How to Disbud Pepper Plants

Disbudding involves selective removal of flower buds in order to concentrate a plant's energy on its remaining buds. It allows the gardener to ensure that the plant's fruit will emerge from only the healthiest buds.

Disbudding a pepper plant consists of the same process as that used for any other flowering plant.

• 1

  Watch the pepper plants closely beginning in mid-spring, the time when most pepper plants begin to flower.

• 2

  Put on protective garden gloves. If the pepper plant has set fruit early, oils that can irritate the skin may be present in the peppers.

• 3

  Grasp the first buds that bloom at their base, where they join the stem, and pull them off. Removal of the first wave of buds encourages the plant to grow larger, which may result in a larger yield of peppers in the summer.

• 4

  Wait for the plant to begin budding again. Remove any buds that are constantly shaded by the rest of the foliage, or any that look wilted.