Topping up is a trick normally reserved for tomato plants. Tomatoes take advantage of the new soil line by sending out adventitious roots.

I've never heard of it being done for peppers, If you have a long enough season, that new lower growth will produce a lot of extra pods for you.

You could tear away that lower plant matter, let the wounds heal for a day or two, then top up your pot. If you don't tear it off, they will catch a bacterial or fungal infection. I see little reason to do it now, but it's up to you.

I'm surprised the dirt sank in so much, perhaps the next time you are filling buckets, you can pack it in ever so slightly.

Good luck either way.

This post was edited by sjetski on Mon, Jul 15, 13 at 16:22

Don't worry about it, just leave it as is. That's what I do. I have several plants that the soil has compacted and most of the roots are sitting on top, it's no biggie.

My friend swears (and I have seen others post the same) that peppers are just like tomatoes and will grow roots along the stem, I have tried it, I have never gotten a single root.

I pack my soil in as much as I can when I pot my plants, that way, there's not much compaction.
Pam

Hi! I have added some soil to my pepper due to the fact that they literally startet sprouting new roots above the ground (!!) :D
I have even seen a vid about that on yt. Check it out

Here is a link that might be useful: Youtube video

That praxxus dude is a mad scientist, I'm a big fan. The difference is that he appears to have put soil up the bare stems as the plants grew, if I were to top up I would be burying quite a few fully developed leaves and larger branches (see the pic).

I reckon I'll just leave it be.

The plant in the picutre (Datil) is the worst offender, it's grown like a monster, super compact and bushy, about a foot and a bit tall, and more wide than tall, the main stem is about a half an inch thick. I was under the impression that the plants "ate" the soil (the plant mass has to come from somewhere) which is why the larger plants have lost more soil.

I start my peppers under lights and some get long and lanky..I always bury them and the stem roots up..in your case I wouldn't add soil unles roots get exposed from watering.