How to prune peppers

When to prune peppers

Peppers can generally be pruned in late July to early to mid-August when the temperature is high in summer. At this time, the first batch of peppers has been picked and the plants are in the resting stage, so pruning is most effective at this time.

How to prune peppers

In the early stages of pepper growth, the main thing to do is to prune off those poorly growing stems and buds. When the plant grows to more than 30 cm, keep a few leaves, cut off the upper part of the plant, top it, and trim off all excess leaves.

When pruning peppers, generally keep the main 3-4 branches, and then keep the two strongest side branches on the main branches. The other redundant branches can be directly trimmed off.

In particular, some small branches and leaves below the main branches can be completely wiped off during pruning. This can greatly reduce the burden on the pepper tree and allow the absorbed nutrients and produced organic matter to be supplied to the main branches and side branches.

Tips for Pruning Peppers

When pruning peppers, you need to use relatively sharp scissors and ensure that the cut ends are smooth to prevent attracting pests or infection with pathogens. When pruning, cut off diseased branches, drooping branches, and broken branches that are improperly managed. It is best to take the cut branches out of the garden for disposal, especially branches infested by diseases and insects.

Pepper pruning makes it grow faster

If you want peppers to grow faster, you need to cut off the withered and yellow branches and leaves. This will help improve the quality of the peppers, will not cause more and more leaves to turn yellow, and can also promote faster plant growth.

Pepper pruning flowering

Since peppers have a strong growth ability, if the tops are not pinched, they will grow too fast, which will easily cause the pepper tree to only grow taller but not bloom and bear fruit. Therefore, if you want the peppers to bloom, it is essential to pinch off the tops.

Pepper pruning results in more fruits

If you want peppers to bear more fruits, you should trim the side branches. A pepper plant generally has four large branches, and eight side branches will expand from the four large branches. When the side branches grow up, they will affect the ventilation and light transmission in the field. Cut off these eight side branches to concentrate the fertility on the four large branches, so that the peppers can bear more and larger fruits.

Notes on pruning peppers

After pruning peppers, quick-acting fertilizers and watering should be applied in time to promote plant growth and fruiting. If the soil is dry, topdressing should be combined with watering, otherwise the fertilizer effect will be difficult to exert. In addition, weeds should be removed in time after pruning to prevent and control various diseases and pests.