If you want it to grow more (it will produce more too), cut the flowers off of it at this point. It will put more energy into growth, and later on that will mean more peppers for you!

And as long as it's stable the lean should be just fine.

Thanks for the response JustFL. I have some follow up questions in regards to that...

That plant is over 2 ft. tall so I am pretty happy with it... but if I leave the flowers, will it still grow wider or stay tall and skinny?

I have another one that is only 7-8" tall and started to produce. I will definitely consider cutting the flowers to encourage more growth. Does this strategy encourage growth all around or just wider? This one definitely needs to grow taller (its pretty bushy for its height).

And lastly, would you recommend this for peppers in a pot? I have one in a 2-3 gallon pot that has just been exploding in growth over the last few weeks. Its reached about 8" and I noticed it will start producing flowers in the next week or two. I guess my question here is back to the original... will it still grow taller once its started to produce flowers or that means the pepper has stopped growing vertical?

Thanks in advance!

Salavene: I'm pretty positive it IS due to the tilt of the Sun. It shouldn't be a problem at all but if you want to nip it in the bud, it's still small enough to throw a tomato cage over it. You won't have to worry about tilting or branches snapping the rest of the year.

I'm against the train of thought of snipping flowers, except for MAYBE the initial 1 or 2 flowers and I'm still potting up. Just let it grow -- plant looks fine.

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Sun, Jan 26, 14 at 1:00

After growing some Numex habs to 7', and having them blow over in a storm, I drove 7' "T" posts next to the plants and roped the stems to the post. As the plant grew I could straighten it up and tie it higher. 6" remesh bent into a 3' diameter and wired to a "T" post works for my tomatoes. Cattle panel works too.

That plant is over 2 ft. tall so I am pretty happy with it... but if I leave the flowers, will it still grow wider or stay tall and skinny?
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You could have topped it if you wanted it to get bushy. Probably still you can do it. But if you want to prevent it from tipping, over ,a simple cage or stake can do it.

Hard to tell from the original pic (for me at least) that is is 2ft... So agreed with above, goin well. I personally would still clip the flowers myself, but cannot speak for all, just my take on it. From the pic, it appears that if you do (or do not) it will still be quite a healthy plant either way. Good luck with it, and let me know what you harvest off of it! I never get tired of seeing everyone's bounty :)

Thanks all for the advice! Its over 2 ft. tall, so in the end, I decided to not clip the flowers. However, there is another small pepper plant next to it that is very bushy, but needs to grow a bit taller... I clipped its first flowers. In regards to the leaning, I threw a monster tomato cage over it and used a string to hold it back (I pulled the lean back about 1/4 to 1/2 as to not stress it too much). My only concern is that the string doesn't fall and affect new foilage out of the mainstem...

I'll keep everyone posted once they start to produce!

I would surround the plant with 4ft stakes . Mine here are 6ft use ripped up sheets to keep branches from breaking under the weight of your peppers .I use this method in rows works great. My peppers got over 6ft this year If I did not do this my garden would have been a disaster since a few lbs. of peppers will snap a branch in a second . Just add more sheet strips as your plant grows.Works great and no investment involved other then a few moments a week. I use this method with tomatoes also only I use longer stakes. My grape tomatoes got 16ft tall last year using this method . Brandywines got 7-8ft and all fruit off the ground. Also always plant peppers at least 2ft apart 21/2 if your growing Lg.plants. Ill bet your plant will get 4ft or more if you do this with no broken branches . Tomato cages can cause broken branches I stopped using them years ago.

Pepperdave: I've been growing peppers for almost 10 years now and have never had a branch break except maybe 2 bells with the smaller 42" cages.

To each their own, I guess. Nice setup btw. I used to something similar for my toms. But cages for peppers is a no brainer -- they're perfect size, can be used for many years, only cost a few bucks, and takes about 20 seconds to install. A occasional tucking of a side branch is the only maintenance. If I ever have a plant that looks like it might be outgrowing the cage, THEN, I use a stake.. depends on the variety of pepper.

Kevin

Ware I live you can almost count on 50 mph wind at lest a few times during the season. Ive had many tropical storms flatten my garden over the years. Last year we had a 3 day downpour that flattened every corn field around. My pepper plants took quite a beating themselves. Butts get 6ft tall My Scorpions 41/2 - 5ft.
I dont stake my wax peppers or my Ancho peppers but I dont think my 6ft Butts would make it without staking not in a 50 mph wind with an inch of rain a hour . No complaints though peppers grow real good here. Hell after 20+ years Im still doing it.

Yeah.. I keep on forgetting what a lot of growers have to go through weather-wise. No massive storms or hail during my growing season. We get some high winds here sometimes, but my backyard is surrounded by fence. If I had an open area such as yours, I might get some damage.

Kevin