Technique for Pruning and Renewing Sweet Peppers to Achieve a Second Round of Fruiting

Pruning and renewal of sweet peppers means that in the late fruiting stage, the second or third branch of the sweet pepper is cut off while leaving 1-2 leaves, to stimulate lateral branches to flower and fruit again. Its advantage is that after renewal there is no need to go through the seedling stage again; the lateral branches that grow out directly carry flower buds and can quickly flower and fruit, much earlier than replanting sweet pepper seedlings. Early fruiting is abundant, and the plants are not prone to excessive vegetative growth and are easy to manage.

For pruning and renewal, first choose varieties with strong growth vigor. The specific operation is as follows: this technique can be used for both autumn and spring crops of sweet peppers. Autumn-crop sweet peppers are generally pruned at the end of July and beginning of August, while spring-crop sweet peppers are pruned at the end of February and beginning of March, that is, at the normal planting time for greenhouse sweet peppers. For pruning and renewal of sweet peppers, cut off the second or third branch while leaving 5-6 leaves, and make a flat cut. A flat cut has a small wound area, heals quickly, and is less prone to disease infection. After new buds sprout about 5 cm from the original main fruiting branch, cut off the remaining branch.

What makes renewal pruning and training of sweet peppers different from replanting is that after pruning and renewal, early fruiting is abundant, so the approach should be changed from controlling plant growth to promoting plant growth and fruiting. The following points need attention:

First, after pruning, apply a topdressing immediately. For sweet peppers grown on ridges, apply 4 cubic meters of fully decomposed high-quality organic fertilizer per mu in the furrows, mix in 100 jin of compound fertilizer, and apply an appropriate amount of rooting agent, spread evenly, then till the soil to a depth of 15-20 cm. Try not to turn over the ridge tops, so as not to damage too many roots. For sweet peppers grown on flat beds, topdress within the operation rows. For spring-crop sweet peppers, after fertilizing and preparing the soil, re-cover with plastic film to help raise soil temperature and reduce humidity inside the shed. After fertilizing, it is best to carry out one subsurface irrigation under the film, and apply a biological bacterial fertilizer by flushing that can promote roots and strengthen plants, such as Jikangjun-968, Liyate Flush Essence, and Junyang Duoduo, to promote root growth.

Second, after pruning, control temperature and maintain moisture. Keep the daytime temperature at 25-30°C and the nighttime temperature at 16-20°C. Before new branches appear, maintain relatively high temperature and humidity inside the shed to promote lateral branch sprouting. In spring, after new branches grow 2-3 cm, expose them to more light within the suitable temperature range to ensure the new branches do not grow excessively.

Because the plants have wounds after pruning and the humidity inside the shed is high, diseases are likely to occur. It is recommended to spray one application of a protective fungicide such as chlorothalonil or agricultural streptomycin to prevent disease infection.

Third, after lateral branches sprout, branch buds tend to cluster too densely "like a swarm of bees," so some thin and weak branches and buds need to be removed appropriately. When the tender branches grow to about 10 cm, select 4 robust branches free of pests and diseases as fruiting branches.