If you are staking your pepper plants or growing them in a cage, you may not need to worry about topping pepper plants for strength. You may also want to consider a garden tower. This is most commonly done with chili peppers because they most benefit from a bushier, more compact plant.īut, overall this method will result in a sturdier plant that can stand up to higher winds and support a robust pepper yield without breaking or tipping. A larger yield is the main reason that gardeners prune the tip of their pepper plants.īe aware that different pepper plant varieties will respond in different ways. And, more flowers means more peppers on your plant. The idea for topping pepper plants is to create a bushier plant that will branch out and produce more flowers. Growing peppers is really all about trial and error. So, you will need to experiment yourself and see if it increases yield. Some studies show that bell pepper plants do not respond as well to this method as other types of peppers. They really are quite similar and you will use the same technique. When it comes to topping pepper plants, you can use the same method whether you are topping chili plants or topping bell pepper plants.

Your pepper plant will direct its hormones toward the healthy branches so that the plant becomes more full rather than taller. What this does is encourage your plant to put more growth into each branch rather than by continuing to grow upwards. You need to make this cut above two healthy branches. Topping refers to a technique used by some gardeners to remove the main stem of the plant before it gets too tall.

Free download pruning pepper plants