peppers have reached the top

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lazza

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peppers have reached the top
« on: August 31, 2012, 18:33 »
I'm growing 6 varieties of peppers in a 4' coldframe type greenhouse outside my back door, and they are going great guns. All have peppers on them of some size (the purple one being the best so far having produced 4 good sized purple peppers to date, although the hot banana is not far behind).

The question is, should I be pinching out the growing tips to encourage the peppers to grow and ripen?

Obviously, due to the way they grow, the number of growing tips is getting bigger, as each branch continues to split. And all the new branches quickly get flowers on. But I don't want to over-exert the plants! All but one of the plants has now reached the top of the coldframe, and short of opening the top of it, the branches are going to be pretty cramped (and I don't want to open the top too much as the temperature inside is nice and warm to get the fruit to ripen).

Any thoughts?

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lazza

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Peppers: to pinch or not?
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2012, 15:07 »
Apologies for the double post... I already posted this in the greenhouses section, but haven't had a single response in 10 days... (mods can delete the old topic if they want ;))

I'm growing 6 varieties of peppers in a 4' high coldframe-type greenhouse outside my back door, and they are going great guns. All have peppers on them of some size (the purple one being the best so far having produced 4 good sized purple peppers to date, although the hot banana is not far behind).

The question is, should I be pinching out the growing tips to encourage the peppers to grow and ripen?

Obviously, due to the way they grow, the number of growing tips is increasing, as each branch continues to split. And all the new branches quickly get flowers on. But I don't want to over-exert the plants! All but one of the plants has now reached the top of the coldframe, and short of opening the top of it, the branches are going to be pretty cramped (and I don't want to open the top too much as the temperature inside is nice and warm to get the fruit to ripen).

Any thoughts?

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LilacSandy

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Re: Peppers: to pinch or not?
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2012, 15:28 »
Hi Lazza,

I never pinch out the tips of my peppers but if yours are going to be cramped then I cannot see any problem if you want to stop them.

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mumofstig

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Re: peppers have reached the top
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2012, 20:02 »
Pinching out will keep the plants smaller, but it won't necessarily make the fruits ripen any faster. They always take forever and a day to ripen. How big is the cold frame cos peppers can make sizable plants, as you've found out ;) Perhaps don't grow as many next year :dry:

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lazza

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Re: peppers have reached the top
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2012, 12:15 »
Pinching out will keep the plants smaller, but it won't necessarily make the fruits ripen any faster. They always take forever and a day to ripen. How big is the cold frame cos peppers can make sizable plants, as you've found out ;) Perhaps don't grow as many next year :dry:

The coldframe is wide/deep enough to hold two growbags, and I have three peppers in each! It's about 4ft tall. Four plants have reached the top: the other two are close behind.

I guess the secondary concern is that all the plants are producing more flowers, which in turn are developing into small peppers, and I don't think there is any chance that there is enough warm weather left to grow and ripen these new peppers, so I want the plant to put its energy into the fully developed fruit....

So, this weekend, I made my decision, and cut back each plant to the 5-10 largest fruit, clipping the growing tips of some, and removing the buds of others.

Hopefully not going to kill them off, but let's see!

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mumofstig

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Re: peppers have reached the top
« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2012, 13:20 »
I know you they say you can put 3 cordon/upright tomatoes in a grow bag, but as you've found out 3 of anything bushy is a squash   :nowink: it doesn't allow any  room for widthways growth, which will always make them grow taller.

You won't have done them any harm, by pruning, that's for sure  :D



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