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in-ground In ground plant spacing question

Melissa77754

Melissa77754

Hey guys/gals! :)

I have a question for all the in ground growers. My beds are pretty much ready to plant in and I am wondering how far apart I should space each plant? What else should I take in to consideration? Maybe each species planted in rows? Like Annum row, baccatum row, chinense row, pubescen row? Or what varieties should I NOT plant next to eachother?

I am pretty sure I will have to think about how tall/bushy each variety tends to grow. Smaller bushiers plants to the front, tall plants to the back? First time growing this many plants in ground and am clueless as to where to start! HELP!! :)

Thanks!
Melissa
 
Glad someone asked the question, I've been wondering this too, but I'm still a month away from planting out, :( so I've been holding off on asking.
 
"I am pretty sure I will have to think about how tall/bushy each variety tends to grow. Smaller bushiers plants to the front, tall plants to the back?"

Sounds like a good plan.

"far apart I should space each plant? "

I would say 18 inchs on smaller one and 24 inches on the larger varieties.

Thats what I do in my climate 5b, every climate is different and plants get larger some places.
 
i would say @ least 20-24inches w/in the rows w/ the rows being 2-1/2 to 3 ft apart, the pubescens especially will need abit more than that though my to rocotos got huge last yr and they were in 5gal buckets, in the ground they will get even bigger, this is only my second year growing but i did have 80 plants in the ground last year and everything that wasnt @ least 2ft apart got a bit crowded I think jmo
 
It's a good idea to stagger the plants based on how tall they get, and space them depending on how much they spread. IMO, pubescens almost need their own zip code. The *smallest* of my pubescens last year got to 4 and a half feet in 5 gallon buckets, but the ones I had in the ground were almost 6 feet wide and 8+ feet tall, and this was their first year...
 
chile_freak said:
i would say @ least 20-24inches w/in the rows w/ the rows being 2-1/2 to 3 ft apart, the pubescens especially will need abit more than that though my to rocotos got huge last yr and they were in 5gal buckets, in the ground they will get even bigger, this is only my second year growing but i did have 80 plants in the ground last year and everything that wasnt @ least 2ft apart got a bit crowded I think jmo
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Thanks for the input, I appreciate it! I have three pubescens in 15ga pots right now. I may just grow them in pots the entire season. I think I remember Smokemaster tell me they like to be somewhat root bound.

synclinorium said:
It's a good idea to stagger the plants based on how tall they get, and space them depending on how much they spread. IMO, pubescens almost need their own zip code. The *smallest* of my plants last year got to 4 and a half feet in 5 gallon buckets, but the ones I had in the ground were almost 6 feet wide and 8+ feet tall, and this was their first year...
Click to expand...

Thanks! I think I may keep them in pots then, would rather use the ground for something that needs the ground to get monstrous! :)
 
in 15gal pots they should get ginormous! I wouldn't worry about those.Mine got to about 6 1/2 ft tall by 4 ft wide in 5gal buckets, and i dont have the growing season you all do, I can say the rocotos like shade during the hottest part of the day.
 
chile_freak said:
in 15gal pots they should get ginormous! I wouldn't worry about those.Mine got to about 6 1/2 ft tall by 4 ft wide in 5gal buckets, and i dont have the growing season you all do, I can say the rocotos like shade during the hottest part of the day.
Click to expand...

I have a nice big shade tree in my back yard, I want it gone but that will have to wait till next year. So the Manzano's can get shaded under there. I have some more babies to pot up, think they will go in large pots too! :)

Thanks again!
 
this may sound like sacralidge to many chile growers but at the most i space 13 inches apart, i get away with this and so does a friend of mine because of ample walkway space between rows that the roots can spread to and catch water and nutrients, i and my friend never have trouble with our plants in any aspect, good size,very prolific, no signs of competition at all and they tend to do a good job holding each other up

now bare in mind your going to get crosses this way, and you will still even at 20+ inches apart
if you have enough space between your rows say about 2 1/2 to 3 ft you can do what i and my friend have been doing for many years now
hope this helps

thanks your friend Joe
 
LMFAO Mezo, you're killin' me man. Welcome to the chile world Melissa. I'd think about arranging the plants from hot to superhot. That way you can try to avoid having the hot ones you want to enjoy becoming flame throwers. Although this is still a great possibility. Good luck!
 
Thanks AjiJoe for the detailed response!! Very helpful :)

LOL @ Mezo!! Try a hubby, sorry! :)

Thanks 3/5King!!! I am thinking of buying some kind of cover to try isolating some pods, we shall see how the season progresses.
 
If they're planted in a windy location, closer together will let them support each other as they get bigger. I think 18 inches should be the minimum, but 2 feet apart might give you wider,bushier plants. Close together will give you taller plants. Here's a story of a guy who planted 6 tomatoes in a 3x6 box - it didn't work well in the end. Link
 
bigt said:
If they're planted in a windy location, closer together will let them support each other as they get bigger. I think 18 inches should be the minimum, but 2 feet apart might give you wider,bushier plants. Close together will give you taller plants. Here's a story of a guy who planted 6 tomatoes in a 3x6 box - it didn't work well in the end. Link
Click to expand...


Thanks for the input! And 6 tomatoes in that small of a space, he was doomed from the start! Way too close for tomatoes, even with adequate spacing my in ground tomatoes turned in to beasts last year, it was a jungle! lol.
 
You can do 18" spacing to get more varieties in the same space, but the chinenses really want at least 24". You can probably do 18" just fine with some tall anuums and baccatums. Pubescens definitely need at least 24". You don't really need to worry about keeping the species seperated.
 
What does everyone think about Tepins, I calculated the space between my plants to have about 24" at least, with 3' between the super hots, but I might do something like 2.5' so I can fit more peppers in there, and I like the idea of the edges of them starting to hold each other up with the plants, as long as they don't really grow into each other a ton to limit their productivity.. they are in full sun, so like what Melissa was planning, putting the smaller species in the front, with the tall and super hots in the back,

but anyways I have noticed that my tepins in the tent really like growing on top of the other plants like vines, and I don't really want them doing that on the other species so much, but I figured that if I put them pretty close together, like 20" close or maybe a little more, but close enough so that they will grow on top of each other a little, with some general spikes to support them when they branch out all over the place, and since their leaves are small it shouldn't be much of a problem I would think for light trying to get down to the lower branches.. and a lot of them just have shoots right now that are at the base and just go off to the side on the ground to grow on the edge of other pots, it's kind of cool/funny. so what does everyone think.

I figure it wouldn't hurt to get some more info packed into this thread rather than having a few different threads on the same topic, since they are related. hope that is OK Melissa
 
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