You can let your pepper plants grow uncut and enjoy the fiery, aromatic yield. With cutting care on the back burner, you can significantly optimize the harvest quality. Check out this tutorial on how to expertly chop peppers.

Ausgezen prevents the pepper plant from developing too many fruits and being overwhelmed

Table of Contents

Show all
  1. max out
  2. break out the royal bloom
  3. Cutting instead of picking
  4. Clear and cut
  5. Cut ready to eat
  6. frequently asked Questions

    7. Cut out the peppers

    When cutting tomato plants, being stingy is a must in the garden. Paprika is more tolerant of the measure and leaves the decision up to you. Barren side shoots, the so-called stingy shoots, are removed with the aim of increasing the yield of flowers and a correspondingly higher number of fruits. The unwanted shoots can be recognized by their position within a leaf axil, the forking of the main shoot and fruit shoot. This is how you properly skimp on pepper plants:

    • The best time is in the morning when the weather is dry
    • Grasp a stinging shoot at the lower end with your index finger and thumb
    • Pinch off mini shoots or snap off to the side
    • Important: the smaller a stinginess, the gentler the procedure

    Have you prescribed regular pinching for your pepper plants? Then the work from the young plant stage is on the care plan. Stay on the heels of avaricious shoots until the first fruits form. Experiences in the cultivation of peppers show that a densely bushy plant with a large mass of leaves and few fruits develops without pinching. Where infertile side shoots do not divert any nutrients for themselves, all the more reserve substances are available for the growth of juicy peppers.

    tips

    Continuous misery is a double-edged sword. First and foremost, the quality of the harvest improves. In return, the intervention affects the stability of a pepper plant. Without stinging shoots, the plants grow slimmer and less bushy, so they are at risk of windthrow. You can prevent damage by placing a support rod next to the main shoot.

    break out the royal bloom

    The king flower is a thorn in the side of pepper gardeners aiming for a high-yielding plant. The poetic term describes the flower of the first hour, which is located in the center of the first branch of the stem. The plant pumps most of its energy reserves towards its king flower, so that further buds lose out. The earning power benefits significantly when no royal blossom swings the floral scepter. Here’s how to do it professionally:

    • Promptly remove the top flower of a pepper plant
    • Grasp the base of the flower with two fingers
    • Optionally twist out, pinch out or break out the royal blossom

    To ensure that your pepper plant does not lack strength for the following growth spurt, give an organic fertilizer every two weeks. Compost, horn shavings and plant manure are well suited. After the end of the flowering period, shorten the fertilization intervals to eight days so that the numerous fruit sets develop into voluminous and aromatic peppers.

    Harvest the first half-ripe peppers

    Did you miss the moment to break out the royal bloom? Then you have a second opportunity to optimize the branching with fruit shoots and the number of flowers. To do this, harvest the first fruit early, when it is still green and half ripe. The pepper plant interprets the intrusion as a loss of its ovules and immediately goes to work producing more flowers and fruit for a large offspring.

    background

    Remove top bud - allocate growth power more evenly

    The reaction of a pepper plant to the removal of the king flower can be reliably predicted because an important law of growth is applied. Precise observations of plant growth are due to the knowledge of peak promotion, referred to in technical jargon as apical dominance. Buds at the tips of the shoots receive disproportionately more nutrients than buds positioned deeper. By breaking out the king flower of a pepper plant, you cause a more even allocation of reserves. As a result, more fruit tendrils sprout with flowers that turn into crunchy fruits.

    Do not pick ripe peppers

    Only in the final stages of growing peppers do the scissors come into play. Pinching and removing kingblossom requires dexterity. Ripe fruits, meanwhile, dangle on sturdy stems that resist any attempt to pick them. For a skilful harvest, the scissors should therefore be at hand. Ideally, position the blades in the middle of the fruit stalk. Injury to the plant is excluded. Also, peppers last longer if a small piece of the stalk is left attached to the fruit.

