Should You Pick Early Pepper Flowers?

[@UrbanGardeningWithD.A.Hanks14]

I was going to give this a thumbs up, but then I saw I already had, so I must have enjoyed it at some earlier point as well, LOL. Keep the info coming!

[@PepperGeek]

😄 thanks!

[@zachwak]

Do a side by side, one with picking early flowers and one without!

[@srijonsarkarclass7erollnum592]

@Damian Trey my pepper plant flowers are all drying up. A good sized tree ,about 2and 1/2years old .looks pretty healthy. What to do.

[@ruifang700]

Great idea

[@weakgang2208]

@@srijonsarkarclass7erollnum592 Make sure the plants have at least 8 hours of light a day, fertilize them with rock phosphate, and keep the soil moist but don’t overwater and don’t let dry out.

[@0ater]

i have 3 scotch bonnets growing rn that are just now producing buds, i may experiment with snipping them off on one of them to see what happens

[@LCaaroe]

That would require actual effort. These gardening channels love to just sit and talk.

[@zeetay1867]

Just started growing recently. You're one of the most reliable sources of information on peppers. I always look to you when I have a question. Subscribed. Keep up the great work!

[@PepperGeek]

Thank you! So glad you found us and appreciate the nice words. Welcome :)

[@Ira88881]

Same here!!!

[@unsettld]

I've been training my Carolina reaper for a few years now, plucking the flowers here and there (still got a few pods) but recently I've committed to pruning all flowers and the growth has been phenomenal. I live in an equatorial climate so no seasons except for hot, cold (18°C) and rain all year round.. at this point my pepper looks more like an ornamental bush with plenty of shoots and constant growth.. Personally I would like to keep my plant in this state as it's definitely happy. Previously when allowing it to fruit I noticed that the plant really drained and lost a lot of its mass.

[@247KW]

Always pick off the first flower buds. It allows the plant to grow. I do this and omg I end up with so many peppers and such a strong plant

[@gregragincajun7968]

Did you ever try to pick off the flowers again after the second time when the flowers try to come out again?

[@247KW]

@@gregragincajun7968 No. I usually just pick the first ones that bloom. Then plant starts growing taller and thicker.

[@gregragincajun7968]

Ok ty

[@derekmcewen3631]

Thanks for the condensed answer !

[@crazycarl00]

Yeah but when do you stop? I only got mine transplanted at the end of May and finally started getting flowers here within the last couple of weeks. I picked the first two flowers on my reaper, but now I'm getting way more buds and I'm not so sure I should keep going with plucking the flowers.

[@Ira88881]

I did a comparison with two Red Thai Ornamental plants in the same very large pot. One I didn’t pull the flowers, the other, I pulled the flowers for around a week. They were both mature and had always been outside and hardened in this same pot. The picked plant not only grew much larger, but twice the pods. So… I’m a fan, but on one or two of my other varieties, I don’t have the patience and want to see some ripe peppers ASAP!

[@danopine]

Thank you, perfect timing, just repotted 2 weeks ago and have many buds on a 6" plant. Going to top and remove flowers ASAP.

[@PepperGeek]

Sounds good!

[@julienewlun6420]

Exactly my question... about picking blossoms on a small plant or not. My thought was yes, pick... but you confirmed what I suspected. Thanks!

[@ellescott4229]

Okay, first time pepper grower here. Pulled the tiny blooms today, it was hard. 😳😊

[@jonlouis2582]

Very interesting. I transplanted one of mine into a big pot from the garden and gave it a severe pruning. It has done great and now I want it to grow more leaves, so I will start removing the flowers. Right now it is covered with buds!

[@Shelzbells]

Besides tomatoes, I am also a pepper geek.....glad I stumbled onto your channel.

[@OSGCourtWatch]

Another good video. We plant out early to mid May here in pdx and generally top at least once and pick off flowers for the first month. Last year we did not prune as vigorously and noticed our peppers were a bit smaller and more spindly than prior years (thoughstill fine). Was especially noticeable on our bells. Also, we try to prune after the first flush of peppers comes on and plants produce a ton more blooms as they try to reproduce before they die...

