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Like most nightshade vegetables, peppers are susceptible to sunscald. Fruit that receives too much intense, direct sunlight can develop spots that become shrunken and wrinkled, ruining the fruit. This problem is exacerbated when it’s also extremely hot out. Topping your peppers and encouraging a bushier plant will give it more foliage to shade and protect growing fruit from both intense sunlight and extreme temperatures. Ever since I started topping my peppers, I haven’t had to worry about sunscald anymore.
Grow Tough, Storm-Resistant Plants
Summer storms can be devastating to your garden. Heavy winds, downpours, and sometimes even hail come ripping through with every thunderstorm. The aftermath can be heartbreaking when you’ve worked so hard to grow vegetables – knocked over plants, snapped stems and fruit fallen from the vine before it’s ripe. Along with more side growth, topping encourages secondary growth as well, which means a nice, thick, sturdy main stem. And all that extra lateral growth makes for a much more damage-resistant plant. So, even if you do end up with a snapped stem or two from a serious summer storm, it’s far less of a big deal with topped plants. While they may still need to be staked, topped pepper plants stand up to stormy weather better than their taller, non-topped compatriots.
Topped Peppers Grow Their Own Mulch
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