So you want to try to separate them or leave them together?

Im not sure, Would they still be as productive if they are grown that close? I guess i could train them to grow outwards. Do you think they would be easy to separate them and transplant them individually?

I would think you would have to trim at least some of each seedlings roots to separate them. I wouldnt think they would be as productive together as they would be individually, since they have to share root space, sun, water etc. I guess the question is which would be more productive, leaving them as is or trying to separate them. If it were me, I'd either leave them alone and put them in a big, 4-5 gallon pot (if your keeping them in a container), or try to quarter them.

I am doing this with about 10 jalapeno seedlings, although mine are younger than yours. I'm going to let mine go and see what happens. Keep me updated on how this turns out.

yeah as mentioned above, flood and shake seems to work for me as well.

I started to separate them early this morning, It did not work to well, The roots are too entangled with each other and the rocks.

I was trying to research about ways I could train them to get the maximum light coverage, and the most peppers. And I found a post about Low Stress Training.
Basically its tying or weighting down all of the vertical growth to make it horizontal.

I figure i can make a very dense bush of them by training the outer plants to fan outwards, and all of the inner plants at a 45 degree angle.

Also, I am planning on putting these peppers in the ground in my garden when the temperature permits.

Thanks for all of the quick responses
Ben

Just incase you are interested, here is a video of exactly this except it is tomatoes and they are a little younger.

The video is called "transplanting video"

Actually I am thinking about trying this some time and that is why I saved the page. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Lots of sprouts!

Be aware of one drawback of the dense planting method. It will take your seedling an extra three weeks to reach planting size compared to the usual one seed per cell method. Me and another guy planted our seedlings on the same date and mine had already reached planting size and I sold them while his were still struggling along due to the setback from competing for light and nutrients while dense planted and the root damage when transplanting. The dense planting method also means you have to transplant earlier and have no room for error as far as timing goes.

{{gwi:7560}}

And this is what i got.I figure they will right their leaves overnight and it will look better.

Some of them had stems that were almost hardened enough that i couldnt bend them over easily.

Also there are more seedling sprouting, I expected them all to have been sprouted by now.

And some of them are putting out alternating leaves. Does that mean they are mature and going to flower soon? They are only about 6 inches and smaller

Not anywhere near mature.
Peppers will flower while very small, yet they won't set fruit for some time.

Josh

{{gwi:7561}}

Over night the pepper seedlings that i pegged down have righted their leaves. Also their leaves grew larger.

A few of them were strong enough to pull the peg out of the soil and right their whole stem. I guess I'll need longer pegs.

Also many new sprouts have appeared overnight. I guess they like having more light.

I'll keep you guys updated on the progress and the eventual pepper production.

Ben

PS: The leaves of the bell pepper seedlings feels very different than any pepper I've grown before. It has a cling type feel to it almost like rubber, while every other pepper I've grown has smooth leaves. Has anyone ever experienced this also?

{{gwi:7563}}

During the course of the day all of the biggest peppers did a 90 degree bend right after the peg.

I never expected they would grow towards the light that fast.

Ben

{{gwi:7562}}

I noticed that the very small seedling with just their seed leaves have bulked up tremendously over the day. I suspect them to put out 2 real leaves tomorrow

You need a large container of warm water to lessen the shock. Maybe 80 F water is good. You shake the root ball up and down in the water washing off the soil until you have like all roots only. The plants will separate. some roots get broken off but you can keep almost all plants alive.

You can lay the plants down in water. Keep them in water until they are transplanted. As you pull the plants apart keep them in water. the water will help to untangle the roots. But some will get the roots broken off. That is ok the plant will grow new roots and recover.

pull them off the rootball in groups. even pull in half. that brings some roots with the pulled off bunch. now separate them. move the plants up and down in the water to help separate the roots.

After transplanting you give them some time to recover from the shock.

Bell peppers are much harder to grow then chile peppers. The bell peppers will just not produce all bunched up. You could chop off all plants except one plant. You could cut down the plant and root the cutting but that is somewhat tricky and difficult. I would tear them apart and not worry too much about roots being lost. just plant them and they will make a comeback. right now the most valuable part of the plant is the roots and the part of the stem below ground from which the roots grow. new roots will come out of that part very fast. just keep all the stem and a little root and it will grow for you just fine.

i agree with the above post, just take them all apart as gently as possible and plant them seperatly. i dont know if reducing the foliage will reduce the shock or load on the roots.

here is a update

and the side view

They are all growing very vigorously. I think I will be able to plant them outside very soon

Any updates on these? Did you transplant them outside?

I dont have any new pictures yet. But I transplanted them all into a bed, I separated them. But I planted them close together, Probably about 1 inch away from each other in a square about 2 feet squared. My father didnt understand why I planted them so close, so I told him 'Survival of the fittest' but so far none of them have died yet. I think there were over 100. Ill try to get pictures tomorrow if it doesn't rain. They are not growing any taller yet, Just getting bigger leaves.