[@eliasromero6100]

Thank you so much dude. I'm new to growing peppers, always wanted too, but didn't have the space till now. I'm trying a few this season and honestly, your videos help me so much. Just filtering out the useful information, giving direct answers, and expressing your experience is something I am very very grateful for. So thank you, and keep up with the awesome videos!!!

[@PepperGeek]

That means a lot, I’m glad you’ve found our channel helpful so far. Good luck this season!

[@rajeshtamhane]

Thanks Calvin and Crystal for these great videos. I noticed flowers on my West Indies Habanero today and wasn't sure if I should pinch them off. and then I saw your video

[@PepperGeek]

Thank you for your support! I'm glad you found us and hope your habaneros give you a great harvest. ❤️‍🔥

[@chillipepperenthooziest3730]

Generally if you're topping your pepper plants what you'll find is more often than not the top part of the main stem that your cutting off already has pods coming through... so if you're topping your plants you're cutting off those early flowers anyway... It's spring over here in Aus now so the growing season is underway here. I've got a ghost pepper plant that I topped about a week ago and It's honestly amazing how the plant has responded... all of the side nodes are suddenly jumping to life. I can't wait till it hits full maturity =P

[@kanthvickram4490]

certainly you are an authority on this subject of pepper plants, and it is lucky for us to learn from you, a lot. thank you so much for so much information.

[@davemiller8203]

You've provided lots of good advice Nd have answered a couple of my questions. Great video! Thank you.

[@marct7905]

Exactly. I feed high N and K after it established its root system. In my climate I get most BELL peppers in the fall since they don't like temps above 80F in fruiting.

[@JeffHerman-u2q]

I live in the northern US and im growing a red ghost pepper plant that is only 1.5 feet tall and 1 ft wide, but it has over 20 fully developed pods and over 10 of them are 2.5 inches long and doing great outside on its own

[@chickasawmike1319]

My peppers are having a hard time due to three weeks of rain and 100% humidity right after I planted them. Now it is 92 with 100% humidity and they are drooping a little bit. So I am going to trim those flowers off for a couple of weeks at least.

[@jenniferpocaigue2508]

Very convenient timing of finding this video lol. I got a plant that's only a foot tall and has flowers (bought it as an established plant from store). Wasn't sure if I should chop or not lol. I KNOW it's supposed to be bigger

[@PepperGeek]

Yeah, for storebought plants we usually take off all the flowers/peppers and let the plants get established for a few weeks in its new location

[@jackiecollins7782]

This has been very helpfull thk u so much fairly new to grown own foods had some hit n misses lol but battling on some great tips here will look for heatmatts for seadling ❤ watching from UK 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇬🇧

[@joec0914]

Fishers Island Lemonade!! Good choice. Love that stuff in the summer.

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

Here's how I try to do it, counting backwards from when cold weather hits (nights under 55F): We get cold nights in end of Sept; count back 90 days for peppers that need 90 days to produce ripe fruit (more for some varieties); start letting flowers develop normally; count back 3-4 weeks, transplant into ground or final container, pick all flowers until then. So basically I remove all flowers until the middle of May or the first of June. It will vary with your climate region and type of peppers.

[@PepperGeek]

That's a great tip and super easy to remember!

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

@@PepperGeek thanks... it about takes longer to explain it than it does to do it. But it works. ;)

[@Callie88Lilly]

This is my first year growing peppers. I’m so thankful for this channel, and any advise!! I thought this post was great. Thanks for the tip!!

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

@@Callie88Lilly enjoy! Peppers are kind of addicting to grow because there's so many interesting different types. :)

[@joanies6778]

One year I grew a bonsai bell pepper. 😂 The bees enjoyed the blooms and the tiniest bell pepper won last in show before the whole thing went into the compost.

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

I've grown a few tiny pepper plants too, just for fun. You can either just keep them in a small container or take a bigger plant and trim it way back, then put it in a small container.

[@1LindaJMacKay]

I overwinter my peppers...seems harsh to compost a cute little plant!

[@afinecupofcoffee8476]

I recently purchased a tray of poblanos from a local nursery. Put them directly into five-gallon buckets and this morning I noticed they had buds. But they're still pretty small. They have been outside a month so I plucked them off. I feel the plant needs to at least double in height before it's strong enough for those big fruit.

[@topixfromthetropix1674]

I grew outside and noticed the Thai reds, Poblano, and bells did well in slightly acidic soil.

