Father plucked all of the bottom leaves of my carolina reaper
My father plucked all the lower leaves of my carolina reaper, including the new shoots. Will anything happen to my plant? Has its growth been affected?”
by Comprehensive-Menu40
31 Comments
dr_nerdface
dick move, but it should be ok. just keep it healthy.
That-Gardener-Guy
I would say that’s the right move. Help force energy to new growth. You don’t want it producing peppers so soon. Let it get bigger and stronger first.
BuyingDaily
It should promote growth and produce more peppers, nothing to worry about.
mzrsq
And honestly, that plant looks better now. I know it’s hard to do but it’s always a good idea to sacrifice those first blooms for the sake of plant growth.
W-h3x
Removing the lower leaves, helps with air flow, and keeps the bottoms from touching wet soil. This can help prevent disease & leaf rot.
I do the same thing with all my plants & they’re fine. It also encourages vertical growth.
XPurpPupil
Honestly mightve done you a favor. Leaves touching the soil is a big no-no. Promotes bad airflow, diseases, and easy pickings for pest. Definitely went overkill tho you never wanna remove that much foliage at once. Plus it’s not even his plant this is like him stealing ur son and giving him a bad haircut lol. Thankfully it’ll grow back!
Old-Version-9241
It’ll be fine. I have a hot wax that I wasn’t going to plant because it looked worse than this. Out of my 65 plants of different varieties it’s one of my best plants.
lolheyaj
Thank him, your plant will. He knows what he’s doing.
Edit: ok, instead of making a post and downvoting people telling you he did right, maybe ask your pops next time why he did it so he can teach you gardening.
ToBePacific
Thank him for properly pruning your plant.
azrieldr
lower leaves can be a medium for disease transfer. they regularly touch the ground and get water splash which can allow bacteria and fungus to move to the plant body. they also inhibit air movement, leaving the base of the stem moist and allowing fungus to proliferate. that said only prune them conservatively because too much can reduce plants capacity to produce energy
MC_Red_D
Don’t feel bad. The aphids did that on mine
Sativa_stoner_222
I do this to all my pepper plants so the leaves grow at the top instead and create a canopy for when the peppers start to grow
WirelessCum
In a week you should see much more lush growth where you actually want it. First few bottom shoots typically don’t produce much and get outcompeted by higher branches. Particularly reaper which I have found grows lots of side shoots.
PiercedAutist
You’ve got a helpful father!
Pruning lower leaves that touch the soil line is good practice to prevent pests, disease, and fungus, and removing inner leaves that shade the stems allows both airflow and light to reach the internode sites to stimulate new branching.
You will have a healthier plant for it. It’ll not only catch up to its former glory, but it’ll surpass it in short order.
EitherTangerine
If it had enough energy to put those leaves out at the bottom it’ll do the same at the top, needs more direct sunlight though
Last_Owl3457
While he definitly should have asked you first, what he did was pretty useful for the reasons everyone else has mentioned. While it was a smart move, I get pretty territorial about my peppers, so let him know to ask your permission first and teach you why as he’s doing it instead of just doing it.
Verix19
You should remove lower leaves and limbs!
TallantedGuy
I will be doing this to my pepper plants! Thank you for sharing
PsychotropicPanda
Man, I always take my bottom big leaves off once the roots are established.
If you notice, the plant usually separates into a few notes and starts to split off. I will remove all the leaves untill the split , and then let it grow from there, giving it a tree trunk resilience.
Reapers, and ghosts, and similar are usually pretty strong with defoliation, and bounce right back.
You will see some small node growths eventually where he pruned them maybe, you can pick off or let grow.
I will cut my plants down to nothing. Absolutely nothing. No leaves, no nothing. I will cut all the branches off, and the football all the way down to a baseball size. Usually about 10 inches of stock and a few inches of the split nodes.
Replant in good drainage soil , overwinter . It will eventually grow tiny leaves slowly over winter indoors, and then replant outdoors in spring.
Yay peppers.
Now hydroponic peppers, are completely different than container plants gagah
jhallen2260
I get that yes annoying since it’s yours and not his, but he did what is recommended. Might just say to him thank you, and ask to learn why he did that
attnSPAN
@comprehensive-menu40 if you have fertilizer, hit it hard this will fuel the plant with everything that needs to do some explosive growth in the coming week.
stress->feed->GROWTH
New-Marsupial-5633
He was a good boi.
First_Stock2214
Instead of bitching online thank him for doing the correct thing.
Breath_Deep
We do this all the time with cannabis and it works pretty well.
Leading_Impress_350
Your Dad has knowledge! Learn from him!
Cold_turkey_24
Of course it’s growth has been affected. I hate it when people touch my plants without my permission. Pinching off the lower shoots is like the opposite of topping. Most people want their peppers to be bushy so I’d be pretty upset about the whole thing. Regardless the plant will still be fine and produce it will just grow tall like a tree instead of bushy like a typical chinense plant should be
fishlore123
Rude
Cold_turkey_24
You folks just don’t have any common sense that’s pretty clear. Plants make leaves for a reason. Leaves are required for photosynthesis. Cutting off half of a plants leaves is not doing it a favor. You’ve just cut its ability to photosynthesize in half that’s all you’ve done so it’s gonna do nothing but steal energy from the plant and slow growth. This should be basic knowledge of plants by now but I guess not. What it comes down to is if you want peppers as soon as possible (which I’m assuming is OP’s goal) then it should be left alone.
