Need help controlling 7 foot Poblano's!

[Shrinkrap]

Was that too much?

These are Tiburon Poblano's. Love them for their heat, the way they turn red, and how they grow flat, which helps with roasting and peeling.

They are about five or six plants per Earthbox. This is not the first time I've struggled with this, but I need to go out of town for a few weeks, there are some amazing fruit and blossoms, and this is my favorite thing to have from the garden, with the possible exception of sugar snap peas.....and apricots...and figs.


So anyway, here's a few pix. I've seen folks tie tomato vines by string to overhead stuff. Could that work? Any examples you can link me to? No pulleys (sp?) please!

[kurt]

Run horizontal bamboo,loosen and open up the plant for prevention of the bugs,mold,.Give a good trim of dead leaves,pick any viable harvest now,relieves watering demands.Be careful when you do.Pepper blossoms for my peppers seem to be very fragile,the will knock off easy.Humidity for us nowis starting to clog up blossoms hard for them to set.A good shot of fertilizers before you go.Maybe some blossom boost.

[Barb_FL]

Why not just top them?

I've done 3 per EB, never 5 or 6; good for you.

[Barb_FL]

duplicate post

[Shrinkrap]

Thanks all! Thank you all so much for responding!

"Run horizontal bamboo; Loosen and open up the plant for prevention of the bugs,mold,.Give a good trim of dead leaves,pick any viable harvest now,relieves watering demands.Be careful when you do.Pepper blossoms for my peppers seem to be very fragile,the will knock off easy.Humidity for us nowis starting to clog up blossoms hard for them to set."

Yes!


No sign of bugs right now, and mold is rare for me. But my cucumbers have ants.

Also not many dead leaves! It's crazy!

I wonder about "viable harvests". The fruit right now vary from maybe 1 to 6 inches. Weve got a season at least until Thanksgiving.


Maybe I can "top" them behind the current flowers.

[Nattybo!]

Your photos make me smile! Love it! love your giant plants! (I envy your "problem") LOL!

Could you tie ropes to the pergola above? Sorry I am not more helpful, I have not encountered your "problem" before.

Thank you for sharing such truly amazing photos! Wow!

[Salsacharley]

If you don't want to top them, you can string some lines of twine across the underside of the top of your pergola, as much as needed to accommodate all the branches, and use tomato clips to attache the branches to the twine. Or, attach hortonova netting horizontally to the underside of the top of your pergola and let it support the branches as they extend through the hortonova.

[Shrinkrap]

Thanks you guys! The rope/twine thing is probably what I'd seen before, and the tomato clips are a great idea! Looking up hortonova netting. I DO have some trellis netting.

[AlittleSalt]

I would like to say, "Congratulations" Those are some really large pepper plants.

[Shrinkrap]

Thanks!

[Shrinkrap]

I know I said no pulleys, but while I was looking at these

I saw this (video).

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Palram-T...FZ4NrQYdqUcNkQ

[Shrinkrap]

@Kurt, I have looked for images of "running horizontal bamboo " with no luck. I think I know what you mean, but would love to see or read some more about it. Can. You point me in the right direction?

[Whwoz]

Shrinkrap, think of the slats of your pergola running under the beams instead of on top and tie ropes to them or some thing along those lines is what I think Kurt means.

If you are going away for several weeks I think you are attempting to prevent the plants from falling over, Correct? If so you need to anchor the plants to the pergola above, either directly to the slats/ support beams / or to something anchored underneath them. You may also want to broaden the width of the cages at allow better airflow through the plants while you are away to prevent disewase/insect pests establishing while you are gone.

Woz

[Shrinkrap]

Okay, thanks!

You're right; I don't want them to fall over, snap off, or have stems kink.

Hadn't thought about bugs and mold, but I will. Any bugs in particular? Flea beetles, mites, stink bugs, and maybe thrips are usually my biggest problems this time of year.

Come to think of it, I'm usually scouting and picking off hornworms, at least on my tomatoes.

I liked this about string training.

https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/s...ing-cucumbers/

And about bamboo

https://hubpages.com/money/How-to-Fr...Garden-Trellis

[Shrinkrap]

Not exactly as recommended, but incorporating some ideas.

I was overwhelmed with the idea of a separate rope for each branch or stem.

Loved the hortonova netting recommendation, but for now, used what I had

Had to look up pergola, and beam vs slats, and figured it out!

After supporting the plants externally with trellis netting stapled along the beams, I was able to remove the green plastic tape, and loosen up the plant a bit.it might take some gentle pulling on stems over time. I lost a few blossoms in the process.

I will use some "bloom" hydroponic fertilizer in my reservoir, and spray with Monterey Insect Spray, and/or Neem Oil over the next week.

A work in progress. I'd like something a little more permanent and flexible than staples.

Fortunately for me I don't usually have to think so hard this time of year.