Weird early flowering

xBrianxEdge

xBrianxEdge

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So I have this ghost pepper plant, and it's only about 10 inches tall...and it's flowering for some reason? Should I pinch them off in order to encourage foliage growth? Or just let it do its thing?
 
It's common and is just part of the plants life cycle. Many people will tell you pinch the buds off (once they are big enough to be pinched) to encourage green growth, but others will say just let nature run its course. So it is up to you :-)
 
filmost said:
It's common and is just part of the plants life cycle. Many people will tell you pinch the buds off (once they are big enough to be pinched) to encourage green growth, but others will say just let nature run its course. So it is up to you :-)
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Agreed. It's not weird at all. Perfectly normal. This is what pepper plants do when humans aren't around "caring" for them in the wild. That being said, pinching the flowers now will make your plant put more energy into foliage growth and vertical growth. This will postpone production, if that's your goal. I'm one of the ones that would leave them and let nature take its course (dang!). Up to you, like filmost said.
 
I am finding that about 50% of the time the plant drops the buds/flowers anyway. But when it doesn't, I pinch them off. As Buzz said, the plant will put more energy into foliage growth. The thing to keep in mind is that chile plants only put out pods at the nodes - the points where branches come together. So few nodes = fewer pods. With your plant as young as it is, pinching now will make a huge difference later - if that's what you want.
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys :) I've decided to keep one or two and pinch the rest. It needs to grow! Living in Washington, we don't get very much sun up here, but when we do, I want all the energy going in to growing the plant before peppers start popping out!
 
geeme said:
I am finding that about 50% of the time the plant drops the buds/flowers anyway. But when it doesn't, I pinch them off. As Buzz said, the plant will put more energy into foliage growth. The thing to keep in mind is that chile plants only put out pods at the nodes - the points where branches come together. So few nodes = fewer pods. With your plant as young as it is, pinching now will make a huge difference later - if that's what you want.
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geeme, at what point do you stop pinching for the season? do you wait for a certain size? number of nodes?
 
thanks, just at the pinching stage myself and second-guessing when to stop..
 
Aaron Sm said:
My potted plants flower much sooner then one that are in the ground. Are yours in pots?
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Yes, they're in pots. My habanero plant has some buds on it too...and my scotch bonnet, but my scotch bonnet is about 14 inches tall. So I'm not too worried about that one. :) I have to treat the ghost pepper plant delicately out here in the Pacific Northwest. We don't have the warmest weather yet. Summer time is almost here though :D
 
I'm in Napa California not too far from you. I have had much better luck with plants in the ground. I think plants should do their own thing but I have pinched flowers to concentrate the energy on less fruit.
 
I have the basic same philosophy as millworkman, but I've had one small plant that didn't drop its buds/flowers on its own and produced ONE full pod the entire season. Well, it produced some tiny pods other than that which later fell off. Then a caterpillar got to it before the big pod was fully ripe, and the plant got tossed. 
 
When I do pinch, I do it until I get tired of it. At some point the buds and flowers are just going to outnumber the amount of time I care to put into it. Not a chile pepper, but I am growing some squash again this year. A couple of those were very rambunctious and plopped out (male) flowers that were bigger than the entire plants themselves at the time. I know those won't produce any squash, but I pinched them to ensure the plants had more energy for foliage development. The plants thanked me by doubling in size within a couple days. 
 
is your plant root bound? When they run out of space to grow they usually start flowering. The ones i left in solocups started producing @ 10 inches tall because they were root bound. When i transplanted them up to 5 gals they started growing again before more production.
 
xBrianxEdge said:
 
So I have this ghost pepper plant, and it's only about 10 inches tall...and it's flowering for some reason? Should I pinch them off in order to encourage foliage growth? Or just let it do its thing?
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millworkman said:
I only pinch buds on plants I know for sure will produce a TON later, which is only one plant and that is my Tree Hab.  Plants know better than you when it comes to growing themselves.  Let them go.
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what is a tree hab ?
 
is it one in a container that you have had for more than a year and place inside for the winter ?
 
OKGrowin said:
is your plant root bound? When they run out of space to grow they usually start flowering. The ones i left in solocups started producing @ 10 inches tall because they were root bound. When i transplanted them up to 5 gals they started growing again before more production.
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Not at all. Not even remotely close. It was barely 4" in diameter and only an inch or so tall in a 2 gallon pot when it put out flowers. Them, I mean.. on the phablet.
 
It seems like stress may be the common denominator either through lack of water, too much water, lack of nutrients, lighting and so on. Some of my plants put on more fruit after the first cold snap.
 
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