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IndyGerdener
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Praxxus Pepper Pruning Started

For those of you who don't know Praxxus on youtube, he is a real down to earth simple gardener with videos on how to do everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiO8xrYQeys

One of his series focuses on his peppers and how he prunes them to be balances and self supporting no matter how many peppers are on the plant. He ends up with a trinidad pepper plant that is like 4' tall and 3.5' in diameter. (I think he has pruned it to the shape of a tree now) Any way I have started this method on my ghost pepper and jalapeno plants. It seems to be working well.

That do you think?

Here is the Ghost pepper plant with the side shoots

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This is a Jalapeno where you can see the side shoots turning into full new branches
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Here was the day of the scalping... See the pile of clipped pepper plants?

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applestar
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You might be interested in this link which was posted here a couple of years ago -- when did I post in the Winter Pepper Torture thread? This was what convinced me that it would be possible to overwinter pepper plants. 8)

https://www.fatalii.net/growing/index.ph ... Itemid=105

Keep us updated with your progress. :D

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cedillamuerta
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I love Praxxus' videos and his pepper pruning method looks awesome. I'm going to prune some of my peppers in the same manner as soon as they get tall enough. Then I'll compare them to the unpruned individuals and see if it worked out better. I hope to end up with a couple of pepper "trees" in the backyard. I wonder if this method will work on bells, though. He does all of his videos on smaller and lighter peppers.

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applestar
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But blooming and fruiting may be delayed after severe pruning.

I think timing might be critical. May not be an issue if you have long growing season, Also not as much of an issue if you are treating them as perennials indoors or out.

I'm almost ready to resurrect my overwintered dormant peppers, and they will be pruned to near sticks. :twisted:

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rainbowgardener
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Yeah, I guess I said that in a different thread. But it seems to me this only makes sense if you are growing peppers as perennials, planning to over-winter. If you are just growing it for a season, it seems like you slowed down fruiting a lot and peppers are slow enough!

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IndyGerdener
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Normally I pick all flowers as soon as they start to bloom until the plant is big enough to support the peppers, and usually that takes a couple months, in that amount of time this method is shaping up to produce bigger plants in the same time

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applestar
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I hope everyone who tries this will post pictures with details like when seeds sprouted, when they were pruned, when planted out, when bloomed and fruited, etc. with lots of photos. 8) :wink:

Can they post here with you, Indy?

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IndyGerdener
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Absolutely!!!

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IndyGerdener
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Here is an update on the new growth of my ghost peppers!!!

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estorms
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I have a lot of pepper starts so I am going to try pruning some of them. If I get peppers before the plant can support them I pick them off and eat them, even if they are a little small. No problem. I would like to have peppers earlier.

Northernfox
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Do you think it would work on bell pepper plants?

I am going to do it to all of my hot pepper plants here shortly :) see if I can't get them to bush like on his vid :)

Northernfox
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Too late. I took the plunge and did it :). We shall see how they do !!!

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IndyGerdener
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Update to mine!! NF you will not regret it!! I have been pulling flowers off already after the first cut on my jalapeno peppers

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Every pepper plant in this picture has it done to them

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IndyGerdener
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Update to mine!! NF you will not regret it!! I have been pulling flowers off already after the first cut on my jalapeno peppers

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Every pepper plant in this picture has it done to them

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Northernfox
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My goodness !!! I am glad :)

Indy id love to trade to have the variety you have :).

Do you have a vid on how you built your set up. Inside and out ?

Northernfox
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How are the major league peppers

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IndyGerdener
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Just planted them on the 4th.. No seedlings yet as you can expect. I ran out of room when I couldnt use my greenhouse. I was on hold for planting personal plants. I have up pots ordered too so no room and no pots shouldnt be a problem!! How about your scotch bonnets? Did I send you banana peppers too

Northernfox
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Unfortunately due to my short season I have to wait for next years garden to plant :)

Northernfox
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Nope no banana pepper seeds that I know of :)

Next year ill have to trade ya for them :) I bet you will like some of the varieties I picked up this year.

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IndyGerdener
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Ghost pepper update

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Northernfox
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Looking good :) mine got it a week ago. I hope I see the same success :)

estorms
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I'm going to prune a couple of Bell Peppers today. Nothing like getting your head cut off on tax day!. I have lots so I can afford to experiment. Today I put my little plants out for the first time. They are on the front porch so they won't get any wind.

