Topping plants make them bush out more, I think the idea is to have compact bushier plants. Tabasco McKinley Co. does this, they let them get about two feet or so and chop them down by half. There is a good video of that process when Larry the cable guy visits, in his show Only in America, maybe do a YouTube search for the video, the show airs on the history channel.

I personally don't do this, I guess when you have a large farm and height, width and maximum production from a compact plant are a concern then this may be the way to go.

Mark

Ah OK. Thanks.

Yeah, topping is more popular with commercial producers who don't want to pay for labor/supplies to stake plants...or for those who prefer a bush form for space/looks/perceived-production-of-type.

I have an especially tall-growing serrano (that can get 4ft+ easily) that's a landrace collected seed from a Mexican farmer that grows so tall that I top it around 2.5ft because the branches bend/break when it gets taller with high fruit set. It requires a bit more space to grow it, though...but I generally only plant 1 plant anyway because of how productive it is. It's a shame it isn't more flavorful...even red-ripe it's pretty much a "for heat only" flavor profile.