Can you bury pepper stems like tomatoes?

[lakelady]

I have a couple of Aji Amarillo peppers that got a bit leggy and fall over when I water (I desperately need to pot up). Can I bury more of the stems like you do with leggy tomatoes when potting up? I only have 2 so I don't want to kill them.

[dustdevil]

Yes you can, and they will grow many more roots along the newly buried area.

[ContainerTed]

I do it all the time. I also do tomatillos that way. The tomatillo trick was one that Brokenbar said she used. Something about putting seedlings into a two liter plastic bottle with the top cut away, and then adding more mix as they got taller.

[Boutique Tomatoes]

I like the soda bottle trick! I have a stack of the giant plastic soda cups from the movie theaters I save for the stuff that gets leggy no matter what I do, but the soda bottles would give me even more height to work with.

Some pepper varieties just seem prone to getting leggy. I have an 16 varieties in one tray right now with one variety (same species as everything else) that is twice as tall as all the rest. Under the same lights, same watering etc., just want to stretch.

[lakelady]

Oh good, glad to hear this. All my other peppers are looking great, and this is the very first time I have grown peppers from seed. I usually just get packs of starts at the garden center, so I'm pretty excited about it. Some peppers are short and squat, and those Aji's are just getting so tall compared to the others, but the stems are leggy and no leaves near the bottom so I thought burying them would be good.

I was lucky enough that a few TV members sent me some nice varieties and I also got a few in the big swap this year, and bought the Melrose peppers from Tania, those look fantastic! Yum yum, can't wait to eat these!

Soda bottle trick ...just the other day I was looking at one thinking the very same thing! good to know I wasn't going crazy.

[Got Worms?]

I just (1/2 hr. ago) did some Cayennes and Romanian Rainbows. Potted up from yogurt cups to cut down two liter soda bottles. I always put tomatoes, peppers and the like in deeper to stimulate opportunistic root growth. Whatever you can do to gain an edge.
Charlie

[janezee]

Originally Posted by lakelady

Soda bottle trick ...just the other day I was looking at one thinking the very same thing! good to know I wasn't going crazy.

My 'neighbors' at the recycling center think I'm crazy for looking through the bins for those large clear water bottles and pop bottles because no one I know drinks that stuff. Now I'll be taking smaller ones, too!

What we'll do for our veggies!

[Boutique Tomatoes]

Originally Posted by janezee

My 'neighbors' at the recycling center think I'm crazy for looking through the bins for those large clear water bottles and pop bottles because no one I know drinks that stuff. Now I'll be taking smaller ones, too!

What we'll do for our veggies!

The problem is storing all my gardening "stuff". We had a home organizer come in last year... "Why do you have 50 5 gallon buckets in the basement?", "Why do you have all these stacks of nursery pots in the garage"?

If I thought I could sneak them in to the attic or somewhere out of sight I was looking at some those 3 and 5 gallon plastic water cooler bottles at the recycling center recently, thinking with the bottoms cut off they'd be perfect for cloches...

[janezee]

hehehehehehe
Every time my landlord comes over, he looks around and shakes his head, and mutters, "I've released a crazy lady on my yard, and it will never look nice again." Then he tries to convince me that he'll take stuff to the dump for me. Then I have to explain what each thing is for, and promise it won't look junky when I'm through. I've already done so much in 2 years that I've got him more interested than afraid. (I think?)

I've brought home fence posts, fencing, lawn chairs, (really expensive ones that just needed a good cleaning-moss), a 4 section steel trellis with grape design, pots, lumber, vinyl flooring, and (compost holding) pallets. All for free. I have a master plan, I tell him!

[RebelRidin]

When I pot up seedlings I put them to the bottom of a drink cup leaving much of the cup empty with the seedling in the bottom, leaves just sticking out of the mix. Then as the plant grows I add more soil again to fill the cup.

[janezee]

That's how I'm doing it, too, George. It takes more time than the way Craig does it, but I want big roots more than tall stems.
I don't have to do nearly as many as he does, though. I'd never get through that number.

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by janezee

That's how I'm doing it, too, George. It takes more time than the way Craig does it, but I want big roots more than tall stems.
I don't have to do nearly as many as he does, though. I'd never get through that number.

This works well for me and I get a good root structure even though I (please cover the childrens ears or send them out of the room) don't bottom water.
I just don't have the setup or time for that.

[feldon30]

This is the first time I've ever heard that buried pepper stems will grow roots. Anyone tested this, or have any articles on the subject?

[mecktom]

I agree withfeldon30. It will not hurt anything to bury the pepper stem but peppers do not "put out" roots from their stems like tomatoes do.

[dustdevil]

Here is a video showing the new roots growing on a pepper buried deeper:

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