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Vegetable Gardening

Are these peppers planted too close together??

10 years ago

They are Tabasco peppers, bell and yellow sweet peppers. Can I just move the middle one if they are too close? They are in a raised bed.

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Featured Answer

digdirt2

10 years ago

Sorry to disagree but properly grown pepper plants have a root system that is at least as big as the diameter of the top growth and usually as much as 2x the size of the top. The primary reason for using proper spacing is nutrient and moisture availability. Overly close plants are competing for both. The competition leads to stressed plants, increased BER, lower production, leaf drop, and disease and pest susceptibility.

Dave

Comments (11)

hidesertca
10 years ago
That looks way too close. They should be at least 12-18in apart and in rows at least 2ft apart.
seysonn
10 years ago
Agree. Too close.
Yes dig up the top right corner one and plant it further away . ALSO move the middle one to somewhere outside that rectangle.
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lkzz
10 years ago
Peppers are soooooo deceiving. They get quite large.
Here is a pic of mine at mid-season last year - I spaced them about 2 feet apart. 18 inches is probable fine.
digdirt2
10 years ago
Agree with all the above. Standard recommended spacing on pepper plants is 2 feet. With extra care you can 'get by' with 18".

Dave
edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
10 years ago
How deep is the soil in the raised bed?
jonfrum
10 years ago
I'd take out all but the center plant - by eyeball it's about 8 inches from the sides of the bed.
ltilton
10 years ago
At the least, move every other plant.
noki
10 years ago
Well, what is the worst that can happen? You won't get more peppers by having more plants crowded like that. You probably won't get too many huge bell peppers. Suppose if there was a disease issue, this would make it spread worse. But the peppers should live and make some peppers that are perfectly edible.

Still, you should not have so many like that, and you should spread them out. Hard to tell if you have seeds planted or not, but you don't seem to be using the space all that well.Try the ideas of intensive gardening and interplanting to maximize space. Some quicker vegetables may be planted then removed between the peppers while the pepper plants get bigger. You could put that Basil in-between some pepper plants and space the peppers further out. Imagine at least a foot of space around every plant, maybe a few inches closer to the edge. That would still be quite tight for root space. 15" of space is considered tight intensive spacing.

This post was edited by noki on Tue, May 14, 13 at 1:35
seysonn
10 years ago
spacing requirement for peppers and tomatoes, is not so much for theie roots system but for room for their tops.
So by proper staking/caging and pruning you can do it at 18". Also it would depen on the varieties. For example some chilies don't get very big. In my experience, proper staking can help a lot.
Tiarella
10 years ago
I don't know what zone you're in, but my tabascos in containers get about 4' tall by 3' wide.

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