[@didanz100]

I’ve started over winter them with great success. In the third year.

[@lesoneill4932]

Cheers mate really appreciate the vids Only my 2nd year of growing So find them really helpfully We do only have a short season here in London 🇬🇧

[@PepperGeek]

Thanks for watching, glad you find us helpful!

[@wordsbymaribeja1470]

I'm in London too, keep the flowers!

[@michaelforrester816]

Got some superhots growing in Newcastle. Plants are 18 inches tall and strong with flower buds!! Ill be leaving them. They are loving this heat... finally

[@brgovender8879]

Another great video. Very informative. Thanks for giving us a detailed description.

[@TheTruth_187]

I let my Habanero plant do what it does and it rejected some of the flowers it'sself and grew 2 small yet beautifull habanero's (Indoors with very little sunlight buuut watering it with warm water i could hear the roots Slurp away the water straight up so beautifull to see and hear that.

[@dmitrimikrioukov5935]

I live in Siberia. The outdoor growing season here for peppers is usually nearly 3 months from June to August. However, in June and August the temperature may drop to nearly freezing at night. It may even freeze, but the latter is extremely rare.

[@despoticmusic]

That’s pretty harsh summer weather! I’ll never complain again about the British summer… 😂

[@Infiniti25]

I’d guess it pays to find out the total lifecycle length from germination to mature fruit for your region. Then work out if you can start the peppers indoors earlier in the year, pick the first flowers off and still get it into the ground and receive a good harvest. Trial and error following others great general advice.

[@theresasilver1712]

Amazing info in your videos. Some years I have a few peppers even though I have a lot of plants and other years, I have a bumper crop.

[@thishtns]

My plan for next year is to start an extra plant or two, dedicated to early producing, and 'retire' the early producer to the compost pile when the correctly topped and flower-plucked plants start hitting their stride. I know I don't have enough dried and frozen to last the whole time until then!

[@JulianXiong-f7d]

So true. I live in Oklahoma and Minnesota with different grow times.

[@sonshineandsong]

OH and I subscribed too! I need a pepper geek in my life.❤️

[@Infiniti25]

I started my seeds really late again this year, early May I believe, and will probably only receive around 10-20 immature fruit if I even get any flowers. I’ve potted them up from solo cup to their final 40cm pots and they’ve been outside a few days now in this UK mini-heatwave. Will see how I get on. Must...get...greenhouse...built!!!

[@PepperGeek]

😂 A greenhouse would be a dream for us too! You could try constraining a few plants to smaller pots for earlier ripening of some pods, though you may end up with a smaller overall yield.

[@Infiniti25]

@@PepperGeek thanks for the tips. I only tried growing them from seed last year for the first time and again, I did it too late and got very small fruit. I’m confident about germinating and growing and potting them up based on your videos and others, I just need to make time next year to start them indoors in March instead of May. I have a 14x10 greenhouse but I don’t have the door, it was stolen the first night of disassembly. I therefore never had motivation to build it when I got it home...almost 3 years ago.

[@thecyclingcouple4438]

i just did that to my bell peppers yesterday. they are now about 4-5 inches tall. I hope they will give me for fruits for the next 1-2 months.

[@Mikey196601]

I’m growing peppers from packaged seeds my wife bought when she was in Bolivia , the plants at huge and lots of leaves and branches, there’s tons of flowers and have been like that for over month and there’s no change , in Bolivia they’re called locoto peppers

[@Lex13579-Lex]

Great video, you got yourself another subscriber here. Im actually really new to this, but I just germinated 5 Carolina reapers & 6 Trinidad Moruga scorpions, got some nice strong looking sprouts going in about 2 weeks. Hoping they turn out great like your plant. Thanks for the great info aswell.

[@PepperGeek]

Sounds great, thanks for subbing, glad to have you here!

[@davidniemi6553]

:Love the hybridization chart on the white board in the background. I have one on my whiteboard at work keeping track of my Tabanero and Chisel hybrid generations (Chisel is one of those exceptions that produces early and often). A pepper with an amazingly slow growing cycle is Tabasco. It has quite small pods, but takes longer than a Ghost, so not good for a short growing season or a shady garden like mine; but once it finally gets rolling it can be very prolific.

