Much like solder joins, broken plant stems can be repaired.

The break is under the lower section of red tape. Snapped cleanly in two. Bugger. 

I broke it. I broke the bell pepper plant. The stem snapped clear in half as I was trying to convince it to stand up straight and tie it to a stake.

Fortunately, there is hope. I joined the two broken ends together and wrapped it bandage style with electrical tape. Then I grabbed a nearby stick and taped the stem to that to function as a splint. Hopefully, the two cut ends will grow back together and the plant will survive. The section above the break is quite wilted, but it may recover in a few days. If not, well, I did plant 6 of them.

Why electricians tape? It creates a stronger seal, keeping water in. Also, it’s quite stretchy and will allow the stem to continue growing. Ignore the bit of masking tape there; it was an experiment that didn’t work and will be replaced with more electricians tape posthaste.

Baby cayenne peppers with new bamboo stake

Yummy

These are golden cayenne peppers, just starting to fruit. The plant is about 1′ tall, and I have just staked it with bamboo to help it stay upright during thunderstorms.

This plant has already put out one full size pepper, about 4″ long, when the plant was only about 6″ tall. I picked that one early to convince the plant to put a little more energy into growing tall. It has been on the counter for a week and is starting to ripen as it dries.

Also, photography is hard, especially when using a phone camera with no focus control. This is going to be a reoccurring theme.