Sunburned tea and black pepper help

We had a flash heat last week, and it burned the tea plants and black pepper vines I had put outside, so I could plant them. I moved them into my indoor nursery for some TLC, hoping they can be saved.
At first I thought they were dead, but there are still some leaves that are okay, after the last three days.
My question is, Would it help or harm the plants, if I prune them? I was thinking that with pruning they might be also to bounce back better. Any advice are welcome. The plan is to grow them underneath a shaded trellis. Trellis ropes underneath a 50% shade cloth, so my black and long pepper can climb, and then plant my tea underneath it, so they get the shade they need.

I am envious that you can grow tea and black pepper in your garden!

Bumping this thread. Somebody out there has an answer!

Ulla, I'm not an expert, but I think pruning the sunburned leaves off your plants, putting the black pepper on trellis ropes and then putting a shade cloth over them is an excellent idea. You might give them a little bit of organic fertilizer, too.

We had similar problems with a nasty heat wave here in Oregon a few years ago. Some of my rhododendrons got scorched, so I pruned them back, mulched them more and now they're doing fine. I would have given them some more afternoon shade if I could have, but it was impractical.

I don't know anything about black peppers, but I do have some experience with tea plants. I know from experience that they prefer a semi-shaded area and don't like direct, hot sun all day long. So your plan makes excellent sense. Good luck and keep us updated!

M.K. Dorje Sr. wrote: I'm not an expert, but I think pruning the sunburned leaves off your plants, putting the black pepper on trellis ropes and then putting a shade cloth over them is an excellent idea. You might give them a little bit of organic fertilizer, too.

We had similar problems with a nasty heat wave here in Oregon a few years ago. Some of my rhododendrons got scorched, so I pruned them back, mulched them more and now they're doing fine. I would have given them some more afternoon shade if I could have, but it was impractical.

I don't know anything about black peppers, but I do have some experience with tea plants. I know from experience that they prefer a semi-shaded area and don't like direct, hot sun all day long. So your plan makes excellent sense. Good luck and keep us updated!

Thank you so much. One of the tea plants looks okay and the black pepper has stated to set new leaves. The second tea plant has very few leaves left, but branches still look green, so there are hope still. I will prune it back. This was my own stupid fault. I thought we wouldn’t get that high temperatures yet, so I left them outside, even though we hadn’t finished building the trellis yet.
The last one, in that spot, was blown over when we had a storm, so we are building a stronger one.
I am trying to prove a point, with my garden design and methods. I want to prove, that with the exception of salt, it’s possible to grow and raise enough food, for a family, in a space smaller than most. We are able to grow food all year round, so that helps. I have 15 4’x8’ raised beds in the back with our animals. In the front I have a food forest garden, plus 4 more beds. I am currently building a small hugel in the FFG to increase planting space. The FFG is 3300 square feet.
Last year I past growing a metric ton aka 2206 pounds of produce, herbs and grains, but fell a little short of my million calories goal. My final goal is 2 million calories, since that will feed my husband and I, plus the last of our three kids, still living at home.
Anyway, that’s why I am growing coffee and tea. I also grow chicory as a coffee substitute, and many herbs and flowers for herbal teas. Last weekend we finished the shade cover for the coffee area, so I am hoping we can finish the one for pepper and tea, this weekend.

I just want to update, to say that it worked to prune it down. As you can see on the photo I have lots of new growth coming. There are also a few branches that need further pruning. The second tea plant, which wasn’t hit as badly, are also sprouting new leaves, but I can also see branches, that are dead and need to be pruned.
We are almost finished with the shaded trellis. It would have been finished already, if my husband hadn’t damaged his hand. I told him, I would be more comfortable, if he wait to do the rest, until my youngest daughter comes home from college to spend the summer with us. I talked to her and she has agreed to help. She are very good at these kind of projects.

Thank you for the update, Ulla!  I'm glad to hear that your tea plants are doing better.