Individual-Iron-3045
Looks way better with the haircut imo
Born_Nerve_8870
Did you remember to thank him? You prune the bottom to keep it from creating humid zone down there that can cause rot. Hell, if I get an early enough start indoors I top a few times too.
31 Comments
dick move, but it should be ok. just keep it healthy.
I would say that’s the right move. Help force energy to new growth. You don’t want it producing peppers so soon. Let it get bigger and stronger first.
It should promote growth and produce more peppers, nothing to worry about.
And honestly, that plant looks better now. I know it’s hard to do but it’s always a good idea to sacrifice those first blooms for the sake of plant growth.
Removing the lower leaves, helps with air flow, and keeps the bottoms from touching wet soil. This can help prevent disease & leaf rot.
I do the same thing with all my plants & they’re fine.
It also encourages vertical growth.
Honestly mightve done you a favor. Leaves touching the soil is a big no-no. Promotes bad airflow, diseases, and easy pickings for pest. Definitely went overkill tho you never wanna remove that much foliage at once. Plus it’s not even his plant this is like him stealing ur son and giving him a bad haircut lol. Thankfully it’ll grow back!
It’ll be fine. I have a hot wax that I wasn’t going to plant because it looked worse than this. Out of my 65 plants of different varieties it’s one of my best plants.
Thank him, your plant will. He knows what he’s doing.
Edit: ok, instead of making a post and downvoting people telling you he did right, maybe ask your pops next time why he did it so he can teach you gardening.
Thank him for properly pruning your plant.
lower leaves can be a medium for disease transfer. they regularly touch the ground and get water splash which can allow bacteria and fungus to move to the plant body. they also inhibit air movement, leaving the base of the stem moist and allowing fungus to proliferate. that said only prune them conservatively because too much can reduce plants capacity to produce energy
Don’t feel bad. The aphids did that on mine
I do this to all my pepper plants so the leaves grow at the top instead and create a canopy for when the peppers start to grow
In a week you should see much more lush growth where you actually want it. First few bottom shoots typically don’t produce much and get outcompeted by higher branches. Particularly reaper which I have found grows lots of side shoots.
You’ve got a helpful father!
Pruning lower leaves that touch the soil line is good practice to prevent pests, disease, and fungus, and removing inner leaves that shade the stems allows both airflow and light to reach the internode sites to stimulate new branching.
You will have a healthier plant for it. It’ll not only catch up to its former glory, but it’ll surpass it in short order.
If it had enough energy to put those leaves out at the bottom it’ll do the same at the top, needs more direct sunlight though
While he definitly should have asked you first, what he did was pretty useful for the reasons everyone else has mentioned. While it was a smart move, I get pretty territorial about my peppers, so let him know to ask your permission first and teach you why as he’s doing it instead of just doing it.
You should remove lower leaves and limbs!
I will be doing this to my pepper plants! Thank you for sharing
Man, I always take my bottom big leaves off once the roots are established.
If you notice, the plant usually separates into a few notes and starts to split off. I will remove all the leaves untill the split , and then let it grow from there, giving it a tree trunk resilience.
Reapers, and ghosts, and similar are usually pretty strong with defoliation, and bounce right back.
You will see some small node growths eventually where he pruned them maybe, you can pick off or let grow.
I will cut my plants down to nothing. Absolutely nothing. No leaves, no nothing. I will cut all the branches off, and the football all the way down to a baseball size. Usually about 10 inches of stock and a few inches of the split nodes.
Replant in good drainage soil , overwinter . It will eventually grow tiny leaves slowly over winter indoors, and then replant outdoors in spring.
Yay peppers.
Now hydroponic peppers, are completely different than container plants gagah
I get that yes annoying since it’s yours and not his, but he did what is recommended. Might just say to him thank you, and ask to learn why he did that
@comprehensive-menu40 if you have fertilizer, hit it hard this will fuel the plant with everything that needs to do some explosive growth in the coming week.
stress->feed->GROWTH
He was a good boi.
Instead of bitching online thank him for doing the correct thing.
We do this all the time with cannabis and it works pretty well.
Your Dad has knowledge! Learn from him!
Of course it’s growth has been affected. I hate it when people touch my plants without my permission. Pinching off the lower shoots is like the opposite of topping. Most people want their peppers to be bushy so I’d be pretty upset about the whole thing. Regardless the plant will still be fine and produce it will just grow tall like a tree instead of bushy like a typical chinense plant should be
Rude
You folks just don’t have any common sense that’s pretty clear. Plants make leaves for a reason. Leaves are required for photosynthesis. Cutting off half of a plants leaves is not doing it a favor. You’ve just cut its ability to photosynthesize in half that’s all you’ve done so it’s gonna do nothing but steal energy from the plant and slow growth. This should be basic knowledge of plants by now but I guess not. What it comes down to is if you want peppers as soon as possible (which I’m assuming is OP’s goal) then it should be left alone.
Looks way better with the haircut imo
Did you remember to thank him? You prune the bottom to keep it from creating humid zone down there that can cause rot. Hell, if I get an early enough start indoors I top a few times too.
This you!
https://www.reddit.com/r/PepperLovers/s/MyZ4o1zBi6