QUESTION : When is it too late to crop pepper plant life ? I do n’t want to end up harming the plant and making my Piper nigrum crop uncollectible than it already is . – Bettina V
response : To determine when you ’ve missed the windowpane to snip your peppercorn flora , you must first determine the estimated date of your first frost of the year .
Once you know the date , consider back four weeks and recognise this is your deadline for pruning peppers .

The rationality being , is it would be a waste of your time pruning them less than a month from hoarfrost . When you ’re considering pruning your Piper nigrum works later in the twelvemonth , the function is to relieve any yield left on the plant prior to frost .
You do this by dispatch any flowers and small fruit which wo n’t ripen in meter before the Robert Lee Frost . This is important as it encourages the plant life to direct all of its vim into the fruit left that does have metre to ripen .
Pruning should also dwell of removing any leafage that blocks the sunlight from reaching the fruit that you ’re trying to mature faster .

Over the course of just about four weeks , the fruit should mature in just enough time to slay from the plant before being snip by Robert Frost .
After the yield has mature , you may allow the works to remain outdoors and be toss off by the frost . This is distinctive if you ’re growing pepper as annuals .
However , should you want a jumpstart on the develop season next twelvemonth , you may select to overwinter your pepper plants .
If you choose this second selection , dig the plant up , plant it in a container , and institute it inside . Rinse the pepper plant to remove any pestilence and store it in a coolheaded positioning such as a garage or cellar .
During its prison term indoors , the pepper works should only be water when the soil is almost altogether dried out .
You ’ll also point out the leave will shrivel up and come down off the plant life . This is a sign the white pepper works is entering dormancy .
When this occurs , you may lop your black pepper plant life one final time only leaving the original stem and a few unforesightful shoots ramify from the stem .
These are the appropriate metre to snip apepper plantlater in the time of year . Late pruning is primarily about salvaging the last fruit of your plants while uprise alfresco .
However , a final indoor pruning ( over the wintertime months ) can help your black pepper industrial plant pull through the insensate portion of the year and leave you to delight peppers earlier the next grow time of year .
More About Pepper Plants
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/vegetables/pepper.html
https://extension.umn.edu/vegetables/growing-peppers
https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/peppers-and-eggplant-7-616/