Greengirls » Blog Archive » Trapped between a branch… and another branch

Trapped between a branch… and another branch

Posted on August 9th, 2007 – 9:45 AM
By Jaime Chismar

Greengirl note to self:

Next time you grow peppers, please be judicious in your pruning. Do not take pity on poorly positioned blooms, even if they are the first to yield fruit. As examplified by this Wisconsin Lakes Bell, a petite pepper can quickly become a perplexing problem.

You thought it could safely grow between two branches, but the stem did not turn towards the ground. Instead, the fruit grew in place, UPSIDE-DOWN. It swelled bigger and bigger with each watering. An now, the precocious pepper has molded itself around the rest of the plant. It is stuck, stuck, stuck.

You cannot pick it. You cannot wedge it out. All you can do is hope that the fruit-laden branches do not break. If they do, instead of half a dozen peppers, you will have one pepper problem.

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How are your peppers performing? Do you have any red beauties yet? Do you like them sweet or hot?

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 9th, 2007 at 9:45 am and is filed under Tomatoes, Peppers + Eggplant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

16 Responses to "Trapped between a branch… and another branch"

Chris says:

August 9th, 2007 at 10:22 am

Try taking a knive out to the garden and remove it in halves if possible.

I looks like a really nice pepper.

Jaime Chismar says:

August 9th, 2007 at 11:04 am

It just started to turn red this morning, too!

deb w says:

August 9th, 2007 at 12:25 pm

I have already picked three peppers that have turned red. They were not photo quality, more shar-pei wrinkly than my usual cubanelles but still quite tasty. The more photogenic peppers are still yellow and green but on the small side.

Annie says:

August 9th, 2007 at 10:34 pm

My peppers are doing well, but no red ones yet. Are they just ‘developing challenged’ or is it normal? However, my spaghetti squash and tomatoes are out of control! In fact, I served my first spaghetti squash for dinner tonight. Yum

Matt says:

August 10th, 2007 at 7:38 am

All my peppers are super prolific this year. However, they are a little backwards. All the peppers with long gestation periods are giving up the first red peppers. They peppers that are geared toward the short Northern growing seasons are just getting fruit now. Maybe it was the hot weather? We really like the “meduim” heat peppers that are sweet/hot. We have an Alma Paprika the has a small bite, but very nice.

Peter Hoh says:

August 10th, 2007 at 8:57 am

My Purple Beauty gave me one delicious pepper a couple of weeks ago. Since then, nothing more from that plant. The green peppers have also been few and far between. Should I have pruned the first fruits?

Cold in Duluth says:

August 10th, 2007 at 10:18 am

Can someone suggest a good resource for learning how to prune pepper and tomato plants?

povertyrich says:

August 10th, 2007 at 12:51 pm

We have had a miserable summer in Seattle. I think the average temperature has been about 60 degrees, thus our peppers and tomatoes have suffered. The plants are happy and healthy, but the fruit just won’t ripen.

We’ve eaten a few green bells, and picked some green cayenne, but nothing has even hinted at turning read. I still haven’t seen a habenero, either, though the plants are blooming. I miss the hot, humid midwest! I have been assured that this is not a typical Seattle summer. After a prolific spring and early summer, Liberty Garden has plateaued. We could have grown cold weather plants all season.

On the plus side, I saved some seeds from the peppers I grew in my alley in Minneapolis last summer, and managed to sprout seven healthy jalapeno plants that have just now sprouted some buds.

Jaime Chismar says:

August 10th, 2007 at 1:30 pm

Hey Cold in Duluth, I found this guide to on Taunton’s Fine Gardening website:
http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/pages/g00031_pe1.asp

It doesn’t help with those huge tomato plants that spill out of their cages and threaten to eat the garage.

Jaime Chismar says:

August 10th, 2007 at 1:36 pm

Only 60 degrees? Wow. We’re getting another weekend of 90’s. My sage just up and died when it heard the hot and humid news.

Except for my hot peppers, everything is still green, green, green.

I’m totally excited for you and your wrinkled peppers, Ms. DebW!

Do your bell peppers ever get little rot spots? A few of mine have these blemishes. The rest of the pepper tastes fine. I wonder what causes them?

deb w says:

August 13th, 2007 at 12:11 pm

Nope, no squishy spots unless the slugs get to them and then they just tunnel in and make themselves homely.
I had some salsa over the weekend with some of the jalapeno chopped up: YIKES! Cleared up eveyones summer allergies. I guess if you like your peppers hot then don’t overwater and all the heat will burn a hole in your taste buds.

Jaime Chismar says:

August 13th, 2007 at 12:30 pm

Ha! Same thing happened with our Bulgarian Carrot Peppers (Seed Savers ranks them a 2 or 3 on a scale of 1 -5). I put them in a salad and it set our mouths afire! Good thing we had plenty of fresh mozzarella to cut the heat.

Lorika says:

August 14th, 2007 at 3:57 pm

I’ve got some Alma Paprika peppers that are supposed to turn from white to orange to red - but they’ve been white for what seems like weeks now, without a hint of blush. Anyone ever grown these before? How long do they take, and can I eat them white?

Jaime Chismar says:

August 15th, 2007 at 11:12 am

Hey Lorika, I’m growing Alma Paprika, too. The little buds have turned into white globes… kinda like eyeballs without pupils. Mind if I turn your question into a main post on Friday?

AmyK says:

August 15th, 2007 at 12:31 pm

My hot banana peppers are going gang busters w/at least 20 fruit ripening in the next 1-3 weeks! And after a July of great concern, and NO blooms, my picante peppers are going crazy as well with at least 2 dozen fruit in various stages of growth - can’t wait for them to turn red and grace a batch of fresh from the garden salsa picante!!

funky kid bedspreads says:

August 21st, 2007 at 1:53 am

Where I see gallery?