Hi guys,
Was reaading through some posts and found that some of you cage your pepper plants.
I was just wondering why and if I should do the same.
What do u mean, though, by caging?

Cheers

I think it means to put a wire cage aorund the plant, I know my mom puts this wire cage over the tomato plants so they don't spill and they grow straight up

The cages can help the pepper plant stay straight, it can also help protect the pepper[s] from animals looking to eat it... there are other reasons why, but I'm not sure of those...

--Mark--

I don't put cages around my peppers, and have never had any problem with critters bothering them...But one exception was one jalapeno plant that a young deer did eat all of the leaves and peppers off of one year...I knew it was a young deer, by the size of the hoof prints it left behind. Peppers generally need no support, so to cage (cage meaning using a wire surround like for a tomato plant) Would be up to each person. Very few pest or critters bother pepper plants.

The woodchucks ate my Bell peppers' off..
EVERY ONE OF THEM!! :p

You've never had problems with them being blown over by wind?

Like John I cage mine so these Texas winds don't blow them over. Other day they said we were going to have a light breeze of around 45 mph and by night may reach 75 or 80 mph that's main reason I cage mine. Also if they tend to get taller then the norm it gives them the support they need.

I tie off my pepper plants to small stakes. Otherwise they tip over from the extra weight of the fruit, wind, etc.

ahhh ok ... thanks a lot for that, i've put a stake on mine because i've seen it wave to and fro every now and then and thought i should probably support it.

just a question .... how long until serranos ripen? i mean once they start forming, how long does it usually take for them to turn red?

Cheers

Good question on the serranos. These are my favorite chiles by the way. My plant gave me so many chiles this year that I never really took the time to notice how long it takes for them to ripen. The plant is still pumping them out even with the coldish night temps we've been having. That said, If I had to guess I would say it probably takes a couple weeks. Hang in there -- it's well worth it to let them red ripen.

Coldish??
It's freeeeeeeezing down here !
I hate it ! I don't remember a winter so cold as this one.

It's summer down here in Sydney

GD, I cage my all my peppers too(with tomato cages) the winds are fierce here. It was blowing 40mph when I left work today! I don't know anything about Serrano's , but I grow bell peppers and banana peppers, & jalapeno's. Good luck with your peppers!

I know why the caged peppers sing.

Thank you guys for your replies.

caged peppers sing?? hehe

I get a roll of 2 x 2 inch x 4 feet high mess/screen with a firm wire like that of the stucco mess and I cut strips 10 feet long and 12 inches high then weave stakes in to it and stake to the ground. As the cyan peppers grow I weave them in and out of the mess. I have the mess 4 inches off the ground. It works well.

Because of my location I do not get a long summer to ripen tomatoes so I grow the cyan peppers to make the salsa with the green tomatoes.

I do not generally cage my peppers but I do cage the tomatoes. I have staked a part of a pepper plant before if it got to heavy. But in general my peppers are not on the plants long enough to weigh it down cuz we eat them too fast!