. Your plant will end up just as big and productive as if you hadn't pruned it at all. It will just be a different shape.
 
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