Are you thinking about topping your chilli plants?
Wondering when to top your pepper plants?
Our answer:
Keep it simple, we say don't worry about topping your plants at all!
If you grow peppers from seed – you may wonder if (and when) you should top your pepper plants. In our experience, topping pepper plants does not necessarily result in more peppers than their un-topped counterparts. If you are growing your peppers outdoors, we don't think topping is necessary. We find that topping pepper plants can actually slow down your pepper plants growth at first, so if you live in a short season it can stall your harvest and therefore decrease the amount of peppers you'll get before the first frost comes. Here in the West with our 5b USDA Growing Zone, we don't top our pepper plants. If you do have a short growing season, we recommend these fastest growing peppers so you can harvest lots of peppers all summer before the first freeze in autumn.
Keep in mind that pepper plants naturally form a canopy & send up multiple lower branches without topping. You can still get large, productive, bushy plants without topping.
WE DO pinch the first blossoms, especially if they are on young pepper seedlings before transplanting – this way the seedling keeps putting energy into it's leaf and root growth rather than ripening a pod and seeds from the get-go.
Pepper plants will continue to fill out while fruiting, but pinching off the first blossoms on small plants will allow them to grow larger before diverting some of their energy into their seed pods. We like to pinch off blossoms when transplanting too, so they can put energy into settling into their new home.
That said, in gardening most rules are not hard rules! For example, if you live in a zone with a long growing season and you have have lots of time to work with, you could top your pepper plants to help them become more bushy. Topping pepper plants can also help them grow more bushy to protect them from wind damage if you have a lot of wind in the area.
Topping can also be beneficial if you are growing them in smaller pots or indoors under lights to keep their height down, and force them to become more bushy to maximize growing space. Speaking of growing peppers in pots, check out our post about the Best Container Size for Peppers »
But I do want to top my peppers!
So when do I top pepper plants?
If you do decide to top your pepper plants for some of the reasons listed above, it is usually recommended to be done when the seedlings are young, about 6-8 inches tall, and have developed 6-8 sets of true leaves. If you do top your pepper plants, it's wise to top them while they are still growing under lights indoors and let them acclimate for a few weeks and start putting on new growth before bringing them outside to harden off and transplant into the garden or containers. This will help them recover from the pruning.
Growing Peppers from Seed: Our Top 12 Tips
Happy growing!
