Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
mdy113

are my plants ok?

mdy113
9 years ago

posting my pepper seedlings in my planter about 4 weeks in. I am aware they are probably too close together (i probably tried maximizing what i could grow a little too much for the area, but they are kinda offset in a deep raised bed and have more space then pic may show), i had success before so i planted a bunch in some close quarters. left to right is Anaheim pepper, dragon cayenne, jalapeno, jumbo jalapeno, and cayenne.

However, this year i may have put them out maybe 2 weeks too early when weather at night was still a little too cool (2nd week april). since then they have not made much progress. just wondering if this has happened to others, will they bounce back now in the beautiful weather? or are they in trouble, they arent lacking anything either (sun, water, nutrients etc) but haven't noticed much change in the last two weeks. need i do something else or wait?

2nd pic (post below) is wider shot showing my cherry tomatoes on the left, as you can see are doing quite well.

thanks
concerned fairly new gardner

Comments (10)

  • mdy113
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    zoomed out shot to show comparison with tomatoes on left

  • seysonn
    9 years ago

    Definitely ! Your plants are better than "OK", I believe.

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    9 years ago

    Yep, they look fine...other than being way too close, as you mentioned. If they haven't exploded with growth in the next month, I'd be surprised.

    Josh

  • stoneys_fatali
    9 years ago

    I really like your brick planter box! That's what I'm going to do after my retainer wall however, I still prefer container plants.

    They appear to be nursery bought.

    What types?

    Stoney

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    9 years ago

    "left to right is Anaheim pepper, dragon cayenne, jalapeno, jumbo jalapeno, and cayenne."

    ;-)

  • mdy113
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    thanks stoney, this was perfect for the space, had landscaper make it, just hoping for good results on the plants after spending a lot on the planter box last year.

  • stoneys_fatali
    9 years ago

    Your plants look great!
    Yep, a little too close but they should still give you some nice crop :p

    Stoney

  • HotHabaneroLady
    9 years ago

    I love your planter box. :) And I agree that the plants look okay.

    But I am not so sure about them being too close. Pepper spacing is a subject on which there is disagreement. For example, with container peppers some sources will recommend that two peppers spend their lives together as a single plant. The idea is that they will help shade one another during the hot season and that will avoid sunburn on the fruits. This is much closer proximity than you have here. I did that and found that I got fewer peppers (but the ones I got were bigger!). The idea is that they will help shade one another during the hot season and that will avoid sunburn on the fruits.

    Others will say that peppers should be planted with a good amount of distance between them. This avoids crowding, but it is not as helpful in preventing sun damage.

    The method I use is to grow them closely enough that the leaves around each plant's outer edges will overlap with the leaves on the outer edges of the plant next to them. This is my way of trying to find a happy medium between sun protection and crowding. The saying I heard about this sometime ago is that "peppers like to hold hands." It seems to work for me. :)

    I am absolutely horrible at estimating spacing from a photo, but it looks like you are somewhere between approaches 1 and 3 in your spacing. It might not be absolutely optimal, but it seems like it should be fine. :)

    Angie

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    9 years ago

    In this case, the plants will shade each other out...preventing sun for photosynthesis. The more vigorous plants will overwhelm the less vigorous. Pruning will help, but will reduce overall harvest.

    Josh

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago

    Agree about the spacing. I space 15" with no dropoff in production, but 18" really is ideal -- 24" for chinense.

    If you JUST planted them, you may want to excavate a couple of them and put in containers et al. JMO

    Other than that, plants and box look great.

    Don't worry about growth -- they'll take off in no time.

    Kevin