Oh, thank you Shou! I hope to move even more in that direction over time - I generally prefer making the more educational style videos too =) Happy gardening!
After I heard of pruning pepper plants and what advantages it should have I did it 2 years ago with half of my plants. I wanted to be able to compare the harvest. I couldn't see a bigger yield at the end of the season. So I let them grow now without pruning.
I did a side by side, and the peppers (sweet and hot) that I pruned, by far out did the ones I did not prune. My pruned plants were prolific. The trick is to start peppers early and initially fertilize with a higher nitrogen or atleast a balanced fertilizer, then switch to a bloom booster.
Thank you! I spent an hour looking for a Thai Chili pruning video and finally found yours. Thank you again. Your video is actually the only one I found that is relevant for this type of pepper plant. ❤
@@NextdoorHomestead Really is, it can go so many different ways, results and so forth. For instance I didn't know that topping off was considerably generalized in plant growth and not just "limited" to very few plants.
I have grown a LOT of pepper plants. I tried topping off a couple of years ago and decided not do it again. I think it worked on a couple of plants. I had so many hot banana peppers I didn't know what to do with them all even after giving most of them to friends. I wasn't sure if it really worked on the other plants, so last year I just let them go and they did fine. I do pinch off the first flowers to give the plants time to develop and root well. And I prune off leaves throughout the year as maintenance.
@@carllopresti697 I lightly prune the bottom leaves. Kinda like how I trim the bottom leaves of tomato plants to provide airflow & keep them off the ground. I don't prune too hard as they do need to soak up the sunlight.
@@NextdoorHomestead I tried with jalepino plant by not pruning, I didn’t get much yield. It was growing as a single stem in a pot and I had to give a support. When I top off the pepper plant I got so much yield and became bushier. So, every year I top-off my pepper plants since then
I started my single Carolina Reaper plant in mid-July of this year, in a pot. It is now 30cm tall and it's mid-September. I will overwinter it on my windowsill. I just wonder, should I top it now, to prevent excessive vertical growth during low light winter months, or leave it as it is? What if it gets too leggy during winter? That's what I'm worried about. btw, I'm in growing zone 7a. There will be 4 months of relative darkness ahead. If it goes dormant and stops growing, then maybe I can do without topping. But it'll probably continue to grow during September/October and reach like 40cm height. I'm not sure what to do, if anything.
I will say that from years of topping in short season growing area, topping if done right and early , means you start way earlier then a typical grower, usually 4-6 weeks. Through my own research, topping does create stronger overall stem structure. We get winds at time averaging 20-40 in summer and the plants hold their ground better compared to single main stems that have more difficult time. Furthermore, if you want more production in topped plants, you also have to feed soil too. That means tea every two weeks. Doing so will result in explosive production. This is a fact from own trials. Lastly, if you choose to overwinter plants for following year successfully, your topped plant has a massive advantage over overwintered single main stem plant. Also, there are types of plants. Sweet pepper or low heat pepper plants typically don’t need topping. Super hots like I grow, do much better if done here. Just saying that you are missing details for viewers, and swinging views without all facts disclosed.
Timing, wind resistance, and differentiating by species are all things I should have addressed. Maybe I'll make a part two some time! Thanks for the good comment.
Next year will be the real first year im going to really hard yo grow chillies I e grown before without much yield nut being in the UK i find it difficult because the weather and temperature so ill be growing in my greenhouse Do you have any different advice on growing toppings ect it would be most appreciated
I only topped 2/20 pepper plants. Just to see what happens. Any extra steps I can skip without negative effects. I'm in. Do you ever overwinter you peppers/eggplants?
I do not, but I think I will this next year. We're *just* on the cusp (in terms of climate) where I can't just leave them out to overwinter so it's a bit more extra work than I've wanted to take on without really clear benefits.
@@NextdoorHomestead not sure how cold it gets but I've seen people trim them down to just 6 inches or so.... Bury them in straw deeply. Worth a shot and saves time. :)
@@rvmush3883 I only prune them from the top when they are very young...right now they are flourishing and bushing out. I don't know what to do. They are so bushy. I thought they were supposed to grow tall.
I love the more academic approach of your videos! Really standing out from the rest of the content creators out😊
Oh, thank you Shou! I hope to move even more in that direction over time - I generally prefer making the more educational style videos too =)
Happy gardening!
I really,really really (understatement) appreciate your research into every video you post . It is making me a better gardener. Thank you.
Oh wow. I genuinely appreciate you saying that. I'd like to do more of these research heavy videos soon. So glad they're helping =)
After I heard of pruning pepper plants and what advantages it should have I did it 2 years ago with half of my plants. I wanted to be able to compare the harvest. I couldn't see a bigger yield at the end of the season. So I let them grow now without pruning.
Thanks Martina - that aligns with our experience too! Appreciate you sharing =)
Happy pepper planting this year!!!
I did a side by side, and the peppers (sweet and hot) that I pruned, by far out did the ones I did not prune. My pruned plants were prolific. The trick is to start peppers early and initially fertilize with a higher nitrogen or atleast a balanced fertilizer, then switch to a bloom booster.
