yea. I guess i was a bit to aggressive with the taking off of the leaves. The reason i took off all the leafs when i topped may plants was because they were very light green. At first i thought they had some Kind of deficiency so i gave them some high Nitrogen bat Guano, some bone meal, and some calmag. Two weeks later(when i topped) they still were the same Color so i removed them and figured the plants would generate some better leaves once topped. I was under the Impression that the plants have stored energy and if they get all thier leaves taken off they can still generate new ones. I guess i was wrong.
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topping small plants
- Thread starter cycadjungle
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>Just not as tasty!
Heresy! Just kidding man.
But as I mentioned before in a seperate thread, it has a lot to do with region I assume. When you have to lamp the plants for a while as opposed to real early outdoor transplanting, you end up with more plants stretching beyond what is healthy to reach the stationary light. After a topping/Fiming at just short of a foot in height, I have seen at least two leaves sprung out at all the mid to lower nodes within one to two days, in addition to the growing tip looking like it really wants to branch.
Edit: oops it was this thread I guess
Heresy! Just kidding man.
But as I mentioned before in a seperate thread, it has a lot to do with region I assume. When you have to lamp the plants for a while as opposed to real early outdoor transplanting, you end up with more plants stretching beyond what is healthy to reach the stationary light. After a topping/Fiming at just short of a foot in height, I have seen at least two leaves sprung out at all the mid to lower nodes within one to two days, in addition to the growing tip looking like it really wants to branch.
Edit: oops it was this thread I guess
Nice looking plant George. And well put bob I agree completely.
This post inspired me to decapitate my pepperlings and tomato toddlers. Wish me luck! 
I don't know how necessary it would be with tomatoes. I wouldn't if its a determinant shrubby tomatoe, sometimes you even need to take suckers then.
That said I'm inexperienced and give it a shot! You never know.
That said I'm inexperienced and give it a shot! You never know.
I don't know what I'm doing but I don't bother topping peppers. I guess I feel like the plant knows what it's doing better than I ever will. I start them in a sort of sunny window with 500 watts of HPS light to help out and don't really get leggy seedlings this way.
As far as tomatoes go I wouldn't top them either, but I did once years ago because they were started indoors way too early and were getting very tall and leggy. On a side note I took the 8 or 10" tops I cut off of them and stuck them in a pot with some soil just for kicks and they all rooted and doubled the number of tomato plants.
As far as tomatoes go I wouldn't top them either, but I did once years ago because they were started indoors way too early and were getting very tall and leggy. On a side note I took the 8 or 10" tops I cut off of them and stuck them in a pot with some soil just for kicks and they all rooted and doubled the number of tomato plants.
BakersPeppers
Banned
Like i said before 
If you want video evidence of what topping seedlings does...check out my 2013 GLOG Theres no denying thousands of pepper plants as evidence
If you want video evidence of what topping seedlings does...check out my 2013 GLOG Theres no denying thousands of pepper plants as evidence Like i said before
I didn't watch the video(s) but what am I expected to see? It's not exactly a secret that removing the top will make the main stem branch out and usually cause other branches to grow out from the nodes. You'll get a bushier plant, and more peppers per plant, but the peppers will usually be smaller than if you left the plant alone and total weight of fruit per plant will generally be the same in either case. I've witnessed this with several varieties of peppers growing side by side topped and not topped. The overall shape and density of the plants were different but in the end the total fruit produced was about equal (talking weight, not number of pods).
I like bigger fruit. It's more fun to feed someone a 3" scorp than a 2" scorp. And if I were buying pods for $1 each, I'd rather have 3" pods. Actually I'd rather buy and sell peppers by weight... then it doesn't matter how big or small they are.
Variables...
Some plants naturally grow very prolific, like 7 pods. In that case it wont really make a difference. In smaller plants like Jalapeno, Bell, numex variants, pab, etc... yeah you are probably right.
I guess my point is that your paradox can be out grown, if the conditions are right and the strain permits it.
Proof of this can be found by looking at mothers, basically the same thing but with an older plant. Mothers often grow bigger than first year plants and yield more pods.
My reasoning is that the situation is dynamic to the nutrients and allotted root space. It takes more energy to make the extra branches, and more roots. If there isn't enough energy to go around after building the extra branches then yes production will go down.
