Pepper questions??

[barryla61]

I stopped by my local greenhouse today 'cause it's the last day to buy plants before they close for the summer.
Anyway got a good deal on some pepper plants...30 for less that $4
Good thing I don't have garden space as their tomato plants were the same price!

YEP! I said 30 plants for less than 4 dollars!
They are a bit "leggy" but otherwise look great.

My questions...
Can I plant them deep as I would do "leggy" tomatoes?
Should I cut off some of the lower leaves?
Several have blooms on them, should I leave the blooms or take them off?

[Opie610]

Check out this video at the 1.40 minute mark, Hope this helps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHjoXo1RIKU

Brent

[biscgolf]

not as deep as tomatoes- they will root from the lower stem but not to the same degree.

i would leave leaves unless they have something wrong with them.

plants will grow bigger if you pinch, you'll have peppers sooner (but likely fewer over the long run) if you don't pinch. i would take them off at transplant were it me.

[nctomatoman]

I've never removed a bloom from a transplant - pepper or tomato - and you get a bonus of some early fruit, but the plant does just fine - grows the same as if you removed the flowers. Just another urban garden legend.

[b54red]

I disagree. I have run side by side tests letting the first fruits develop on small plants and pinching them off on about half of them. I have done this for years and the plants that don't get the fruits pinched off end up getting much larger and producing more total fruit in the end. The one thing about letting the first fruits mature is that you will frequently get a very large pepper from it and a few peppers much earlier.

I have been doing this experiment for years and the results are almost always significantly better when I pluck those early fruits off if the plant is still very small. Three years ago I did an extreme version of this by not letting any fruits develop until the plant was almost 2 feet tall and ended up with bell pepper plants that got over 5 feet tall with massive production later in the year. The difference in production is not as great when the peppers are smaller types like many hot peppers.

[barryla61]

Originally Posted by b54red

I disagree. I have run side by side tests letting the first fruits develop on small plants and pinching them off on about half of them. I have done this for years and the plants that don't get the fruits pinched off end up getting much larger and producing more total fruit in the end.

I have been doing this experiment for years and the results are almost always significantly better when I pluck those early fruits off if the plant is still very small.

So which is it???

[biscgolf]

my guess is the first part was mistyped on b4red's part. i disagree with craig on this one as well.

young pepper plants are not good at multi-tasking (producing fruit and growing vegetatively at the same time)- energy spent on fruiting is energy not spent on vegetative growth.

i grow a couple thousand pepper plants each year.

[nctomatoman]

Well, my evidence is to the contrary - but there are likely other variables - how we grow them, varieties, culture. All I know is I get bell peppers producing 15-20 fruits per plant quite early.

But there is an infinite way to garden - we do what works for us.

[austinnhanasmom]

I pinched buds this year - first time for me.

I noticed that many of these plants look leggy now.

Not all plants were pinched, since I spotted a huge bull snake in the dwarf tomato and pepper garden...

[tjg911]

in northern ct the season is short. i'll take whatever i can get. i never remove flowers from tomatoes or peppers before or when they go into the garden. if at least 1/3 to 1/2 of my tomatoes don't have flowers on them by the week before memorial day i'm wondering why. like craig said there are so many variables i don't know if anyone knows as a general statement... what works for you is the way to go.

tom

[b54red]

Sorry I messed up.

Okay to be clear; after many years of conducting this experiment I have to say that for me the plants that are not allowed to fruit when they are small will in the long run produce more peppers. We have a very long growing season so that has to be a factor for northern growers who don't have the luxury of time that we have down here. I do frequently get some of my largest early peppers from the plants that I do allow to fruit when small but the plant usually seems to be weaker and slower growing after making the first one or two peppers.

There is a disadvantage in pinching the early fruits in that you give up some early fruit for hopefully more later on and as everyone knows you don't know what the future will bring. That is another reason I like to do both; but I usually plant around 20 bell peppers. Most years I give a lot away but some years are tough and 20 doesn't seem enough.

[swamper]

For the record I'm in northern CT also and I agree completely with b54red. I pinch off young fruit especially if there are less than 3 fruit. I think Craig's techniques my apply to his very unique container growing regimen, but might not work as well for growing in cooler soil where pepper plants have a tendency to get a very slow start.

[WVTomatoMan]

Here is my take on your questions:

> Can I plant them deep as I would do "leggy" tomatoes?
Not as deep as you would tomatoes, but deeper than you normally would. Around half as deep as you would a tomato plant? Something like that. It's kind of tough to say without seeing them. When I give out plants I show the people how deeply I would plant them. BTW, a tomato plant roots all up and down the stem. A pepper plant only roots where the leaflet nodes are.

>Should I cut off some of the lower leaves?
If they're below the surface or touching the ground yes.

>Several have blooms on them, should I leave the blooms or take them off?
Oh boy. So, you've opened that can of worms eh? I often say in some cases in gardening you have to find your own way. This is one of those cases. If you have 30 plants hopefully some are of the same variety. So, why not perform the experiment yourself and see what works best for you. In other words pinch some and don't pinch others and carefully observe the results.

Me? I like to get roots established before setting fruit, so I pinch in most cases. I have my "cheater" plants to get me through so I'm generally not in a hurry. And, notice I said in most cases. My hard and fast rule is that I have no hard and fast rules.

Good luck.

Randy

[nctomatoman]

" My hard and fast rule is that I have no hard and fast rules"

Words to cherish and live by, Randy! Exactly!