Have seen several posts like this one (https://www.reddit.com/r/HotPeppers/s/uuByKV8END) of a person bringing in their 4yr old plant that looks to be about 12"-18" tall.
All of my mature plants dwarf these sizes by a couple of feet and it makes me wonder if there are pros/cons of larger vs smaller pepper plants when we're talking about plant health and productivity.
All of my plants are healthy and producing. Just curious if I should change what I'm doing or keep growing monsters.
by paapsuave
20 Comments
Nah. It’s mostly going to depend on your specific climate, sun, soil, and nutrients you give. For reference most of my mature plants are like 5ft tall with thick bushy branches after being outside about 5.5 months now (none were overwintered). Only my hab and thai hot created a smaller bushy shape instead of up and out.
Over a few years you’ll notice trends of how they grow/produce depending on the pot size, location, fertilizers, etc.
What system are you using there for growing your plants? They look so healthy and happy! This is my first year growing and I’m doing it on 5gallon buckets but I manually water them as soon as it’s dried up.
Check my profile if you’re worried about your plants getting too big 😂
The plant you linked was actually cut down over the years for overwintering. You can see the older pruned branches if you zoom in. Yours are a decent size or small compared to a lot of others ive seen.
It all depends on how much of a harvest you want in the end
Yes, you’re making us look bad
No, they’re not too big. They’re looking pretty awesome, actually!
The plant you used for comparison is an established specimen in the process of being overwintered. It is not actively growing the same way your plants are. The text there says it was brought inside because of a 4°C low temp, so it’s been intentionally cut back and is basically in a state of semi-dormancy from the cold.
Because it-s an older plant that’s been through this before, there’s a nice, big, thick trunk supporting it, and a well-established root system in that grow bag that’s just itching to explode with longer arms, foliage, and fruit in the spring, at which point it’ll look a lot more like yours do in these photos.
Don’t worry. You’re not doing anything wrong by growing them this large! The bigger the better, IMO!
Keep going! Bigger plant = more potential for fruit.
I have a monster sugar rush stripey this year that I’ve harvested about 200 peppers from already, and there’s about 100 more on the plant and even more flowers than that opening up… I’ll be swimming in these things! I plan on potting it up again next year.
When she said size doesn’t matter, she was lying.
I wish I could get my plants that big. Mine tend to die 😭
‘Size doesn’t matter’ someone, somewhere
https://preview.redd.it/xk5qaszp4zsd1.jpeg?width=2201&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2289433ef9710ba6d659f583a17102623e1e14d6
Is that 5’7″ 🤔
Sorry, too big, won’t fit.
Plants grows depending on the pot size (depending on the species), you are growing them in a 5-gallon bucket and the post you showed has less capacity, so it’s normal to have bigger plants and no, it’s not problematic, you can see[ this one being gigantic](https://www.reddit.com/r/HotPeppers/comments/1fqec8r/its_not_over_yet/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) in a bigger container or [this one in a can](https://www.reddit.com/r/HotPeppers/comments/1dmwwjy/starting_to_get_fruit_on_my_twisted_peppers_in_a/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) that is just small. And well… productivity does have to do with the size of the plant, but plant health and productivity depends in a lot of other factors like weather and nutrients.
Also, personal note: I love your SIP containers! I want to do it too but it’s expensive for me, they look great!
They don’t need all those leaves
No such thing my friend.
Nope, I have poblanos that are over 6’ tall. Just have to stake them up really well or they’ll fall when getting heavy with fruit.
No such thing as a plant being to big… my pepper plants are all bushes… and my pot plant is a tree
Nah, I got pepper plants in 25 gal air pots that provide me with steady peppers almost year round since I live in 9b. Keep growing and over winterize if you need to do you don’t have to keep starting over every year.
Subjective AF dude lol
If you’re not having any space issues and they’re healthy then there isn’t a “too big”…
I made the mistake of letting mine get that big last year. Our growing season in NZ’s South Island is too short and I got very few good sized peppers.
If your season is long and warm, let ‘em grow!!