Growing Pepper Plants

As scary as it may seem, pruning the tops of your pepper plants is by far the best thing you can do for them!

First, let’s talk about planting them. The location needs to be in full sun and well drained from water. They like to be planted at least 2 feet apart. It is important that you plant them at ground level. Don’t cover any of the plant, only the root system. This will drown them out and cause mold problems or maybe even kill them before they take off. We like to put a little fish emulsion in each hole for the plant to take off well and help with shock. Once planted, don’t forget to water them in!

Now for the scary part, if you are willing, you won’t be disappointed. Once your plant develops the third node with leaves, prune just above that node but don’t prune the leaves. Yup, cut the whole top of your baby pepper plant right off! It may seem like you are killing the plant or stunting its growth, but you are not. You are just redirecting its growth. Once you do this the plant stops worrying so much about growing up and starts to bush outwards. It develops many more places for flowers to bloom and become peppers. Due to the bushing, you will now have a much stronger and sturdier plant.

It scared us the first time we did this too, so much that we only did a couple to see the outcome. So, if you are not sure about this technique, just do one or two and compare the plants throughout the season. We would love to hear about your experience on this!

If we didn’t answer all your questions with this basic guide or you need a more in depth guide, please don’t hesitate to contact us!