Topping Pepper Plants
In pruning young pepper plants the goal is to create a shorter wider plant shape.
Topping pepper plants. Topping is a technique that some gardeners use on pepper plants. Topping chili pepper plants for higher yield chili plant topping is a technique used to promote plant branching and preventing top heavy plants that could break because of heavy fruit yield or wind ultimately leading to a higher yield. This method is also called topping the plant as you are essentially cutting the top of the plant off.
In many of my pepper videos i have explained why and when to top peppers but because it s part of a video grow log people that have not followed the series have trouble finding it. Some pepper varieties respond better to topping than others. We can accomplish this by cutting the central stem away above the second or third node.
The main stem or tip of the plant is cut before the plant gets tall. Pruning helps plants manage high wind periods and better support heavy crops of peppers. Many pepper varieties have a tendency to grow very tall and lanky.
Stronger stems means less breaking as pepper stems can easily snap. It is said that topping small chili peppers will produce the best results with higher yields throughout the season overall. This can result in a sturdier bushier plan.
Topping stops upward growth through the main stem and redirects energy into the branches. The stem is cut above two healthy branch nodes.
