...and this one has my very FIRST cayenne pepper :) Started at the same time as the one above. Just have to wait for it to turn red now. That's going to seem like watching a pot of water and waiting for it to boil.

Congrats!

Patience is a virtue in growing chiles

I'm no pepper guru, but I have a relatable experience to share that may be a warning worth heeding. I allowed some early pods to set on a few of my plants this year, because I was anxious, and I couldn't fathom cutting off a potential pepper. So I let a few set, and the plants just sat there not growing AT ALL - devoting all of their precious energy to those few pods. As soon as I came to my senses and chopped off those early pods, the plants doubled in size within 2 weeks and started setting LOADS of pods. They have since doubled again. Like I said, I'm no guru, but I will never let early pods set - ever again. Not only does it slow the plant down, but the earliest pods don't even taste good. I think you would be doing yourself a favor to clip that pod off. I'd lay a wager that your plant will take off and within a few weeks set 20 or 30 pods straight away. Alternativly, if you let that 1 pod go to maturity (seriously, it's as big as the entire plant!) you will have wasted many weeks waiting for one mediocre fruit, stunt your plant, and reduced your harvest.

Just my 2 cents.

PJ

PJ: Glad I saw your post. I got my plants outside a couple weeks ago and several, maybe over half already have pods growing. They started blooming quite well. I decided to let them do what they wanted this year. Last year I followed the general wisdom of snipping early pods as they appear. Every bloom right now is going to fruit on all my plants. They are anywhere from 8 to 14 inches tall. I had a set back with bad soil for my seedlings this year and basically lost about 4 weeks. I really don't need any more delays. And after reading your post, I am starting to reconsider my choice to let the pods stay.

What does everyone think. Should I snip pods now to maximize production later this summer or just let them do what they want, when they want?
Bruce

or you could go 50/50 if you have more than one of each variety. :-)

I usually don't snip buds or pick early forming fruit. I just let them do what they do. However, that said, I have also experienced very stunted plants by leaving early fruit when the plant is still very small. So, if I had to choose one, I'd use the plant's size as a gauge. If it was really small, and fruit did happen to set, I'd consider picking it early. If the plant was a reasonable size, I'd leave it.

Not really saying which is more productive in the long run..just relaying how I handle things.

Kind of curious about this. I usually don't nip my buds off, and my first buds usually happen in late spring due to early planting and strong indoor light. Some survive some don't. I usually get my first big flush ripen end of July, and another flush or two after that that until it gets too cold. End result, I get plenty of pods overall in containers, not in ground though where I usually only get one good flush before frost.

Bruce, in your situation zone 4b, I suspect you have an even shorter growing season than I have. I wonder how your overall yield would be affected by doing this?

My guess is that a longer season growers such as the OP's would benefit more from plucking since more flushes will benefit from the additional early vegetative growth. For us short season growers, we may be better off getting as much as we can, as soon as we can. Would be an interesting experiment for all of us to do. I also wonder about plucking in ground. Since veg time is very long on the ones I grow in ground (due to cooler soil?), I wonder what affect plucking off early blossoms would be in that situation?

Tsheets, I think you may have it just right. If the plant is small, pluck it, if it's a decent size let it go.

Sorry if I'm adding more questions then answers here...

For me, there is no doubt that early pods will have an effect on the growth rate of a small plant, judging from what I personally witnessed with my own. I do think, however, that the magnitude of the setback will be heavily weighted by your growing zone. The shorter your window the more detrimental that setback would be. I mean, a few weeks could literally make or break your season if winter is on it's way. I'm lucky enough to have a very long growing season, virtually indefinite, and small setbacks tend to work them selves out over time but...I'm convinced that removal is the way to go - even with my long season.

Now, growth rate debate aside...early pods just don't taste very good - mine didn't anyways - they were bland and boring and a waste of time. So for me, it's a no brainer, whether or not there is scientific proof that early pods stunt growth...why risk your plants health and potentially your seasons harvest for a handful of disappointing peppers. Not worth it, not for me.

The approach that I took with the plants that I did remove buds from is based on the branching of the plant. I remove the pod that sets in the first Y. The plant will then have 2 branches that will set pods where they split - I also remove those. The four new branches will also set pods where they split, I remove all these as well. After that I let them go. At that point the plant should have adequate size, both above and below ground - and 8 new branches primed for fruit set. In the plants that I did this with I saw an explosion of pods on the next round - and as I said - the plants that I let go from the start we're small and weak, until I removed the pods. Then they absoultely exploded as well.

The proof is in the pudding, as they say...and that is about $240 worth of pudding baby....

PJ

Lots of great feedback, thanks!! I'm tempted to cut that one pepper off now.. that plant had a few flowers that dropped off too (which you can see in the photo).

The second photo shows the "runt of the litter" which now has more flowers than the others. Coincidently, that's the only one I didn't transplant into a larger pot... That's a topic for another post I guess. The container probably only holds 6 cups of soil..

Okay., you guys that are removing early pods/buds, where do you cut or pinch it. I have 3 Chimayo plants that have flowers on them. I'm not sure if I need to just pinch the flower, or remove the stem holding the flower. What do you guys do?

Well, I try to cut mine as close to the plant as possible. Sometimes, it just isn't possible to get it really close however. My guess is that it doesn't really matter all that much. Some veteran growers probably have better opinions however.
Bruce

I personally don't cut/pinch buds or flowers, I lets those do what they will do. Some will drop on thier own, and there's no use risking damage or injury to the plant for a flower that was going to fall off anyways. I only take off the pods that set - clipped as close to the plant as possible, as soon after set as possible. However, Bruce is right on....sometimes you just can't get a super close cut. I wouldn't even worry about that though, just get as close as you can and move on.

PJ

In my zone, the superhot pods that start to show in May/June are the ones that I pick ripe in July, so I don't think it's worth it to me to pick those, since I only get one or two more flushes ripen after that before frost. I also find these are often the hottest and highest quality ones as well. But faster budding varieties such as Bananas and Hungarian wax and Jalepeno might be worth doing since they cycle much faster then chinense (superhot) varieties. Not sure I'd want to try for sweet bell varieties since they are so darn slow. Might be worth trying on cayenne/tabasco like types that grow fast and prolific.