Remove first pepper?

[Redpepper]

CC, no need to nip off the first bud.
Most chillis and peppers naturally drop some buds, making the existing ones more manageable for the plant to grow to maturity.
If the plants have stopped growing, it could be they are a little stressed?
They like still air, heat, plenty of sun and the soil being kept a little on the dry side.

[Alice]

I've heard that compost corner but I don't remove the first one and get good crops.

I do remove some peppers and chillies at the green stage
a) because I want to use them
b) because if you leave them all to go red the plant stops producing.

It has been very hot this last few days and that may be what has happened to your new flowers - they have frazzled. If the sun is very strong I move them back from the glass so they don't fry. I'm sure more flowers will come.

If all else fails you could remove the fruit you have and see what happens.

[Mac]

Thanks for the help Alice. A quick thick question. When you remove the chillies, how do you do it!?! Do you snip the chilli and stalk with a knife or scissors, take the stalk right off where it meets the plant or "twist" it off? Totally new to this, so don't want to get it wrong.

[Alison]

I always cut mine off about half way between the plant and the fruit. The remaining stem sort of dries up out the way afterwards. Don't want to cut any higher for risk of damaging the plant and would never pull off for the same reason.

[Incy]

I cut mine like Alison, about half way up the stem. definitely don't pull or twist them off, plants don't usually like this.

[Mac]

Thanks guys. I'm megga paranoid about my chillies as i've been tending them like children since they were little. A robin got into the kitchen last night (snuck in the door when we were out with the dogs!) and started flapping round them at the window! I'm a massive bird lover, but all I could think about was getting the robin out before it did any damage!! Glad to report that robin and chllies all survived unscathed

[Mac]

HI Guys. A big thank you to all of you!! I took a chilli off each plant, and they are proper chillis inside!! Don't know what I thought they were going to be (didn't think they would be ready yet), but they were toasty roasty hot!! Hopefully that will kick start the rest. Grinning like a chilli eating Cheshire Cat this morning thinking about it!!

[smc999]

My first bell peppers are being removed, but not intentionally!

Flowers have formed and withered and there appears to be the start of peppers, however the first few have all fallen off, the whole arm has dropped off the stem. Any ideas why? Is the plant just concetrating on growing rather than fruiting so the joints are weak?
It looks healthy. The window sill is rather windy but I'm still surprised about how easily they fell off, I just barely touched one and it went.

Cheers
Keith

I had the same problem last year and I think I may have given them too much water. They like to be quite dry and treated a bit mean.

[COMPOST CORNER]

An update, yesterday morning I removed the single pepper that had formed very low down on the plant. Tonight the flower buds that were previously all tightly bound up have all started to show the white of the petals.
Might be a coincidence, but it seems to have worked.
Hope the rest of the pointed peppers taste as good, it was kind of similar to fresh mange tout eaten raw.

[Alison]

If there were flowers already there then they would have opened regardless of the fact you removed the pepper. The theory behind this is that if I plant thinks that it has formed enough fruits to propogate itself then it will stop producing flowers.