I've seen this debate pop up again and again, and in my experience, if you let early peppers ride, they stunt the plant. Some argue you should let it go and the plant will continue to grow.
These are the same exact cherry pepper I got from HD, I usually pinch early flowers until I have a decent canopy and around 12 inches of height before I let them go. This year I missed a flower and decided to go ahead and let it go and be diligent with the other plant until I got my canopy and height.
As you can see, it is about as tall as the other plant but almost no new leaves except the upper canopy, which is a little thicker than it was but obviously looks nothing like the other plant.
Been feeding 5-1-1 Alaska fish emulsion with both plants and started 1-5-5 once more flowers popped up
by zigaliciousone