[@PepperGeek]

Yep haha - we are actually growing Tabasco for the first time this year so I’m excited to see how it does in our climate and how the raw peppers taste

[@davidniemi6553]

@@PepperGeek Tabascos are different from other species I've grown -- when ripe they come off the stem easily, are juicy and solid, not hollow, with small seeds, so you can just drop them into something you're cooking or at most cut them in half. They are hot green too, but 50K-100K scovilles when fully ripe (usually orange). They do not keep or ripen well indoors if picked, especially if off the stem, but at the end of the season I cut off whole branches and put them in a watering can or vase to ripen. Tabaneros have most of these characteristics too but are larger, sweeter, and don't take so long to grow and ripen.

[@laurenwesseler9680]

Great I’ll pick mine off my plants.

[@sonshineandsong]

Well I guess next year I'll get better plants. I bought 2 very large bell peppers from the store and had to wait awhile for hubby to get the garden ready. They were about a foot tall and already had flowers and small peppers. Now I'm waiting for the peppers to mature but they are on the ground! Poor plant didn't grow taller! I came here looking for help. Next year I'll be sure to remove the flowers and I'm planning to pinch off the top too.

[@PepperGeek]

There is still time left in the season for the plant to grow more! But yeah early pruning buds/peppers can help

[@ftsbihg7735]

I have always had bad results with my peppers. I will try this and see what happens.

[@bacarddi92]

Could you make a guide on when to put the plants in to a larger pot. I am always running in to the problem on when to transplant my peppers in to larger containers in doors. Love the channel and website.

[@PepperGeek]

Coming very soon on the channel.

[@My_Secret_Sketchbook999]

@@PepperGeek when??? I require help PLEASE

[@PepperGeek]

@@My_Secret_Sketchbook999 kzbin.info/www/bejne/n36yepp7hLqsrZY - all about the process

[@JeremyPlaysSax]

Thanks for the info! Makes sense especially for the last part.

[@PepperGeek]

Glad you thought it was helpful!

[@3TEXAN]

Just found your channel. Starting my first garden. Thanks for all the information.

[@AraceaeFanatics]

I don't do this. After the first couple fruit they grow just fine. My pepper plants are all in 5 gallon buckets. Some are 3-4 feet tall.

[@joekidd777]

Same here.

[@lainafields]

@@joekidd777 Same here also.

[@Larrabjl]

I pick all flowers off until July 1st and then i just let it go crazy. I live in zone 3a and our last frost is usually June 1st so it gives them plenty of time to grow with still enough time to produce. It hasn't failed me yet.

[@juliewood823]

Thanks I had concerns but you helped me 👍🏽

[@evalopez2700]

Question PLEASE??? 🙏When should you pick the flowers & when not to & on which plants?? 🤷‍♀️ I heard some plants are done with their life cycle once they flower, but you can pick the flower heads to keep them producing longer. Or to help young plants grow bigger, such as with tomato, cucumber & pepper plants. So I picked all the first flowers of my young bean plants... but then saw a vid saying to pick excess foliage to spur more flowers to grow. I'm so confused. 😒

[@Daynja1]

Alright I'm sold on picking the early flowers to encourage plant growth. But what about selectively picking some flowers on established plants? Does this help create larger peppers? What about towards the end of the season where a flower has little hope of creating a ripe pepper? I live in a cold climate and often end up with just a few small peppers per plant. I've been following a lot of your advice this year and so far things are going pretty good.

[@MikeBova1]

My trinidad moruga scorpion pepper plant was dropping its own flowers for weeks and weeks then once the plant hit about 4 feet high with a huge canopy BOOM 💥 within a week I has 20-30 and now there are more pods then I can count

[@PepperGeek]

Nicee, hope you have a plan for all that heat 🔥

[@matheya]

I had no idea ! I was so happy to see flowers and now I have to do this ? On the other hand the plants are small so I don't see how they would carry 10 peppers..

[@p.pinchelette2909]

Cool content dude. Thanks for doing these.

[@cuddlebuddy88mc]

I got a new tabasco pepper plant. Adorable little thing was only 7 inches and had 3 flowers buds on it. I wanted to deadhead it anyway so it would grow bushy and not tall/leggy. My last TPP was too tall and the wind would knock it over [ potted plants, I have a balcony garden.]

