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If I harvest bell pepper, will it grow back? (I control the temperature 25 C* in my small greenhouse)

If yes, I pick bell pepper fruit only or it needs pruning also after harvesting? how to do it correctly?

tattoo556
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3 Answers3

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Will the pepper grow back? Not exactly. However, after you harvest the pepper the plant likely will produce more flowers, which can be pollinated and grow into more peppers.

GardenerJ
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No, it will not grow back. The pepper is the result of a pollinated flower, as is a peach, an apple, a tomato, etc. However, save some of the seeds inside the pepper and you can plant them to have a new plant that will flower and will produce more bell peppers once they are pollinated by your local flying insect helper (e.g., a bee).

Since you have a greenhouse, you could plant plant those seeds directly. Without a greenhouse you would need to dry the seeds to hold them over until next spring. Some will lose viability over time, but most should remain dormant but viable as long as they are kept dry and will sprout in a few days after being dampened.

  • Aren't peppers self pollinating? so how long will it take to flower again after picking the peppers? – Mehdi Mar 16 '20 at 11:11
  • @Mehdi Peppers have perfect flowers. So, yes, each individual flower can be self-pollinating, but it can also be pollinated by other flowers (from the same plant or another plant). However, if the flower doesn't move at all, it's less likely to self-pollinate and/or cross-pollinate than if an insect gets nectar from it, or crawls around on it. If the flowers are shaken or wind blows on them, that can also induce self-pollination, at times. Parthenocarpic peppers can grow fruits without pollination (but if they're not pollinated, they'll be seedless). – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx May 10 '22 at 21:59
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Yes. I understand your question and the answer is yes. After harvesting, allow the plant to “die back” and prune off all the dried limbs. The plant will come back in spring twice as big as before. Reference: it happened by happy accident. After harvest, in winter, I was culling back my eco planters to reuse them(I live in central florida, these sit by my fence outside)and as I got to my pepper plants, I saw there was vivid green under the bark at the base of the limbs, so I trimmed all the dried branches back to the node. Very early spring when temps came up, they all 3 pepper plants bloomed even bigger and quicker than last year. I have cayenne, baby bell peppers, and jalapeños and all 3 came back. I came across your question while searching if this is common. Yes it’s possible to regrow the plant. I don’t think prior commenting understood what you were actually asking.

Britney Sharpe
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