Pruning pepper plants

 Pruning pepper plants for improved plant health and yield

The debate over whether or not to prune tomato plants seems to be a constant in the horticultural world. There are a million different ways to do it and everyone swears their way is the best. As a result, the second most popular home garden crop - pepper - seems to have always been forgotten. But did you know that pruning pepper plants have many benefits? I know a lot of gardeners who don’t prune pepper plants, that’s okay, but there are plenty of good reasons to give your pepper plants a strategic and timely timing.

Reasons to prune pepper plants

As you will learn, the reasons why a gardener should prune pepper plants depend on when pruning takes place. When pruned in a timely manner, it gives improved yields to strong firm stems, good branching reduced disease, and pest pressure, quick and smooth ripening fruits, and many other pepper varieties.

Is it necessary to prune pepper plants?

Like tomatoes, the answer is no; It is not necessary but does it have benefits? Absolutely. Do you need to prune your pepper plants to get a good harvest? Of course not. But, once you have perfected the pruning techniques below, there is no doubt that pruning pepper plants will result in many benefits that will qualify your time and energy.

When to prune pepper plants

There are three main reasons for pruning a pepper plant, and which type of pruning technique depends on the season. Three main pepper pruning seasons: early season, mid and late season. We will discuss these three pepper pruning times and the specific techniques to be used in each time period.

Early season pepper pruning

The main objectives of pruning pepper plants in the early season are:

Improve plant branches

To promote good root production

Provide good air circulation

Here are three main ways to prune pepper plants at the beginning of the season.

1. Prune the growing point to improve the branches

Cut off the main growing point when the plants are very small. At the transplant stage, remove the top ½ to 1-inch growth, up to a plant leaf. Pinching or pruning the central growing point of a young plant promotes branch and shrub growth. This is especially important for small fruits that have a lot of branches. Examples include Shishido, Thai hot, habanero, fish, and jalapeno pepper.

This method of pruning pepper plants is less important for peppers, poblanos, cupanelles, and other large Y-shaped fruit species that grow naturally. In fact, removing the growing point can prevent the growth of large fruit varieties. However, for smaller fruits, removing the central growing point at the beginning of the season leads to higher yields because it promotes a shrub with more branches and more flowers.

2. Remove early pepper blossoms to promote healthy roots

Prune the first few flowers to improve root growth. Removing flowers can be counterproductive if you need a lot of pepper, but when planting young peppers in the garden, you should focus on establishing a firm, comprehensive root system before the plants can produce flowers and fruits. . Pruning pepper plants by cutting the flowers that form 2 to 3 weeks after your pepper is planted is a great technique to quickly establish plants. If your plants already have flowers when buying from the nursery, remove the flowers before planting.

3. Prune extra side shoots for better air circulation

At the beginning of the season cut the young pepper plants into a few main stems, open the plant and encourage plenty of air movement. This method of pruning pepper plants controls the disease and increases the amount of sunlight that reaches the interior of the plant. As fungal diseases thrive in moist, humid conditions, pruning extra side shoots - especially those that are less developed on the plant - moves air and helps the foliage to dry out after the rain.

Mid-season pruning of pepper plants

The main objectives of pruning pepper plants in summer are:

To protect from pests

To control diseases

Plants should not be overgrown with foliage

Here are three main ways to prune pepper plants in the middle of the season.

1. Pruning pepper plants to control pests involves removing the lower leaves

Prune the lower leaves to keep them away from pests that live in the ground. Snails and snails and other insects find pepper leaves delicious. When pepper leaves touch the soil, or when they are very close to the ground, these pepper insects can easily get their favorite food source. Use a sharp pair of clippers to cut all the lower leaves from your pepper plants until there is at least a 6 to 8-inch stem leaf.

2. Eggplant to prevent pepper diseases and control their spread

Prune the damaged leaves to prevent the spread of the disease and remove the leaves that come in contact with the soil to prevent the spread of diseases through the soil. Fungal diseases spread rapidly from leaf to leaf. Pruning pepper plants and removing yellow, spots or rotten leaves weekly goes a long way in controlling common fungal diseases of pepper. Leaves or branches that are in direct contact with the soil should be cut so that they are high in the plant and curved to touch the soil.

3. Disconnect the absorbers to promote good plant shape

Remove suckers from large fruiting pepper varieties to promote a good overall plant shape. Large peppers, i.e. peppers and others listed above, have natural Y-shaped growth habits. I recommend pruning any suckers that threaten this natural shape (suckers are small shoots that grow from the tips where the leaves meet the stems). Absorbing the fruit leaves the plant growing and producing a heavier plant, which gives more energy to the growing leaves and stems instead of focusing on the growing fruit. However, you should not remove suckers and side shoots from small fruiting peppers that have a bushy growth habit. For these varieties, if there are more shoots, more fruits can be harvested.

Some more tips for pruning pepper plants

As you can see, 2 late-season ways to prune this 3 early season, 3 mid, and 2 pepper plants will all result in healthier plants and higher yields. Whatever you decide to do in your garden, here are some more things to consider on how to prune pepper plants.

Make sure your pruners are always clean. Spray your pruners with aerosol disinfectant (either this or that) or soak them in 10% bleach solution before use, as the disease can spread on equipment.

Always prune on a dry day. Fungal spores like to enter plants through pruning wounds. They also like moisture. Do your pruning when there is no rain forecast and the plants are dry.

Always throw diseased leaves in the trash, not in the compost.

Always wear gloves when mowing if you are a smoker. Pepper tobacco is infected with the mosaic virus, which is easily spread from the hands of cigarette smokers to the eggplant. Plants infected with this virus should be destroyed.