What if you topped, but then had a gigantic 60G airport like Guru, along with a strain that grows very prolific like say... Yellow 7?
I think you would have a Monster Bush. But.... is that a good thing? maybe you want to keep it airy between branches to prevent mildew, and a place for buggs to hide.
I'm not sure I follow. It seems like you're saying a two year old plant is bigger than a one year old plant and I can't argue with that but I never claimed topping would make production go down, just divide the sum total into smaller portions. I still feel that the plant is going to give you X amount of peppers (in terms of weight, not number of pods) and it's dependent more on genetics and growing conditions than it is on pruning (although too much pruning will surely decrease yields).
Just last night I was picking up some produce at the store and noticed the smallest "orange habaneros" I've ever seen. They were like 3/4"x1/2" and that was the larger ones in the box. I can only imagine what the plant looked like but suspect it was bushy and loaded with pods. I've grown white and gold bullets bigger than that and with some creative pruning could probably bring them down to 1/2"x1/4" but why bother unless I'm trying to sell them 5 for $1 (which is what the orange habs were priced at). I guess I just remain unconvinced that more pods equals more total and don't see a benefit to topping unless you're growing in limited (vertical) space and need to keep the plants smaller or you're charging by number of pods instead of total weight.
Pruning has it's place for sure but I don't think it's necessary for peppers. It's a personal preference but I only prune now to reduce branching, not encourage it. I'd have peaches the size of golf balls if I didn't encourage the tree to focus on a few branches.
DISCLAIMER: Just my opinion
The smaller pods are easier to get harvested before adverse things take hold if you have a hostile environment, so there's that on the other side of he balance in some cases ...
I think pruning vs not is a bit contrived without considering all of any specific environment, right ...
Last year TS Debbie brought us 6 days of straight through the day rain ...
This plant died because the inner leaves got sealed to one another from the soaking - which I really couldn't even see was happening until it was already too late ...
That BLS that spread through the wind driven rain was intense, such that none of these bhut were useful because they had BLS spots on the pods before they were done ...
This guy dies ...
These guys make it because they are pruned in a plane, like a tilted solar panel ...
In my case I have to maintain a part growing up and out ...
The plants that fare the best for me all things considered in terms of heartiness probably grow in a shape not dissimilar to that of oyster mushrooms and/or plate corals ... and why not right ...
Anyways ... I think each case is different, for sure ...
I think pruning vs not is a bit contrived without considering all of any specific environment, right ...
Last year TS Debbie brought us 6 days of straight through the day rain ...
This plant died because the inner leaves got sealed to one another from the soaking - which I really couldn't even see was happening until it was already too late ...
That BLS that spread through the wind driven rain was intense, such that none of these bhut were useful because they had BLS spots on the pods before they were done ...
This guy dies ...
These guys make it because they are pruned in a plane, like a tilted solar panel ...
In my case I have to maintain a part growing up and out ...
The plants that fare the best for me all things considered in terms of heartiness probably grow in a shape not dissimilar to that of oyster mushrooms and/or plate corals ... and why not right ...
Anyways ... I think each case is different, for sure ...
With only about 3" of rainfall during the growing season on average I guess I don't deal with the same problems. You gotta do what you gotta do. Your plants looked nice. Too bad you lost a few.
For me it would depend on species, more importantly the specific type in that species. I prune C.annuum with large pods because they set fruit on small plants.
Point taken. I usually grow chineses but do have quite a few annuums planted this year and several are already starting to flower at less than 6" tall. I expect the blossoms to drop but if they try to set fruit I'll just pluck em off as I find them.
There are specific types in each species so it's hard to just say to prune annuums. I certainly would not top or prune any tepins which are annuums. That is just me though. I like to grow more plants than I have room for so my space is limited laterally,not vertically. Science proves pruning/topping will encourage side shoots. I notice that with proper lighting,soil,and nutrition,they branch and produce more than I need. I also only get 4 good months outdoors so I like having some fruit early on when it comes to the late season ripeners like chinense and others.
What about topping a plant like this? can't even plant out yet. There just so strong and healthy i don't want to hurt them. All but one of the big ones are Chinese. Hell there at least 3 ft tall.. I should prolly let them grow tho because they're built like trees.
Wow those are healthy looking, congrats. Wish my looked that beefy, I'll be sure to start nice and early next year. And it sounds to me that for peppers is a matter of personal preference. Do what works for you