[@danlewis1871]

Very valuable advice and timely. Thanks

[@BellMarika]

Thank you. And, does this apply to Bell peppers too? My new bell pepper plants have at least three buds right at the top of the plant. There are no side branches yet. The plants are about 15cm tall.

[@RachelKDS]

Super helpful, thank you!!! I'm glad I'm also in New England so I can kind of do exactly what you do 🤣

[@PepperGeek]

Yay! Happy to help with the peppers

[@kellyclark7517]

I’m a New Englander but have transplanted to FL(no pun intended).so,I always dig knowing wat does wat in each zone🤙🏽

[@brandonarmstrong4509]

So I picked my flowers as soon as they started flowering after I transplant. I pretty much check daily. But one must have pollinated because I have a pepper now and the plant isn’t nearly large enough. Bell to specify. Should I pick the pepper while now while they are small?

[@PepperGeek]

Yes, definitely pick the pepper as well. In fact, some don't even pick flowers, just those that form pods (many flowers fall naturally). Once the plant is established, then you can let the flowers form pods

[@thehokage6799]

Should i snip the small buds as well as the flowers or just the flowers? Thanks!

[@PepperGeek]

It is best to allow them to grow a bit first to avoid damaging the young leaves too. If you accidentally snip off any leaves, they will grow out deformed

[@ldzmn]

Oops... Wish I'd seen this vid before picking off flowers from my super hots here in the South UK 🙈. I'll stop now but really hope I get some rope pods 😢

[@donalddriscoll5952]

Should I pluck the first flowers after transplanting my overwintered peppers?

[@bcc5701]

Idk if you guys monitor comments this far back but I picked up a ghost pepper plant that was sitting in the discard/ clearance area at my Home Depot. It was by itself and I just figured why not - they gave it to me for a buck or so. It’s got tons of foliage but its short, the leaves are huge and I had to stake it since it was flopping around. It has a ton of tiny flower buds and one actual green ghost pepper growing. Im 6A/6B. Should I just let it do its thing? I transplanted it to a 12’ diameter pot from the little clear thing it was rot bound in

[@PepperGeek]

I would probably just let it do it’s thing. Ghosts are not huge so they won’t take up a ton of energy from the plant. With more soil space and some time, the plant should grow larger and keep producing until fall

[@ericknight69]

It is all about the energy and when the energy is going to fruits it isn't going into the plant. But if your making crosses then the faster you can get that cross to take the faster you can get those seeds into the ground and sprouting.

[@PepperGeek]

Definitely true - good tip for the breeding community

[@dulcefius]

Hello, I have a mature plant that had produced a ton of large, beautiful cayenne peppers. The plant is full again, but producing tiny ripe peppers that have no seeds. I just fertiliz d. The plant is full of flowers. Should I pluck those? I have not pruned the plant. Do they need to be pruned?

[@quantafitness6088]

Just what I wanted to know. Thank you!

[@moonshynegirl172]

Lemon Drop is one of my favorites and it takes a very long time for fruit to mature.

[@PepperGeek]

Right, some varieties take super long, one possible reason to leave flowers earlier in the season

[@valkeakirahvi]

It's my favourite too! Great taste and easy to grow in small space. I've even got produce in the middle of the dark winter under grow lights.

[@WhitRose97]

And what about picking off pepper flowers later in the season? I'm not sure how many peppers I should let my plant attempt to produce as I have a shorter growing season and I want to make sure the fruits ripen before the first frost. I'm in the mountains and am just now getting lots of flowers and some baby peppers starting but I have less than 2 months left in my season. I'm not sure how many flowers to let develop and when to start plucking the rest

[@Zoeebella]

Great video! I'm a new gardener and have about 16 pepper seedlings from mild bell peppers to super hot Scotch Bonnet. I'd love to see a video suggesting containers sizing and/ or raised beds. Some peppers will only get a foot tall and some 4-6 feet. What would be best for each variety.

[@PepperGeek]

Great idea - we will most likely do something like this. Quick version is that chinense varieties tend to be large, annuum smaller.