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IndyGerdener
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I have not hacked my bells yet, Not tall enough yet. But my ghost, trinidads, scotch bonnets, cayenne, and jalapenos all responded per the script!! AWESOME RESULTS!!!

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applestar
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Why do you have to wait until "tall enough to hack"?
Can't you just pinch the growing tips?

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IndyGerdener
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I have not done much experimenting, but I have seen a bigger reaction after the plant is 6"-12" tall. The side leaves start to grow right before I cut the plant back. I also have been cutting more than just the growing tip.

I wait until the plant is 8" ish and cut it down to 1" above the 4th leaf from the bottom. I know there are others that cut all the leaves off, but My plants grow well with 4 full sized leaves left on. I am concerned that cutting the plant to early can stunt it's growth. as well as I like the center stalks to be as bulky as possible.

My plants are back to around 12" tall and are flowering like crazy. I have been trying to keep up and keep picking the flowers so the plants can just get bigger and therefore produce more pods later in the year!!

Fourspot
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This looks interesting, but You probably need to plan way ahead and start your seeds 12+ weeks ahead of the last frost. Are you guys keeping the plants in a container or into the ground? I'm doing square foot gardening, so I'm guessing this probably doesn't make sense for me. I would love to try it and see if there is a difference.

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IndyGerdener
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I will be doing both in ground and in a 5 gal bucket!!

And I started these plants 01/30/13

Northernfox
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Four spot you can use it in square foot method you just need to give it room and plan for the shade :)

They generally don't put roots past 12" around the base of the plant. They just go deep :)

Ill be putting my large plants in pots this year :)

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Cola82
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I've been planning to try this with a couple of my bell peppers but they're like... maybe 4" tall and already putting out flower buds. Do you think I could try snipping right under the buds maybe?

Northernfox
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It might work but you might want to just snip the flower once bloomed and then let the plant get larger. If it is not producing fruit it will likely make more greenery :) then you can snip her

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Cola82
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Cool, I'll do that, then. :D

Northernfox
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Keep us updated :)

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IndyGerdener
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I count 4 leaves from the bottom of the main branch I am trimming. Wherever that may land is where I cut. This gives the plant 4 locations to start the 2 new main branches.

The branches start in the leaf arm pit. so the more you have the more spots to grow. Just remember you are topping the plant to make it more stable and bushier, So cutting it to high will not lower the center of gravity as much.

There is another local guy by me that cuts his plants down to just the main stalk, and removes all leaves. Yes he lost some plants, but a small %, and the ones that survived are AMAZING!!

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gixxerific
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I would like to (if I remember :P ) to try this this year with some side by side comparisons. I am generally not much of a trimmer other than crowd control and maybe acces through the jungle. :wink: Just watched the video again not sure if I will be able to cut that much off at a time, it just seems cruel. :mrgreen:

Northernfox
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They are doing Great my friend! I am just about ready to do it a third time ;) they look sad when you do it at first but they get better in about a week! I am super excited to see how well they do!

Ill post some pictures when I get home :D

Northernfox
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I am silly lol. I have not posted my first pruning video yet lol. Regardless they are just about ready for prun 3 and doing super well. I have been giving them a bit too much nitrogen as they have dark and kind of curled leafs but that won't matter much :)

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ReptileAddiction
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This reminded me to try that pruning method this year so I planted some California Bells to try it on. It might be a bit early but I know they need extra time when pruning them like this and even though they are out in the greenhouse it might still be a little cold. Though the cayenne is blooming so maybe not.

Northernfox
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It is definitely time to prying when they hit 8 inches or try to flower and you can cut it down to the last two true leafs.

I started my peppers for this project in September :)

I will start the rest of mine when I get the rest of the seeds in !

Keep us up to date !

Northernfox
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So I took some pictures :)

Here they are in November after first pruning.

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And tonight just about ready for the third cut!

Here is the bush
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And the framework under neath :) when I have some time I will clean it up down there :) help my pepper bush go out instead of in. I had to remove the flowers as the plant was not tall enough for pruning and flowers were coming out of everywhere

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Cola82
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OKAY, I am for sure going to do it this year. Last year I was too worried that my peppers weren't tall enough but after they were outside they exploded upward and got very top-heavy. Not this year!

Love the progress shots, NorthernFox. Very encouraging. :D



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