Can you post a pic? I wonder if it's just leaf drop so it looks like they have been pruned. I see no purpose of clipping them before the Y. Let me know if I understand you correctly.

Hi thanks for getting back to me. Its night now and it is definitely prunings and not leaf drop.The plants that come in a six pack aren't pruned and the stems and branches go all the way to the root ball, but the say 4 inch pots and above all have reached about a foot tall and they are all pruned below the Y one plant had about 12 nodes that were previously pruned. I wonder if this is done like in an indeterminate tomato vine to create a strong leader main stem?

Not sure, why? Peppers tend to have strong leader stems then break off into branches Y. I know the Tabasco co. Let's them get about two feet tall and lops off the top about 6 inches to cause the plants to bush. I guess the are going for a Bonsai or tree look, not sure the benefit yet. Maybe some one else can weigh in.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the plants were getting too big for the nursery to deal with and they just prune them back to a more manageable size. They will all likely grow back. Maybe healthier and more vigorous than before.
Brice

Could also be trimming off damage such as borers. I've seen borers ruin the top of the plant, but below the location of the borer, the plant is fine.

I would tend to agree with Bruce though. It's much easier to pack, handle and ship plants of consistent size. One of many reasons to grow from your own seed.

Ok thanks, I notice I just got a 2 foot tall Ghost with all the nodes removed also below the branching, which is 3 main branches. Significant leaves (about) 15 are growing from the very bottom, which is weird right next to the root. I removed thoses leaves, and from all the nodes mentioned earlier, new stems are growing right above all the pruned areas. This time, I am going to let them grow out naturally. The other ghost I am keeping new stems removed before the main branching. I want to see this effect of pruning every thing below the main branching. I don't understand this policy, but this is a nursery/grower doing this. This is not like topping the whole plant to encourage bushiness; this is like bottoming a plant, if there is such a thing. I will take pictures.

Daryll

Don't worry about it. I make bonsai out of my best pepper plants at the end of the season, and I can tell you you can cut these things down virtually to the ground and they'll just grow right back twice as thick as before. Once you get a pepper going, nothing short of standing over them with a pair of clippers is going to kill 'em.

http://i1071.photobucket.com/albums/u501/darylltx/Picture001.jpg

http://i1071.photobucket.com/albums/u501/darylltx/Picture002.jpg

Here are my pictures of my two ghost plants. Look at that cute but deadly pepper!! Okay, it is hard to see but one of the plants is stripped of everything below the branching, and the other was stripped but new stems and leaves are growing back at all the nodes. Which one do you think will be bushier; and most importantly, more peppers?

Daryll

Just testing posting a pic by html.....