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.
70 Upvotes
2
u/Washedurhairlately Oct 06 '24
https://preview.redd.it/6is10qnc25td1.png?width=2217&format=png&auto=webp&s=d2e0b73ea63efabf78d9db92c5d3d8ada478f3df
This Chef Jeff’s “Reaper?” is about 5 ft tall x 7 ft wide and has at least 100 pods scattered throughout with more popping up every morning. Two years ago a similar sized plant produced hundreds of “reapers?”Unseasonably hot & dry weather all Spring/Summer impaired pod production until recently, so I’ll likely be making sauce with green pods by the time the cold weather gets here. I’m going to save this one, though, and try to overwinter it and get a jump on next year’s pepper season.