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31 Comments
Very helpful to know for here in Minnesota.
It was really hard to top our pepper plants last year and for the first time. The plants slowed but did bush out more eventually. Production came in later and after I was getting tomatoes. No salsa til later! I might do a mix and not top off all of them to lengthen the time of harvest. We are in NE Indiana, zone 5b/6a.
I'm in 5b south of Chicago. I only grow pepperoncini and bell peppers. I dont top them. The pepperoncini bush out on their own and produce enough for my family. The bell peppers I grow send out enough suckers that they bush out as well. I wish I could tell you the variety. But I get the seeds from bell peppers I buy at Aldi in the winter, so they are basically free. I get nice sized bell peppers in 3 different colors, so I am happy even if I dont know exactly what variety they are.
This was very informative. I always had my reservations about topping all peppers. But, I didn't have enough evidence to support my reservations. Except I did my own experiments.
The frost topped my pepper plants lol but they are coming back with a vengeance
I had a pretty leggy little jalapeno plant (central NC zone 7b) in early mid-April in a pot on my patio. I topped it and it absolutely exploded with bushy growth and flowers almost overnight. It is producing like mad.
Luke i have YOUR migardner bell pepper (2 varieties). My 16 plants all have more than 5 peppers and its mid june. Im in zone 7b. Dont sell your seeds short brother. Say "box store seeds might give u 3 to 5 but mine dont need topping b.c they are better"
Thank you for your sacrifice, I wanted to know the specifics of topping pepper plants. 👍
Started my plants early from seed i think i will try it on just a few. Hope i can see a difference… Michigan gardener also! Thank you, i have learned much from you!
Thanks Luke. So helpful!
Thank you for sharing this info
Dude got a farmers tan
I think topping my hot peppers this year was a mistake
I’ve had mixed results topping peppers. It’s tough to set the plant so far back.
A deer involuntarily topped my super Hots this year. Guess we will see how it goes.
Well this year I had 2 jalapenos "naturally" topped. We had a vole sneak into our greenhouse and left a 1 inch nub 🙁 and tried to pull the rest of the plant through the opening it came through (to keep for later I suppose). The next day, we found a second pepper that had been topped off but we still had 4 or 5 inches left. We decided to feed the "Nub" and replanted the taller one in a pot. Both plants are regrowing but I doubt they'll produce much…. especially considering I'm in zone 3! LOL
NV it was 97 f 2 nights ago last night 87 f and it poured today clear and going to be 93 f.
Dam weather backlash sucks more plants Less smog please.
I never top my bells and easily get 10-15+ peppers per plant. I just pick flowers off for the first 2-3 weeks to prioritize more leafy growth before allowing it to set fruit
Is there a point where a pepper plant has grown too tall to top?
Central Alberta here. Short season, long days of daylight (17 hours today). My outdoor peppers wouldn't have time to recover from topping. Also, they hate wind so I'm surprised yours are so unsheltered. I have them in 3-4 gallon pots (some are 2 per pot), staked and against a south facing wall. I picked all May flowers so now in mid-June they are big and bushy and doing great.
If we are in michigan and have a large variety (orange sun), should we still not top it? Thank you!
I live in the mountains in NM, I am new to gardening, and have been topping my peppers like everyone on YouTube says to. I have never had a good yield from them. Now I know why. I don’t have a long enough season. Thank you for this information. I hope I remember it next year 😂
I didn't know anything about topping peppers and I have a guarando pepper plant that's about 3 years old and is sending so much fruit I can't harvest it quick enough, probably on my 4th yield and it's not showing any signs of slowing down, also no matter how much I seem to neglect it, it just won't die 😂 but I'm gonna top it off and see what happens, thanks Luke 👍
What about topping near the end of the season? Would that cause the plant to put all its energy into ripening fruit?
I’m going to go do that right now! I’m in 7b and have never known that.
Here in Oklahoma with our longer season I top my pepper plants after I have three large peppers developed. It works here in Oklahoma
Thanks for that explanation! I hear so many people talk about it, but I've been hesitant. Our season is pretty short and some years isn't even 100 days. I do start mine inside but it's more like in late February/early March. I might try with some and see how it goes.
I live south of you in Michigan and would be interested to see the topped pepper and what it produces.
I have topped before but was never sure if it was worth it.This year I have decided to let them just grow without topping.
I went with all varieties of small peppers this year, garden salsa, banana, orange you sweet, serrano, and I’m so glad I did. I’ve gotten more peppers from the little ones in June than all year with the big ones! And only the Serrano peppers are spicy at all. No more BELL peppers for me. Small is my choice moving forward.
I didn’t know about topping a pepper plant. Thanks for teaching this. I may get more peppers as a result.