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  • From: "William H Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT illinois.edu>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Pruning peppers
  • Date: Fri, 20 May 2011 10:25:55 -0500

Your observations are similar to mine.

I really think managing peppers is a good example of how growers are
managing energy relations in the plant whether they are ware of it or not.
As the plant accumulates energy through photosynthesis it allocates it
according to demand within the plant. Fruit are the highest demanding
tissues (reproduction; go figure!). So when you have fruit on transplants
they have precious little energy left over for growing structural tissues. I
think there is a high correlation between the plants ability to
photosynthesize and access water, and its ability to carry a crop. The water
is such an important element of structure, physiology, etc., that optimum
access to water facilitates optimization of all other growth, including
reproduction.

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 Road's End
Farm
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2011 10:06 AM
To: Market Farming
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Pruning peppers


On May 20, 2011, at 10:49 AM, William H Shoemaker wrote:

> there are some who believe that taking out the first fruit set (one
> pepper usually) is a good practice.

Sometimes, in years when planting has been delayed, I'll find pepper
plants with a fruit or two already set at transplanting.

I take those off. because I've found that if I leave them on, I wind
up with a very small plant trying to ripen that one (or so) pepper;
and the plant will neither grow properly, nor set more fruit, until I
get that pepper off it. -- The very small fruited hot peppers seem to
be an exception to this; probably because their fruit is so small. The
larger fruited hot peppers I also remove any fruit from at planting.

I haven't tried thinning fruit set after transplanting. With the
erratic weather we've been having lately, I'd be concerned that, if I
removed the first set, we might then have a stretch of hot weather
preventing additional set until considerably later in the season. I
do, however, selectively remove fruit when I start harvesting green
sweet peppers; trying to thin the fruit from each plant, and to remove
anything that's set jammed in the middle of the plant.


-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale



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