>>782250I did the opposite with my pepper just for aesthetic purposes
I wanted it to look more like a tree. It has to do with hormones in plants, auxens and gibberellins
Auxens are produced in the tops of plants and they inhibit side growth but promote root growth. Removing the tops of plants reduces the amount of auxens produced which then causes more side growth at the expense of root development. If your plant is already well rooted it won't matter much so you can prune all you want.
Removing side growth will preserve energy to be used for root development which produces gibberellins and in turn promotes more upward growth
