This year my garden will be all containers so tomato and pepper plants can winter indoors.
My Habenero Peppers will be arranged in a north-south direction with a separation of 3 feet between N-S rows and 2 feet between plants with each N-S row.
Am I spacing the out too much?
I would suggest you can move your plants and rows a little closer together by staggering plants from one row to the next (best viewed in Fixed Font):
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
(I have found that one problem with container plants is often that the container itself can become overheated by exposure to the sun. So keep that in mind.)
Tomatoes and peppers will need a lot of artificial light.
My feed and supply guy told me peppers need to be touching each other. I've planted like this and it's done well. This year I have planted 4 pepper plants in an 8 gal container, I did this last year, however the deer ate them first.
Habanero pepper plants need good spacing to grow to their full size, so space the plants 18 to 24 inches apart. Rows should be at least 3 feet apart. The best soil for growing habanero peppers is a well-drained soil, amended with lots of organic matter such as compost, rotted leaves or rotted manure. Adding a layer of mulch around the pepper plants' root systems controls weeds and prevents moisture loss from the soil. The soil pH should be near neutral, in the range of 6.0 to 7.0.
Organic amendments to the soil shouldn't exceed 5% by volume. Mulch is good for retaining water, and the health of the soil, BUT it will reduce soil temperature. Peppers like a soil temperature of 21C - 29C. You should hold off on the mulch until you are approaching the higher temps. You may even wish to use clear plastic sheeting around your peppers to increase the soil temp.
Thank you for confirming my thoughts.
Dick
I suspect the peppers you're planting are low on the Scoville scale. Bell, Banana, Jalapeo, Serrano, Cayenne, and Malagueta Peppers are all below 100,000 Scoville. Rabbits and deer may eat them, but I have yet to lose a Habenero plant lost to a deer or a rabbit.
Last year I planted Bhut Jolokia (1 million Scoville). They were planted too close together (12" to 15"). and they grew to 4' tall. So in a container garden, They'd be one to a large pot.
This year I've planted six Red Savina Reds (~ 400,000 Scoville,), three Scotch Bonnet peppers (~200,000 Scoville), and three Trinidad Seven Pot peppers (~1,000,000 Scoville). These 12 plants are in no danger from being breakfast, lunch, or supper any critter. Only humans are dumb enough to eat Habeneros.
My other plants (tomatoes and Bell peppers) have cages around them.
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