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Fri, Mar 21, 14 at 10:50
| I always cage my peppers because they seem so floppy as they grow taller, but I'm wondering if I really need to do it. Will they stand up on their own? Do you cage your peppers? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I don't cage mine, but I do put string down both sides of them. I plant in double rows, so I drive a 2 by 2 wood stake every 10 feet, or so, and then screw on a cross piece. I run one string down both sides of the rows of plants and tie it to or wrap it around the cross pieces. I usually add two cross pieces and that is enough to support them in the high tunnels. I have done this outside and it works well there too. Jay |
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| I do religiously. I use the taller 54" ones for large fruited, taller varieties like Bells and Anaheims. The smaller 42" for shorter varieties like Jalapenos and serranos. Just insert into soil at transplant and forget! An occasional straggling branch needs to be tucked inside now and then. I can see why people like jrslick use other means because they grow in such high numbers. But for me, who grows a max of 30 plants, cages are a no brainer. I can actually save a bit of space by reducing the row spacing a few inches and the last thing one wants, with modest producers like bells, is to have a branch snap from being overweighted. Kevin |
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| I stake them with a heavy wood stake. I grew Lady Bell last year and they were too heavy with peppers to stand on their own. |
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| I agree, if you are planting a few plants, then go with cages. We plant 900 to 1000 peppers, cages would get expensive. Those 3 ring cheap cages are good for peppers. |
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| I use the semicircular props and tie a string across the open end. |
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| I agree, if you are planting a few plants, then go with cages. We plant 900 to 1000 peppers, cages would get expensive. Those 3 ring cheap cages are good for peppers. |
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| I don't cage mine, but I do put string down both sides of them. I plant in double rows, so I drive a 2 by 2 wood stake every 10 feet, or so, and then screw on a cross piece. I run one string down both sides of the rows of plants and tie it to or wrap it around the cross pieces. I usually add two cross pieces and that is enough to support them in the high tunnels. I have done this outside and it works well there too. Jay |
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| I agree that the cheap 3 ring cages are pretty good for peppers. I originally bought them for tomatoes, but they are woefully inadequate for them but ok for peppers. |
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- Posted by little_minnie 4 (My Page) on Fri, Mar 21, 14 at 19:50
| I plant mine 3 rows wide, staggered and will do strings down the length to hold them up with a few short stakes to support the strings. For hot peppers that get taller I lay some old tomato cages open side down on top of the bed and the plants grow through them. This was the only pic I could find. I covered them until fruit developed to keep them from crossing with my sweet pepper seed I was saving elsewhere.  |
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- Posted by EasilyGrown 8 (My Page) on Fri, Mar 21, 14 at 20:32
| I normally don't cage my peppers. They usually stand on their own. Out of twenty something plants I had last season, not one tipped over. |
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- Posted by Creek-side 5 (My Page) on Fri, Mar 21, 14 at 23:05
| Out of my 50 or so I may get 3 or 4 that fall over if we get a really wet period and the ground gets soft. But the plants usually do well anyway. |
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| I do not cage them . A simple single stake of about 3 ft will do for me. It is the same with eggplants. Most won't get taller than 3 ft. |
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- Posted by jamesandfely 6 (My Page) on Sat, Mar 22, 14 at 9:30
| I use tomato cage . |
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| See, I don't want to have to cage, stake, or support the peppers, but have found that large healthy plants in my climate need support or many will be blown over or break due to a heavy load of fruit. |
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| I have some small cages, so I use them, but I find that the plants that I stake do fine, and sometimes I don't even have to tie them to the stake. Unless I was growing the biggest varieties, I'd just stake them and save money. |
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| Not a matter of saving money. I'm still using cages I bought 10 years ago. Stakes last maybe 2 years. To each their own. Kevin |
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| The stakes were free. I have a friend that is a general contractor and he gives us free stuff that he is going to throw out. I prefer stakes because it is easier to get to the peppers and tomatoes. Especially if I'm checking for bugs. |
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- Posted by theforgottenone1013 5b/6a MI (My Page) on Sat, Mar 22, 14 at 13:28
| It depends on the material you choose to use for stakes as to how long the stakes will last. PVC pipe is cheap and lasts forever. It's what I use to stake peppers. Rodney |
This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Sat, Mar 22, 14 at 13:32
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- Posted by luvncannin 7a-panhandle tx (My Page) on Sat, Mar 22, 14 at 21:05
| I am going to this year. One bad wind last year broke all my plants in half right before they were ready. I will use a cage and a stake . kim |
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| Stakes for me, I am planting the peppers very close and this intensive planting does not have room for caging. |
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| lucille, My cages nearly touch. |
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- Posted by prairiemoon2 zone 6a/MA (My Page) on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 3:37
| I also use small or medium size tomato cages for peppers. They appreciate it very much. :-) |
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| If I had free 3-ring small cheap cages, probably I would use them instead of steak. But They are not worth it to spend money on. |
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- Posted by socks12345 Zone 9 (My Page) on Tue, Mar 25, 14 at 1:03
| Thank you, everyone. I have one pepper plant and so had to laugh at the pictures posted. I'll put a cage over it. |
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| Yes; when I switched to trellising my tomatoes I had a lot of cages that needed to go somewhere so I started caging my peppers and it works great. |
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