The Gardening Ideas and Information Thread

[Irving]

want more peppers?

mix up a diluted solution of Epsom salt and water in a spray bottle and spray it all over the plant when ti starts blooming. colorado soils are notoriously poor in magnesium and the pepper plants will explode with peppers.

What ratios?

Also, in the other thread, Hollohaus alluded to pinching off blossoms on some of his plants to get more fruit. My pepper plant is currently blossoming a lot, but I don't know if I can pick off the flowers. Do the flowers develop into peppers, or will they look like peppers from the get go?

[mindfold]

What ratios?

Also, in the other thread, Hollohaus alluded to pinching off blossoms on some of his plants to get more fruit. My pepper plant is currently blossoming a lot, but I don't know if I can pick off the flowers. Do the flowers develop into peppers, or will they look like peppers from the get go?

The flowers will wilt and then start developing into peppers.

On the same token, you need to pick off the sucker branches off of your tomato plants. They are the smaller leaves between a main stalk and a larger branch.


Sent from my tin foil coated mind reading device.

[hollohas]

On the same token, you need to pick off the sucker branches off of your tomato plants. They are the smaller leaves between a main stalk and a larger branch.

Good point.

[hollohas]

Also, in the other thread, Hollohaus alluded to pinching off blossoms on some of his plants to get more fruit. My pepper plant is currently blossoming a lot, but I don't know if I can pick off the flowers. Do the flowers develop into peppers, or will they look like peppers from the get go?

Pinching off the flowers on tomato plants until they get well established is especially important with determinate varieties. Determinate type tomatoes produce the entire crop in more or less a single harvest during a few weeks near the end of the season. Unlike indeterminate tomatoes that produce fruit throughout the season.

Determinate tomato plants virtually stop putting energy into producing roots and branches as soon as the first fruit forms. The plant's growth basically stops. So if you prevent it from setting fruit for a couple extra weeks by pinching off flowers then your plant will be bigger, stronger and produce more fruit. If you leave the flowers and let fruit form on a small plant early in the season, that plant will stay small all summer.

It isn't as important for indeterminate tomatoes but I personally still like to make sure the plant spends all of it's energy getting roots and branches established before it starts using energy on fruit.

My indeterminate heirloom tomato plants are now almost 6ft tall and will likely grow another foot or two. I started to leave the flowers alone about two weeks ago. These nice big plants will make more tomatoes than I know what to do with. My determinate tomatoes (mostly Romas) are about 5ft tall which is pretty big for the variety.

[JohnTRourke]

What ratios?

Also, in the other thread, Hollohaus alluded to pinching off blossoms on some of his plants to get more fruit. My pepper plant is currently blossoming a lot, but I don't know if I can pick off the flowers. Do the flowers develop into peppers, or will they look like peppers from the get go?

the flowers turn into peppers

a pinch or so, it's not exact enough to matter, you just spray it on the leaves and watch them explode with peppers
truly it's amazing.
it's not adding a dramatic amount of magnesium, but enough.