r/HotPeppers • u/paapsuave Zone 6a, Enthusiastic Noob • Oct 05 '24

Legit question: are my plants TOO big? Discussion

Have seen several posts like this one (https://www.reddit.com/r/HotPeppers/s/uuByKV8END) of a person bringing in their 4yr old plant that looks to be about 12"-18" tall.

All of my mature plants dwarf these sizes by a couple of feet and it makes me wonder if there are pros/cons of larger vs smaller pepper plants when we're talking about plant health and productivity.

All of my plants are healthy and producing. Just curious if I should change what I'm doing or keep growing monsters.

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u/_YellowThirteen_ CA, USA 9B Oct 05 '24

Keep going! Bigger plant = more potential for fruit.

I have a monster sugar rush stripey this year that I've harvested about 200 peppers from already, and there's about 100 more on the plant and even more flowers than that opening up... I'll be swimming in these things! I plan on potting it up again next year.

7

u/MSDK_DARKDRAGON Oct 05 '24

Tell me your secrets

11

u/_YellowThirteen_ CA, USA 9B Oct 05 '24

Overwintering, sub-irrigation, and aggressive fertilization.

Looks like you've got sub-irrigation down, just need the rest ;)

1

u/MSDK_DARKDRAGON Oct 05 '24

Nah I just put my plants in a bit bigger pot without holes to water regularly, no real sub-irrigation system. I planned to overwinter few plants but I wait for more fruits ripening (btw. is cutting less down better for bigger plants?)

2

u/_YellowThirteen_ CA, USA 9B Oct 05 '24

Oops, thought you were OP. look's like OP has the SI system in place. I cut down to just sbove where the first major fork is in the stem. For me, about 1ft or so above the soil typically.

2

u/paapsuave Zone 6a, Enthusiastic Noob Oct 05 '24

Awesome! This is what I figured but wasn't sure after seeing so many smaller plants in this group.

1

u/ROD3RLUD3 Oct 05 '24

What do you mean in "Potting it up again"? I'm not familiar with that

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u/_YellowThirteen_ CA, USA 9B Oct 05 '24

It means putting it in a bigger pot. Usually done so a plant can have a larger root structure that can then absorb more nutrients and hold more water.

1

u/ROD3RLUD3 Oct 05 '24

Oh okay, so your Sugar Rush is not in the final pot? What if the plant is already in the final pot (like OP plant)?

2

u/_YellowThirteen_ CA, USA 9B Oct 05 '24

I mean it's in the final pot for this season. It's maybe a ~10 gallon pot, but next year I'm putting it in a bigger one. No pot is necessarily final, you can take plants out and move them around if you're careful.