A lot of my peppers have been bushing out at the base, is this concerning?
Have had a lot of rain, and my pepper plants have been growing a lot of leaves near the base. This is my second year growing peppers, is this something to worry about? Do I need to prune or something? Zone 7b
by corban
16 Comments
Sad-Shoulder-8107
Personally, when a plant is producing lower shoots like this I just pinch them off. It should redirect growth upwards.
ScientistNormal8162
i don’t personally like it and i always pull anything touching the mulch, and when the plants get bigger i pull any leaves within 6 inches of the mulch. but that’s just my personal preference when it comes to the shape of the plant i want, which is like a little tree.
Naltoc
Depends on what stage. Mine often do it when transplanted, as I use a 50%compost mix and they spend a week or two bushing out, before it all shoots upwards. Just be sure to prune lower leaves as it grows, so there’s airflow below and leaves don’t touch the ground and end up rotting.
floppyfloopy
Pepper forums are funny in that some people will mumble about reduced airflow and tell you to thin it, while others will top their plants to force them to bush out like this.
I would personally be quite happy to have my plants fill out like this.
emac1211
My habaneros are doing this and my jalapenos are not. I figured it was just how they grew and they look healthy so haven’t worried about it.
304Grower
Depends on what variety they are. But most will benefit from clearing out the bottom leaves.
BiggData88
Not concerning at all! Each new stem is a new cluster of pods. Make sure to feed the plant. 🙂
Elegant_Height_1418
Completely normal growth… all my plants grow like that and I leave them to grow how they want to and always get a huge harvest and end up freezing 70%
johnicester
All of mine especially reapers and scorpions do this I just trim so the base has air and they’re fine.
Ok-Hawk2666
Just let it go, if leaf starts turning brown pluck it. YouTube pepperguru on YouTube
micheallujanthe2nd
Me personally I would just trim any sideshoots/suckers that grow inbetween the leaves and main stem so if focuses most of its energy on getting taller.
But no, everything looks fine, and btw, all you peo9ple who downvote people for pruning or say not to,.. Look just because your scared to and dont know how to do it, doesn’t mean its not beneficial, go to your local flower garden, every single plant there is pruned in some way, they dont have the healthiest plants for no reason. It doesn’t mean chop everything off the plant, you actually do very little clipping at all, you just try and direct the plants energy where you want it.
Try it sometime, you’d be surprised!!!!!!
CaptainPolaroid
Plant morphogenesis (shape) is influenced by a lot of things. And growers have their preferences based on their setup. But in this case, I recommend you pinch the lower leaves. Airflow will improve. But that’s less gain outside vs inside grows.
The reason you need to pinch those branches is because the lowest leaves will droop and touch the soil. Especially when wet / wtered. Their will be more susceptible to rot and disease because they will have issues drying up. But also an easy target for pests.
I think based on the compact growth, that they get plenty of blue skies. If you can shade them a bit, it could be beneficial for the shape of the plant (likely to push a bit more upwards. Once you reached a desirable height, you can top them and guide to to branch out more.
Much_Guava_1396
My bhut jolokia is doing this. seems to be somewhat common for chinense
Beneficial-Ferret479
I personally remove the ones that are touching the dirt and even a little above the bottom ones. All they do is take away the food and energy that would normally go to the top to produce buds. Then you would get more peppers/better harvest. It’s normal for peppers to do this. Sure, they look more beautiful, but the leaves get big and take away from the potential peppers. Anyways, I always trim my off towards the bottom and it has been good for me. Good luck!
StankBaitFishing
You will always get mixed opinions here. I let them go as is and then when it gets further along I let the bigger of the bushy bottoms live and pinch the smaller ones off. This gives me the “main” growth giving peppers early and the left overs catch up soon after.
TheRealBarryBurton
This is normal with certain peppers. I like to cut these low leaves off so the plant can focus its energy on its growing development
16 Comments
Personally, when a plant is producing lower shoots like this I just pinch them off. It should redirect growth upwards.
i don’t personally like it and i always pull anything touching the mulch, and when the plants get bigger i pull any leaves within 6 inches of the mulch. but that’s just my personal preference when it comes to the shape of the plant i want, which is like a little tree.
Depends on what stage. Mine often do it when transplanted, as I use a 50%compost mix and they spend a week or two bushing out, before it all shoots upwards. Just be sure to prune lower leaves as it grows, so there’s airflow below and leaves don’t touch the ground and end up rotting.
Pepper forums are funny in that some people will mumble about reduced airflow and tell you to thin it, while others will top their plants to force them to bush out like this.
I would personally be quite happy to have my plants fill out like this.
My habaneros are doing this and my jalapenos are not. I figured it was just how they grew and they look healthy so haven’t worried about it.
Depends on what variety they are. But most will benefit from clearing out the bottom leaves.
Not concerning at all! Each new stem is a new cluster of pods. Make sure to feed the plant. 🙂
Completely normal growth… all my plants grow like that and I leave them to grow how they want to and always get a huge harvest and end up freezing 70%
All of mine especially reapers and scorpions do this I just trim so the base has air and they’re fine.
Just let it go, if leaf starts turning brown pluck it. YouTube pepperguru on YouTube
Me personally I would just trim any sideshoots/suckers that grow inbetween the leaves and main stem so if focuses most of its energy on getting taller.
But no, everything looks fine, and btw, all you peo9ple who downvote people for pruning or say not to,.. Look just because your scared to and dont know how to do it, doesn’t mean its not beneficial, go to your local flower garden, every single plant there is pruned in some way, they dont have the healthiest plants for no reason. It doesn’t mean chop everything off the plant, you actually do very little clipping at all, you just try and direct the plants energy where you want it.
Try it sometime, you’d be surprised!!!!!!
Plant morphogenesis (shape) is influenced by a lot of things. And growers have their preferences based on their setup. But in this case, I recommend you pinch the lower leaves. Airflow will improve. But that’s less gain outside vs inside grows.
The reason you need to pinch those branches is because the lowest leaves will droop and touch the soil. Especially when wet / wtered. Their will be more susceptible to rot and disease because they will have issues drying up. But also an easy target for pests.
I think based on the compact growth, that they get plenty of blue skies. If you can shade them a bit, it could be beneficial for the shape of the plant (likely to push a bit more upwards. Once you reached a desirable height, you can top them and guide to to branch out more.
My bhut jolokia is doing this. seems to be somewhat common for chinense
I personally remove the ones that are touching the dirt and even a little above the bottom ones. All they do is take away the food and energy that would normally go to the top to produce buds. Then you would get more peppers/better harvest. It’s normal for peppers to do this. Sure, they look more beautiful, but the leaves get big and take away from the potential peppers. Anyways, I always trim my off towards the bottom and it has been good for me. Good luck!
You will always get mixed opinions here. I let them go as is and then when it gets further along I let the bigger of the bushy bottoms live and pinch the smaller ones off. This gives me the “main” growth giving peppers early and the left overs catch up soon after.
This is normal with certain peppers. I like to cut these low leaves off so the plant can focus its energy on its growing development