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  • From: "William H Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT illinois.edu>
  • To: <thamnophis AT gmail.com>, "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Pruning peppers
  • Date: Fri, 20 May 2011 09:49:09 -0500

Few of the commercial growers I work with prune peppers. However there are
some who believe that taking out the first fruit set (one pepper usually) is
a good practice. The idea is that the energy that would have been invested
by the plant in the first pepper gets shifted to subsequent bloom and better
fruit set will occur in following flowers. It needs to be done quickly for
this to happen, but because it's the first, and only, flower in the crown of
the plant, it can be done with minimal effort. Often the first fruit on a
bell pepper or other large peppers will get caught up in the branches,
leading to distorted growth and an unmarketable fruit. If the first one is
removed the next set, usually 3, will set better and hang from the branches
much better, leading to a better first harvest.

I think this is something that should be evaluated carefully if attempted.
It may work well under some growing practices, soil types, climates, etc.,
but not so well in others. I suspect that those who use drip irrigation and
manage it well will have better results. Peppers generally do much better
with well-managed irrigation anyway, precisely because the plant needs
optimum water relations to set fruit, size them up well and continue growing
and producing flowers.

If anyone decides to try this out, I'd love to hear from you at the end of
this season to see what you think of the results. You could also make it
into a small experiment by setting aside 10-20 plants to prune, leaving the
rest alone. Or you could do it the other way around. Even better, set aside
3-4 sets of plants (10-20 per set) as pruned or unpruned to see how
consistent the results are. I know you have lots of things to do but I
suspect that if you use drip irrigation and grow bell peppers, you'll see
some interesting results. And peppers can be a high income crop.

Bill
William H. Shoemaker
Sr. Research Specialist, Food Crops
University of Illinois - Crop Sciences
St Charles Horticulture Research Center
535 Randall Road, St Charles, IL, 60174
630-584-7254, FAX-584-4610
wshoemak AT illinois.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Thamnophis
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 10:00 PM
To: Market Farming
Subject: [Market-farming] Pruning peppers

Can I get some feedback on people's pepper pruning practices? (Sorry
about the tongue twister!)

I've heard some say the first flush of blooms should be removed;
others pinch off the center growth to encourage branching.

I've never done either but wonder if I'm missing something.

Joe
Boone County, IA
5a
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