[@SuchaCaligrrl]

My bell pepper plants are mature, about 20-30" tall, have an estimated amount of about 15 plants, all planted in grown, very full of beautiful dark green leaves, I don't see any insects or diseases and I check them everyday. They are growing strong and healthy but no bell peppers.... I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if I'm missing something, I'm lost and ready to just yank them out... frustrated. Also on some I cut them back (the tops) while they were still young... I read it somewhere, so I thought to try it on some and not others... just incase that method didn't work... but even those shorter ones (which are now just as tall are mature and haven't grown any peppers.

[@brandyshaw6303]

Thank you! Definitely subscribing

[@ulomaenyi212]

Thanks for your advise. I live in St Pete FL. Habanero pepper plants i reported into larger pots in mid June are just growing so tall. When will they flower and priduce peppers please

[@PepperGeek]

Habaneros usually take anywhere from 3-4 months from transplanting to produce ripe pods. Could be high heat, too much nitrogen, poor pollination, or low light that is causing delay in flowering, but be patient!

[@vBDKv]

Awesome video, many thanks. Totally new at chili plants

[@PepperGeek]

Glad you found it helpful - and hope you enjoy growing peppers this year!

[@robbiecrowley504]

So I have all my peppers in 5 gallon buckets and 7 gallon grow bags. They have been outside for a a month in half and I am trying to compensate for not starting germinating a month before tomatoes. All peppers are smaller in height this year can I continue to pull flowers for a few weeks to try and get plants to get larger or should I just let them go since they been outdoor ? Hopefully I didn't ruin my harvest by pulling 20+ buds off each Jalapeño plant they are only 16 in tall though.

[@greenmachine4189]

Hi new to jalapeño growing question: do you have to pollinate the flowers to other flowers or will they just do their thing?.

[@sp00nesis]

Wondering, say for instance in the case of your can pepper plant there, would that be an indicator it's time to upgrade it's container/pot? Like the roots are like "hey, yep we've given it all she's got" so the plant is like "well, on to the next step I guess..."?

[@PepperGeek]

That is exactly right, yes. As I said in the video, as long as you transplant up at the right times, you shouldn’t have too many flowers to pluck!

[@getzvalerevich6565]

Need the backstory to the "Can" situation.. Lol Love your vid's.. Cheers

[@PepperGeek]

Basically a challenge started on the Pepper Lovers community on Facebook - grow a pepper from seed in a can over the winter and share your results. Cheers!

[@PS-mv7it]

Just tried to go on your website and was BOMBARDED by ads.... super hard to read the info because there is so much useless stuff popping up with ads every 2 seconds. I won't ever go back. Please make a video about pest control in the garden.

[@nunyabisnass1141]

I was thinking the same thing about when not to prune, because its been an abnormally cool late spring night temps in the 50's, and my habeneros are just starting to flower despite starting them back in march. My ghost pepers are still a few weeks away from producing their first flowers. So far we might get two days a week where the day temp is 80 and humid and the night 75, and we can see a significant amount of growth during that period. So hopefully we will have some good peppers by august with a month for them to ripen before it starts cooling down again. I might try to over winter some if the harvest is poor, but i dont think that will much of a problem, we'll just have to see. However i dont think the issue is a when, but a why. I see you're peppers generally only have a couple or a few flowers and flower buds per node. Mine have between five to nine. Since i dont expect the plant to be able to devote adequate energy to all of those flowers if fertilised successfully, then i will pick the what looks to be the weaker ones to reduce to cluster down to three per node. Otherwise you may expect to see an excess of flower drops that could falsely indicate a disease or other symptom of stress.

[@drewjorde]

I bought a live plant a couple weeks ago. I put them in a 8 inch pot, but they are starting to get flowers. I live in Idaho. Pretty sure zone 5 so idk if I should cut them off or not. They definitely aren’t fully matured

[@Gabe511]

My plants have been outside for about a month, and have been sprouting flowers recently. Some are bigger than others and feel like i should pick the early flowers on the small ones, but they have been out there long enough to let them grow so im not sure.

[@softaco3088]

I always pick the flowers off until the plant is at least 2-3 feet tall. Some varieties that grow very bushy can be tough (Thinking thai or aji varieties at the top of my head ).