Thank you! I spent an hour looking for a Thai Chili pruning video and finally found yours. Thank you again. Your video is actually the only one I found that is relevant for this type of pepper plant. ❤
No problem! Thai chilis are the best and still blow me away with how productive they are.
Very informative on this topic indeed, thank you so much as usual. :)
I'm so glad Ricky! These pruning videos are actually some of my favorite to make =)
Such an interesting topic IMO.
@@NextdoorHomestead Really is, it can go so many different ways, results and so forth. For instance I didn't know that topping off was considerably generalized in plant growth and not just "limited" to very few plants.
My big mama red HOT pepper plant is huge!!!
Great points.
So glad it was useful! I've been thinking of adding onto this video. Such an interesting topic IMO
I have grown a LOT of pepper plants. I tried topping off a couple of years ago and decided not do it again. I think it worked on a couple of plants. I had so many hot banana peppers I didn't know what to do with them all even after giving most of them to friends. I wasn't sure if it really worked on the other plants, so last year I just let them go and they did fine. I do pinch off the first flowers to give the plants time to develop and root well. And I prune off leaves throughout the year as maintenance.
That sounds like a pretty killer pruning regiment Valerie! Thanks for sharing your experience with the banana peppers - I haven't grown them.
Cheers!
I'm curious why you would trim leaves. I consider them as solar panels.
@@carllopresti697 I lightly prune the bottom leaves. Kinda like how I trim the bottom leaves of tomato plants to provide airflow & keep them off the ground. I don't prune too hard as they do need to soak up the sunlight.
@@NextdoorHomestead
I tried with jalepino plant by not pruning, I didn’t get much yield. It was growing as a single stem in a pot and I had to give a support.
When I top off the pepper plant I got so much yield and became bushier.
So, every year I top-off my pepper plants since then
Have you ever grown ivy gourd? The fact that it's perennial makes me interested.
I have not! But you've certainly got me interested in doing some more research. Looks very appealing =)
I started my single Carolina Reaper plant in mid-July of this year, in a pot. It is now 30cm tall and it's mid-September. I will overwinter it on my windowsill. I just wonder, should I top it now, to prevent excessive vertical growth during low light winter months, or leave it as it is? What if it gets too leggy during winter? That's what I'm worried about. btw, I'm in growing zone 7a. There will be 4 months of relative darkness ahead. If it goes dormant and stops growing, then maybe I can do without topping. But it'll probably continue to grow during September/October and reach like 40cm height. I'm not sure what to do, if anything.
I will say that from years of topping in short season growing area, topping if done right and early , means you start way earlier then a typical grower, usually 4-6 weeks.
Through my own research, topping does create stronger overall stem structure. We get winds at time averaging 20-40 in summer and the plants hold their ground better compared to single main stems that have more difficult time.
Furthermore, if you want more production in topped plants, you also have to feed soil too. That means tea every two weeks. Doing so will result in explosive production. This is a fact from own trials.
Lastly, if you choose to overwinter plants for following year successfully, your topped plant has a massive advantage over overwintered single main stem plant.
Also, there are types of plants. Sweet pepper or low heat pepper plants typically don’t need topping. Super hots like I grow, do much better if done here.
Just saying that you are missing details for viewers, and swinging views without all facts disclosed.
Timing, wind resistance, and differentiating by species are all things I should have addressed. Maybe I'll make a part two some time!
Thanks for the good comment.
I have like a KABILLION Thai Hot Chilies so I'm gonna try topping one to see what happens
Next year will be the real first year im going to really hard yo grow chillies
I e grown before without much yield nut being in the UK i find it difficult because the weather and temperature so ill be growing in my greenhouse
Do you have any different advice on growing toppings ect it would be most appreciated
I only topped 2/20 pepper plants. Just to see what happens. Any extra steps I can skip without negative effects. I'm in. Do you ever overwinter you peppers/eggplants?
I do not, but I think I will this next year. We're *just* on the cusp (in terms of climate) where I can't just leave them out to overwinter so it's a bit more extra work than I've wanted to take on without really clear benefits.
@@NextdoorHomestead not sure how cold it gets but I've seen people trim them down to just 6 inches or so.... Bury them in straw deeply. Worth a shot and saves time. :)
I hadn't considered a deep mulch. That's a nice idea and I agree - worth a shot!
my peppers have reach 5 ft tall and are so heavy with peppers and some are over 30" across how do i prune please
I personally would not prune but rather focus on support and harvesting =)
Pruning pepper plants do give a better yield, at least with my plants. You're comparing eggplant to peppers, like apples to oranges.
You should definitely do what works for you. I don’t top mine and I do overwinter them. As for the comparison-not quite. They are both nightshades.
@@rvmush3883 I only prune them from the top when they are very young...right now they are flourishing and bushing out. I don't know what to do. They are so bushy. I thought they were supposed to grow tall.
Yeah I'm probably late but pruning makes the plant overall more wide rather than tall@@eyesopenedify