    Cut before putting away

    Another reason for pruning pepper plants is the upcoming winter. As tropical plants, peppers do not tolerate frosty temperatures, so that in our regions they are mostly grown as annuals. In their habitats, the plants thrive as perennial perennials, which hobby gardeners take advantage of and organize overwintering behind glass. Strong cutting plays a key role in the preparations. How to cut pepper plants correctly before putting them away:

    • The best time is in autumn when temperatures are around 10 degrees Celsius
    • Thoroughly clean and disinfect scissors with bypass mechanism
    • Cut back all shoots by half to two thirds
    • Leave at least two pairs of leaves per shoot

    After pruning, dig up a bedding plant to plant in a pot of vegetable soil. If you have to make do with limited space in the winter quarters, reduce an oversized root ball by up to a third. If your peppers thrive in the tub anyway, the preparations are limited to a radical cut before putting them away.

    digression

    Never cut without gloves

    Paprika contains different levels of capsaicin. It is an alkaloid that gives it a sharp taste. In sweet peppers, the proportion of capsaicin is hardly worth mentioning, whereas caution is advised in other varieties such as chili or pepperoni. This does not only apply to the palate. Direct skin contact can trigger allergic reactions including burns. In the worst case, the alkaloid gets into the eyes and mucous membranes, causing considerable discomfort. Do not attend to your peppers until you are put on protective gloves and long-sleeved clothing.

    Cut the peppers ready to eat

    With their colorful skin and tasty flesh, the pepper protects its true treasure, the seeds. From the point of view of the kitchen, the seeds could be removed from the floral blueprint of the fruit. To cut a pod ready to eat, it is usually first quartered, then cut into strips or small cubes. Then the clean-up work begins at the workplace, because the annoying seeds have spread over a large area. It doesn't have to be. How to properly cut a pepper:

    • Place the peppers on a cutting board
    • Cut off the top and bottom with a sharp kitchen knife
    • Stand the pod upright
    • Cut open the skin with the flesh from top to bottom

    Starting with the vertical cut, peel out the seed-rich interior of the pod with the blade of a knife. A special advantage of this method: the seeds in their chambers remain connected to the light-colored tissue and are removed in one go.

    youtube

    frequently asked Questions

    Are stinging shoots of a pepper plant suitable for propagation?

    In commercial and private cultivation, sowing dominates as a common form of propagation of pepper plants. There is nothing wrong with trying the vegetative way with cuttings. Instead of throwing stinging shoots that have broken out carelessly onto the compost heap, put them in a pot with potting soil. Put a plastic bag over it with wooden sticks as spacers and keep the substrate slightly moist at all times.

    Are peppers hardy?

    Peppers are native to tropical regions of the world. Plants thrive as perennials where temperatures are comfortable all year round. Pepper plants are not designed for temperatures below freezing, so overwintering in Central European gardens is not possible. If the thermometer falls and 10 degrees Celsius, peppers stop growing and gradually die. If you don't shy away from the effort and have a bright, frost-free winter quarters, you can accompany the exotic plants behind glass through the cold season.

    Is it possible to grow peppers on the balcony?

    As a balcony gardener, you don't have to do without fresh, home-grown peppers. The plants thrive in large tubs, provided they are in a sunny, warm and wind-protected location. As heavy feeders, pepper plants need nutrient-rich soil, ideally enriched with compost. A spiral rod provides the necessary support, to which the main shoot and fruit shoots can cling. The pivotal point in the care program is an adequate supply of water and nutrients. Especially on hot summer days, the plants evaporate a lot of moisture, so regular watering is important.

    Are pepper plants self-fertile or should there be a second plant in the bed?

    Most home grow peppers are self-fertile thanks to hermaphroditic flowers with both male and female reproductive organs. A single plant is sufficient for a rich harvest. In locations with very little wind or in a greenhouse, it is advisable to shake the plant from time to time so that the pollen is distributed evenly.

    The 3 most common cutting mistakes

    When stinging shoots gain the upper hand in a pepper plant, fruit quality and yield fall by the wayside. A similar thing happens to a plant when the king flower has the floral say. Extensive tidying up in the kitchen is inevitable if you simply quarter a piece of fruit. The following table would like to protect you from typical cutting errors and has tips for the right procedure:

    cutting error damage picture prevention
    never exhausted high leaf mass, low crop yield stingy shoots break out continuously
    allow royal blossom few fruit shoots, flowers and peppers Remove king flower
    Quartered peppers large-scale seed distribution Cut off the top and bottom, peel out the seeds

    tips

    Like their milder relatives, peppers and tomatoes, chili plants benefit from consistent oversupply. It starts at a growth height of 35 to 40 cm. Break out from the leaf axils any stingy shoots that compete with the fruit shoots for nutrients, water and light.

Category:

Vegetable garden