2015 Pepper Topping

jmsieglaff · December 23, 2014

Last year I grew a pepper seed from a store bought pepper that I threw into some potting mix around Christmas. I ended up using that plant as an experiment--I topped it after 3 sets of true leaves and let it get bushy before eventually planting it in a pot on our deck. The plant ended up producing about 25-30 delicious orange bell peppers--definitely the most production I've had from a bell pepper plant.

So fast forward to 2015, I'm going to start my peppers very early so I can top them in a similar manner. After germination of my seedlings, I grow them under lights in the basement which is quite cool (~60F) so the growth is slow. It took maybe ~4 weeks for the side shoots in the topped pepper to develop leaves last year. The plants eventually move out to a cold frame for 2-3 weeks before they are planted in the ground.

My last frost date is ~May 5 and I usually plant peppers out May 15-25, depending on the year. So this year I'm starting the hot peppers on Jan 15 and the sweet peppers on Feb 1. I'm convinced the early start and topping is worthwhile, the starting dates are approximations that I will likely need to adjust in subsequent years, based on growth rates with my setup.

Anyone start peppers quite early, then top them before eventually planting out in the garden?

December 23, 2014	#1
jmsieglaff Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Southern WI Posts: 2,742	2015 Pepper Topping Last year I grew a pepper seed from a store bought pepper that I threw into some potting mix around Christmas. I ended up using that plant as an experiment--I topped it after 3 sets of true leaves and let it get bushy before eventually planting it in a pot on our deck. The plant ended up producing about 25-30 delicious orange bell peppers--definitely the most production I've had from a bell pepper plant. So fast forward to 2015, I'm going to start my peppers very early so I can top them in a similar manner. After germination of my seedlings, I grow them under lights in the basement which is quite cool (~60F) so the growth is slow. It took maybe ~4 weeks for the side shoots in the topped pepper to develop leaves last year. The plants eventually move out to a cold frame for 2-3 weeks before they are planted in the ground. My last frost date is ~May 5 and I usually plant peppers out May 15-25, depending on the year. So this year I'm starting the hot peppers on Jan 15 and the sweet peppers on Feb 1. I'm convinced the early start and topping is worthwhile, the starting dates are approximations that I will likely need to adjust in subsequent years, based on growth rates with my setup. Anyone start peppers quite early, then top them before eventually planting out in the garden?