I would say that they are a bit close although you don't say exactly how close they are in inches. But I have grown two pepper plants of the same variety in a single 5 gallon pail and they both did fine. The only negative was that they probably produced less than if they were separate. Ideally, you probably want a couple feet at least between most pepper plants. Some varieties are better with even more. They will still probably grow OK if they are closer but likely not produce quite as well.
Bruce

Thanks for the advice. So it wouldn't make sense to trim? Just leave as is?

They are roughly 20" a part by the way...

This post was edited by salevene on Fri, Dec 27, 13 at 22:12

I would leave them go. Just watch that little fella in the middle. If he doesn't get going, he might get crowded out before he has a chance.

I would leave them as planted. 20 inches is plenty of spacing for even very large pepper plants. I often plant tomatoes @ 18" spacing(due to lack of space). But then you have to keep them pruned to control the top. Spacing n such cases often is a requirement for the top , not for the roots.

I think they're fine...and, yes, you can always prune them to shape/spacing. The recommendation for pepper spacing is 18 - 22 inches.

Josh

Thanks all, I will keep them as is and post an update down the road.

Spacing looks fine to me! I'm jealous....it's currently snowing up a storm at my place. It'll be months before I see anything green!

18-24" is what's recommended most of the time. Though, I've gotten away with 15" with annuums--- especially when using tomato cages. A lot of the chinense varieties are a lot more bushy though. I go with 24" minimum for those.

Kevin

I forgot to mention that the one on the left (cayenne) is full-grown and producing like crazy. I planted it too late and stunted its growth a bit. And actually, the way the sun hits my plants, I'm not too worried about the little guy in the middle.. it hits them all straight on versus over top (you can see how I had to tie a small string on the left one to keep it from topping over (combo of the weight of all the peppers, rain and the plant chasing the sun).

I'll keep everyone posted!