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.

6

u/MSDK_DARKDRAGON Oct 05 '24

Tell me your secrets

10

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.