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Stopping pepper plants

Having just 'stopped' my tomatoes I was wondering about peppers. I have never grown peppers before and was wondering, am I supposed to only have so many 'trusses' ( if so how many?) and also, should I be doing any pinching out and stopping? image  thanks

Posts

  • MeomyeMeomye Posts: 949

    Sorry, I neglected to mention I have them in pots in the conservatory which yesterday reached up to a  temperature of 100degrees, so do I also have to spray them to keep them to keep them cool? image

  • LoganLogan Posts: 2,532
    Usually you would pinch the leading shoot so they will bush out, but I haven't done that this year because it will take longer to flower. No you don't have to spray them.You don't have to restrict the flowering but you will have to pollinate them with a little brush.
  • DorcasDorcas Posts: 159

    Just to be different, I've always grown mine in pots in the greenhouse.  I don't do anything with them apart from spray them with a fine mist once or twice a day.  I've never pollinated them with a brush or anything else.  If there are too many flowers on a cluster, I might rub a few out but usually, they sort themselves out and the weaker ones drop off.  They get properly watered once a day, fed once a week with Tomorite when the flowers arrive and other than that, I let Mother Nature do the rest.  Always get a good crop.

  • MeomyeMeomye Posts: 949

    Could you elaborate on 'pollinating with a brush' and 'rubbing' them out please?

  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    Chillies, like tomatoes, are self-pollinating. Their flowers contain both male and female bits and pollen so pollen doesn't need to be transferred between flowers. The internal transfer of pollen within the flower can happen naturally. Grown outdoors, the flowers moving in the breeze can trigger the transfer, insects fossicking in the flowers can help the process, you can give the flowers a flick with your fingers, or poke them gently with a wee paint brush.

    Grown indoors, there's no breeze and there are fewer insects, so manual assistance is needed more often.

    A friend of mine used to use an electric toothbrush. image

  • DorcasDorcas Posts: 159

    Hi Meomye - The term 'rubbing out' just means that where you have 2 or 3 small peppers in a cluster, you pinch off the smallest ones using your finger and thumb to just leave 1 strong pepper to develop.  If you don't do that none of the peppers will have room to develop and often, they'll all drop off naturally.

    Pollinating with a brush means you get a soft brush (say from a child's paint box) and gently brush the middle of one flower to get some pollen and then transfer this to another flower elsewhere on the plant.  It takes the place of bees or flies that go from plant to plant.  If your plants have access to fresh air, then any passing bee or fly will pollinate the plants for you.  As I mentioned, I have never used the brush method for peppers.  Hope this helps.

  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    Dorcas, you don't need to transfer pollen between the flowers. They're self-pollinating. Just give the flowers a bit of a jolt to trigger the internal pollination process.

  • DorcasDorcas Posts: 159

    Thanks Italophile but actually I don't transfer pollen with my peppers, I was just replying to Meomye's question as to what pollinating with a brush meantimage  Personally, I don't even 'tap' the flowers on my peppers I just let nature sort itself out because as you rightly say, peppers are self pollinating.

  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    Okay, sorry. Misunderstood. I leave them to their own devices too. Sometimes tomatoes can be a bit more reluctant, especially heirlooms, I give flowers a flick in passing from time to time.

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