[@GabagoolFool]

I live in new york and i have been growing a ghost pepper indoors for one year. I picked early flowers for a month. No peppers from last summer to this summer indoors. As soon as i put the plant outside peppers started to pop everywhere.

[@UrbanGardeningWithD.A.Hanks14]

Question: At what point do you stop picking the buds? My plants are still a foot or so with a few under (depending on the variety), and I'm plucking them 6-12 at a time. Is there a rule of thumb as to how high the plants should be before you let them flower out? If I'm taking off this many now, is that a good indication of production? Is it also possible I added a bit too much P-K when I transplanted them? I put about 1/3 cup of 3-9-9 when I stuck them in the ground.

[@IjeomaThePlantMama]

Answer at 3:00

[@yooperlooper]

I planted seeds from a red pepper I got at the grocery store. It's looks really healthy, about 8 inches tall with a strong stem but it only has about 4 or 5 large leaves and not full like yours. Should I have pinched it back at the beginning? I have several more started in small cups that are just coming up now. Thanks. . . . . Update: I just found your pruning video! I don't know if it's too late for my big pepper but I'm going to try it. Hope it works

[@freddieivory625]

Great tips, thanks for sharing

[@PepperGeek]

You bet! Thanks for watching

[@Playingwith3D]

I shake the hell out of my peppers once a day when they start to bud, that way any buds that are sturdy enough to hang on are good enough to grow a good pepper.

[@mnrcvlrd]

Will it have a negative impact on the plant if I picked the flowers off at night while it's in its growing stage?

[@GilaMonster971]

As you stated my growing season is short and I’m growing reaper peppers. So I never pick off flowers. My plants might not produce any peppers if I start picking off flowers.

[@ElGatoLoco698]

I thought about experimenting with this. It's totally unnecessary when you grow outside in Texas. They grow too fast and when it gets hot, the blossoms drop anyway. Come September/October you have more peppers than you need.

[@Poppy-sf1uj]

Lucky you

[@amygarebelo4567]

I live in Texas and this is my first time. Thank you, I was about to remove all the flowers so it could grow bigger! Not sure how big it should get before I let it have fruit?

[@ElGatoLoco698]

@@amygarebelo4567 It's super hot right now so most of your blossoms will drop anyway. The plants will continue to grow though. I'd say in about a month when it cools down a few degrees is the best time to let it fruit. Daytime temps of 100+ and nighttime temps of 80+ or a combination of the two will cause the blossoms to drop. It's just too hot but 10 degrees less and it's perfect. That usually happens in early September. You'll have more peppers than you know what to do with. And they will continue to fruit until we get a frost usually in mid to late November. You won't be able to keep up.

[@klenda771]

I seem to have problems growing my peppers from seed. My peppers are still fairly small and it’s the end of June. What did I do wrong?

[@amygarebelo4567]

What size is a good size to leave the flowers to start growing peppers?

[@PepperGeek]

Anywhere from 10-15" or so is usually where our plants are at before we let them flower/produce. It also depends how late it is in the season - need to leave time for the peppers to ripen up before fall

[@markmigz1769]

Do I have to remove the flowers without waiting it for to bloom or should i let it bloom first before picking? Pls answer thx

[@PepperGeek]

I usually let it bloom first so it is easier to avoid damaging other parts of the plant.

[@shrimpkisser183]

I have a pepper plant in a container that is about 8-10months old. I dont plan to upsize the pot/transplant it has been producing flowers for the whole year even during winter. And just yesterday it flowered once again. Should i pick them or not?

[@PepperGeek]

No! If you have it outdoors already just let it continue to produce as long as the weather is suitable

[@leandroikeda]

The answer is yes.

[@johnnybravo3912]

Question, can I transplant my pepper plants during mid flower?

[@mtndan6969]

There was a ornamental pepper plant at my work (looking real sad) and I took a pepper and germinated the seeds. I got 30 viable seedlings and what I would like to know although probably obvious answer, is if I took seed from a red pepper will all the plants from it be red pepper plants?

[@omarvelarde4493]

I started growing Korean chilli peppers, and one of them just bloomed its first flower! I guess it’s recommended to pluck out the flower, right? I live in Texas- still experiencing late summer vibes 😂

[@PepperGeek]

Not necessarily! If your plant is immature, you can pluck it, but if it is in its final container size, let it flower/fruit