Question about pepper plants

kmarie 5/14/2013, 5:14 pm

I just went and bought some red, green, and yellow pepper plants and they were sold in 4 packs. I assume that I only plant one per square foot since that is what the book calls for right?

**camprn** 5/14/2013, 5:17 pm

kmarie wrote:I just went and bought some red, green, and yellow pepper plants and they were sold in 4 packs. I assume that I only plant one per square foot since that is what the book calls for right?

Yes that is correct, one per square as the plants will take up a bunch of space above the bed.

kmarie 5/14/2013, 9:55 pm

Okay, I just wanted to be sure because they seem like such little plants to need one square foot. Thanks!

mschaef 5/14/2013, 10:05 pm

trust us they will grow and then you will be glad that you put only one per square!!

ArkansasSFGardener 5/14/2013, 11:38 pm

My green bell pepper plants are in the cages..

mschaef 5/15/2013, 11:13 am

Looks great!!!! cheers

CapeCoddess 5/15/2013, 12:52 pm

I'm planting 5 in 4 sqs this year as an experiment, since I read somewhere that in windy areas it helps if they can support each other somewhat. I'll let you know what happens.

CC

Goosegirl 5/15/2013, 6:08 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:I'm planting 5 in 4 sqs this year as an experiment, since I read somewhere that in windy areas it helps if they can support each other somewhat. I'll let you know what happens.

CC

I am interested to find out how this works for you. My neighbor has her peppers about 4-5 inches apart, because she says she has always had more success with her peppers when she crowds them.

GG

PS - it is VERY windy here, so maybe that is why they do so well for her crowded together.

**camprn** 5/15/2013, 6:10 pm

Goosegirl wrote:
CapeCoddess wrote:I'm planting 5 in 4 sqs this year as an experiment, since I read somewhere that in windy areas it helps if they can support each other somewhat. I'll let you know what happens.

CC

I am interested to find out how this works for you. My neighbor has her peppers about 4-5 inches apart, because she says she has always had more success with her peppers when she crowds them.

GG

PS - it is VERY windy here, so maybe that is why they do so well for her crowded together.

I have pretty good success with the one plant (poblano) per square. I usually pinch it to make it bush out and this increases yields.

boffer 5/15/2013, 6:38 pm

The only piece of gardening advice I've ever gotten from my parents is that 'peppers like company' ie. crowd them together. I don't have a clue why.

I plant one per square, but I also plant some in pots. I crowd the pots together and let the plants figure out on their own how to share space. I haven't noticed a difference in production either way.

**RoOsTeR** 5/16/2013, 8:05 am

boffer wrote:The only piece of gardening advice I've ever gotten from my parents is that 'peppers like company' ie. crowd them together. I don't have a clue why.

I plant one per square, but I also plant some in pots. I crowd the pots together and let the plants figure out on their own how to share space. I haven't noticed a difference in production either way.

Well, I will probably be putting that advice to good use. For some reason I ended up with about 30 pepper plants What a Face

I was totally guilty of looking at my tiny little starter cells and thinking no way that was enough pepper starts...so I planted more! Funny how those little cells take up little to no room and deceive you. Now I'm having a hard time juggling all the cups till I can get them planted...someplace cyclops

CapeCoddess 5/16/2013, 8:28 am

RoOsTeR wrote: Funny how those little cells take up little to no room and deceive you. Now I'm having a hard time juggling all the cups till I can get them planted...someplace

Yeah, that was sure an eye-opener for me this year! Shocked

CC

CapeCoddess 5/16/2013, 8:31 am

Goosegirl wrote:
CapeCoddess wrote:I'm planting 5 in 4 sqs this year as an experiment, since I read somewhere that in windy areas it helps if they can support each other somewhat. I'll let you know what happens.

CC

I am interested to find out how this works for you. My neighbor has her peppers about 4-5 inches apart, because she says she has always had more success with her peppers when she crowds them.

GG

PS - it is VERY windy here, so maybe that is why they do so well for her crowded together.

GG, I put 3 in a triangle in a 12" pot last year and I really think they would have done fine if I'd only known what I was doing and started with MM. They never had a issue from the winds tho.

CC

kmarie 5/16/2013, 8:52 am

Hmmm...maybe I will try planting 2 per square and see what happens. I have 3 left over from each of the 4 pack that I purchased. I didn't want to buy pots to put them in so I was thinking about giving them to my MIL.

CapeCoddess 5/16/2013, 9:05 am

kmarie wrote:Hmmm...maybe I will try planting 2 per square and see what happens. I have 3 left over from each of the 4 pack that I purchased. I didn't want to buy pots to put them in so I was thinking about giving them to my MIL.

Or maybe try both ways and see if there's any difference. I love experimenting!

CC

Windmere 5/16/2013, 11:22 am

RoOsTeR wrote:
boffer wrote:The only piece of gardening advice I've ever gotten from my parents is that 'peppers like company' ie. crowd them together. I don't have a clue why.

I plant one per square, but I also plant some in pots. I crowd the pots together and let the plants figure out on their own how to share space. I haven't noticed a difference in production either way.

Well, I will probably be putting that advice to good use. For some reason I ended up with about 30 pepper plants
I was totally guilty of looking at my tiny little starter cells and thinking no way that was enough pepper starts...so I planted more! Funny how those little cells take up little to no room and deceive you. Now I'm having a hard time juggling all the cups till I can get them planted...someplace

Rooster, I have a similar problem. Since I am new to all of this, I planted many bell peppers thinking that there is strength in numbers. I ended up with 13 California Wonders. Wow! Way more than I planned to have. I also planted some anaheim chiles (I have 4 of these... I exercised some restraint). My wife makes a marvelous dish called "chile rellenos." This is anaheim chiles stuffed with cheddar cheese and covered with an egg batter (and then fried). I REALLY hope the anaheims do well because we all love this dish.

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