We've heard about tapping for anxiety, but what about tapping to help your chili pepper plants grow?
Urban gardening influencer Kia Jade (@kia_urbangardener) has shared how to help your chili peppers along if you're struggling to make them germinate.
@kia_urbangardener I couldnt grow chili peppers at all and now that i follow this tapping routine it has really helped! 🌶️ #growingchili #growingchilipeppers #chili #growyourownfood #growingvegetables #gardeninghack #cheapgardening #gardeningtips #gardentip #beginnergardener #beginnergardenertips ♬ Beautiful Life - Vin Music
The scoop
In a TikTok video, Jade shows some close-ups of her chili pepper plants, which sport a crop of green chilis still waiting to ripen. One clip shows her fingers vigorously tapping the stems close to where some white flowers have sprouted.
This is because chili flowers have both male and female parts, which makes them self-pollinating. Tapping, shaking, or using a small brush can help to transfer the pollen from the male to the female part.
"I couldn't grow chili peppers at all, and now that I follow this tapping routine, it has really helped!" Jade wrote in her caption.
How it's helping
Pollination is an essential step toward growing a chili pepper. If a flower is not pollinated, it will drop off without producing a chili.
Sometimes this can happen if the chili plant gets too hot or too cold. The ideal temperature for a chili plant is between 70 and 86 Fahrenheit, which some states are increasingly surpassing as cities continue to see record temperatures. Last year, temperatures reached 114 degrees in Phoenix, 109 degrees in Las Vegas, and 100 degrees in Colorado during the summer heat wave.
Gardeners may attempt to mitigate this by growing their chili plants under more controlled conditions indoors. But even there, the lack of wind and pollinating insects can disturb the flowers and hinder the pollination process.
The dwindling number of pollinating insects worldwide presents an extra challenge for chili plants, whether you grow them indoors or outdoors.
The number of North American bees has fallen by 50% since 1974, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with the greatest losses happening where temperatures have soared highest.
With fewer pollinators to go around, it will be much more difficult for each chili flower to pollinate unaided.
What everyone's saying
TikTokers had plenty to say about Jade's tip.
"Going to be tapping mine every morning now," wrote one TikToker.
"I use a vibrating toothbrush for my peppers and tomatoes. Works great!" another commented.
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