

The peppers will not mature well if the day temperature is above 70° Fahrenheit and the night temperature below 50° Fahrenheit.

Those people in cold places can still grow pepper. Peppers do well in average temperature conditions. Or, do an experiment! Top some bell peppers, leave the others au natural, and compare how they perform.įor medium-size fruit like banana or poblano peppers, you could go either way – top them or not.Many people grow peppers in their home gardens because they are available in different varieties, including hot and sweet, making them useful for making different dishes, creams, and salads. So when in doubt, leave those big ones un-topped. Topping bell peppers is rumored to potentially stunt the plants or reduce the number of fruit they produce (and they already produce far fewer fruit in general). This applies to any large, thick-walled pepper varieties. On the other hand, topping bell pepper plants may have a negative impact on growth and fruit development. Chili peppers generally grow fairly bushy on their own topping them simply pushes them to do so sooner and even more! For instance, jalapeños, Thai chilis, serranos, cayenne, shishitos, habaneros (I prefer habanda), or other petite chili peppers. Topping pepper plants is typically recommended for pepper varieties that produce small fruit. What varieties of peppers should be topped? Don’t miss our easy but drool-worthy pan-blistered shishito pepper recipe! Un-topped shishito on the left, topped shishito on the right. So, gardeners with especially short growing seasons may not want to top their peppers. On the other hand, topping pepper plants (especially older seedlings) can slightly delay when they’ll start to form fruit. The plants also tend to be less top-heavy, and are easily supported with a stake or basic wire pepper cage. Bushier plants with more dense leaves can offer better protection from the sun, and therefore reduce sun-scalding or sunburn on the peppers. There are a couple additional perks of topping pepper plants. The more side branches, the more places to grow flowers and fruit! So, that’s why topping pepper plants can help you get larger harvests.īetween homemade chili powder, sweet and spicy fermented hot sauce, pan-blistered shishito peppers, and our favorite easy refrigerator pickled peppers… I say the more peppers, the merrier! By pruning off the top of the seedling when it’s young, the plant will focus its energy on growing side branches – rather than getting tall and lanky. Topping pepper plant seedlings encourages them to grow more bushy. The answer is: it depends! In some instances, topping pepper plants can lead to more abundant fruit production. Should I pinch or top pepper plant seedlings? We’ll talk about the benefits of pinching pepper flowers too.
#BELL PEPPER SEEDLINGS HOW TO#
Read along to learn everything you need to know about topping pepper plants, including exactly when, why, and how to do it. Talk about confusing! So, let’s clear things up. Have you ever heard that you should top pepper plant seedlings, or pinch off their flowers? Some sources say do it, some say don’t….
