Low yields on my pepper plants

[linzelu100]

The consensus was I am using too much Neptune's harvest Fish/seaweed emulsion on my plants and that is why they are lush, green, beautiful, but put out so little peppers. I use it three times in the season. It's especially obvious with jalapenos. I usually get 8 per plant as opposed to some other gardeners I know, get about 100.

This year I have 70 pepper plants- half hots, half sweets. Do you have any other suggestions for getting more peppers out of my plants. I am not looking for stellar amounts, just average would be nice I'd like to get enough to pickle and freeze. Right now, I don't even get enough to eat fresh for my large family.

Thank you for reading.

Lindsey

[Redbaron]

To be honest I wouldn't know how to grow a jalapeno pepper plant that only produced 8 peppers. I guess you could mow it down after the first 8? That might stop it from producing more. Outside of that I am more interested in figuring out how it is possible to get so few? I am baffled.

Whatever you are doing just stop. Don't do anything. Only water when the plant droops completely, Never fertilize, Never baby them, Call them bad names, Kick sand in their faces and steal their girl friends and they will still produce more than 8 per plant.

[Mojave]

What variety of Jalapeno? I prefer the fruit of Early Jalapeno over the hybrids but I never get more than about 10 and only one flush of flowers. The hybrids produce many more peppers and all season long. Of course if you're growing the same variety that the folks getting 100 per plant are growing then something else is going on.

I've found picking all the flower buds off for the first couple of weeks that they start flowering helps make more peppers in the long run.

[linzelu100]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

To be honest I wouldn't know how to grow a jalapeno pepper plant that only produced 8 peppers. I guess you could mow it down after the first 8? That might stop it from producing more. Outside of that I am more interested in figuring out how it is possible to get so few? I am baffled.

Whatever you are doing just stop. Don't do anything. Only water when the plant droops completely, Never fertilize, Never baby them, Call them bad names, Kick sand in their faces and steal their girl friends and they will still produce more than 8 per plant.

Well, this had me laughing! All my relatives in Alabama are just as shocked as you! I usually buy jalapeno plants, because peppers give me such trouble. But this year I bought a pack of early jalapeno seeds (figuring it can't get any worse!) I have 11 Jalapenos to plant. I really think I over fertilized, so I am not going to do that again. Lesson learned! It will save me money anyway. But I am still nervous about it. I just want it to go well. I love reading about peppers (after tomatoes and beans) in my catalogues and there are many I want to try, but it seems a waste of money b/c I do so poorly with them. I do great with tomatoes, so I don't know what I am doing other than that.

I should note that the tiny hot peppers that are multi colored ( I grow Aurora and Chinese 5 color) do so well for me! I get hundreds of those, but we don't actually eat them, so they don't count! We grow them for the hummingbirds. The ones we eat are what I cant seem to grow enough of.

Lindsey

[linzelu100]

Originally Posted by Mojave

What variety of Jalapeno? I prefer the fruit of Early Jalapeno over the hybrids but I never get more than about 10 and only one flush of flowers. The hybrids produce many more peppers and all season long.

No, I haven't tried the hybrids before. I like to save seed from everything I grow, but I am trying one this year - just to see.

Lindsey

[b54red]

I fertilize my Jalapenos at the same time as my bells so I don't think three doses of fertilizer is too much. I agree with Mojave that pulling off the first few flower clusters makes a real difference in production. You miss out on a few early peppers but the much larger plant that results will put out a lot more fruit. I had about a half dozen Jalapenos last year and the two that I allowed to set fruit very early when the plants were small never got over 18 inches tall and only produced very late in the season while the ones that I culled the flowers on early got about 3 1/2 feet tall and I ended up throwing away a bunch of peppers that I couldn't use or give away from those plants. I had one plant in the bottom of the garden that got afternoon shade after about 3 o'clock and it outperformed the ones in full sun. I was surprised by that and don't know if it was just a fluke or what.

[Mojave]

Originally Posted by b54red

...I had one plant in the bottom of the garden that got afternoon shade after about 3 o'clock and it outperformed the ones in full sun. I was surprised by that and don't know if it was just a fluke or what.

My peppers seem to do better with some shade, especially in the afternoon when it's really hot. I've noticed broken shade seems to be really beneficial to my baccatum and chinense peppers. I'm thinking possibly because they are originally from the tropical forests of Central and South America.

[indigosand]

Have you ever watered them with epsom salts? I know that's considered an old wives tale but it has worked well for me. I had so many last year I was giving them away. I had to cull some of the blossoms to keep the branches from breaking on the bell peppers.

[linzelu100]

Originally Posted by indigosand

Have you ever watered them with epsom salts? I know that's considered an old wives tale but it has worked well for me. I had so many last year I was giving them away. I had to cull some of the blossoms to keep the branches from breaking on the bell peppers.

No I haven't tried that, but I will if you think it might help.

And I will try the other suggestions of pulling the early blossoms off. I never did that, but I also don't think I had any before transplanting anyway.

Lindsey

[indigosand]

It boosts their mag. which is said to help with blossoms and fruit set. I sprinkle a little around the plant on the soil before I water. I don't do it often, just when they first start to bloom and then again later in the season when they slow down a bit. There may be some weight to picking early blooms as well. The wind usually blows mine off, so natural removal there.

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by Mojave

I've found picking all the flower buds off for the first couple of weeks that they start flowering helps make more peppers in the long run.

To clarify: so this is after they're planted, and when they start to flower? I always pinch off any flowers I see when I plant them, but hadn't thought of pinching the first flush, too. Do you do that with tomatoes, too?

Last year I planted one pepper plant from a 6-pack in a 5-gallon container and the other 5 in the ground at various locations. The one in the container got 2-3 times bigger than any of the others and produced peppers (Gypsy) 3x the size. It was in a location with afternoon shade.

[Salaam]

About early flowering... My plants last year had fruit set when I transplanted them (mid-May) into a container outside (south facing balcony, which meant sun for most of the day). I got a good amount of early fruit, and then for some time, perhaps a month or so, not much, and then a lot until the end of the season. Perhaps if I'd have pinched off at the start, there wouldn't have been the long lull in the middle. I don't know, but it's something to consider.

[feldon30]

On peppers, I remove the first blossoms, especially in that first Y where the plant starts branching.

[KLorentz]

This is an odd thing to hear about.Before I found on online source for Neptune's Harvest I was using Alaska fish emulsion when I lived in Ohio and Michigan.And I used to give my peppers about three doses in a season with a side dressing of Espoma Garden Tone ( not at the same time).The production was always great. All my hot peppers produced so much I was indeed giving them away.Is it possible you are mixing to much at one time? Not saying you would but just trying to track down what is going on as Jalapenos are one of the easiest peppers to grow.


Kevin

[Hotwired]

Neptune is 2:4:1 NPK. Too much Nitrogen can produce heavy foliage and reduced fruit production. I use a 1N/3P/2K ratio for peppers such as Jack's Classic Blossom Booster 10-30-20. Your P & K should be at least twice as much as N. I grow 200-250 plants each year, and have great yields. I avoid feeding for about 10 days after planting out. After that I feed every two weeks until Fall.