Yeah, you may just have to cut it just below the break and let it come back.
The plant will still grow..it will just take some time.

Stoney

Even if there are no leaves below the break? The break was maybe 2 inches above the ground level on a 2 ft plant.

Oh :(

Let's see what others think.

Stoney

the plant can still heal. I had that happen AT the soil line. I staked it, and left it alone. it looked like hell for about 3 weeks, then it recovered.

I had this happen to me and it can heal, I used thread and bound it together and for the rest of the season it still was able to keep alive and produced peppers. Just bind it together and let the plant do it's thing. The worst that can happen is it does not recover but not for the lack of trying.

Mark

Thanks for the feedback/pictures. The broken plant top still looks green for now so I'm cautiously optimistic. We did have a lot of rain/wind today though, and I'm not sure how that may have effected it.

If the plant does die, will the leaves yellow/die first from the top, the bottom, or equally on the plant?

it'll probably happen evenly on the plant. if it hasn't started happening yet, it'll probably be fine.

The good news WAS that the plant was recovering. The main stem was growing twisted, but the plant was still green and pods were beginning to be produced.

Unfortunately, I took the support off last night to check the recovery level and then forgot to put it back after working on other plants. When I woke up this morning, the plant had broken completely into two pieces. I don't know if the weight of the leaves and new fruit was too much for it or if it was a windy night or some combination of factors.

What are the chances that the plant will recover now? I propped it back up before leaving, but now that the stem is fully severed there is nothing holding the ends together. I have it roughly aligned, but it was not the cleanest break and there is less contact than there was originally.

This post was edited by teevoo on Sat, May 24, 14 at 0:07

Since it broke into two pieces, you would have to treat it like a graft, moisture would be key to having it take, but without a pic hard to say if it would work or not. Best bet would be to discard the upper piece that completely separated and let the plant regrow new branches and/or main stem. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. I hate the thought of losing all those fruit but I would feel worse if I lost the plant completely. It is the only one of its variety that I planted this year. Can't post pictures from my phone but I'll try when I get home tonight.

Double Post

This post was edited by teevoo on Sat, May 24, 14 at 0:19

I have grafted plants that happened to and they turn out fine. Also, you can maybe have two plants now, from the one, if you strip the leaves to to the level and replant the broken off piece to re-root? Maybe? Either way, it means losing the fruit. =(

I don't think I can get the top to root. Looks very droopy and sad right now. Like seedlings right before they die from damping off. Not too optimistic the plant will live... Best I can hope for is regrowth from the stem remaining.

This post was edited by teevoo on Sat, May 24, 14 at 0:11

On a related note, can anyone tell me what type of pepper this is? I had some seeds mixed up, and this was the only plant that survived the neighborhood children/pets.