Tips from Olle Garden Bed:How Far Apart Should You Plant Chili Peppers

Chili peppers are just the ingredients needed to enhance the flavor of a family recipe. You can chew them raw in salads and rolls, or cook them to taste your dishes. Whether you prefer hotter and more spicy varieties or sweeter and milder versions, these vibrant fruits can meet your needs! The following content also has some reference value for raised garden beds.

When growing chili peppers at home, you need to consider many factors that can determine the success of the crop. One of them is the correct spacing of chili plants. Appropriate spacing can provide sufficient growth space for chili peppers without competition for nutrients, water, and light. Understand how far you should plant precious chili peppers to achieve optimal yield.

How far is it to grow chili peppers

You can plant many varieties of chili peppers in your home garden, such as small and powerful chili peppers, popular Mexican peppers, and milder and sweeter sweet peppers.

The ideal spacing for chili peppers is 12 to 24 inches in a row, with 24 to 36 inches between each row, depending on the variety. You can also plant chili peppers in a grid or chessboard format. In this case, each chili plant is 18 inches away from other plants in all directions.

Note: You can start planting chili seeds indoors approximately six to eight weeks before the last frost date in your area, or you can choose to purchase small plants from your local nursery. When transplanting chili seedlings underground, please ensure that the soil temperature is around 65 degrees Fahrenheit to obtain the best growth conditions.

The importance of correct spacing

Overcrowded plants force them to compete for nutrients, water, oxygen, and sunlight. When plants do not have sufficient resources, they can hinder growth and have a negative impact on yield. Plants that are too close to each other are also more susceptible to disease attacks and transmission.

On the contrary, sufficient spacing encourages the pepper plant to grow a large number of branches and fruits. It also makes harvesting easier. Due to the appearance of fruits on all sides of plants, it provides you with space to move around and pick them without trampling on nearby crops.

Pepper plants also need sufficient air circulation to thrive and grow stronger roots, which can be achieved by correctly spacing crops.

Tips for planting chili peppers

Planting chili peppers from seeds or grafts is a beneficial experience as you will see the seedlings grow into sturdy plants and produce colorful and shiny fruits. However, you must implement the following practices to enjoy a bountiful harvest.

Quenching off

When transplanting delicate plants, do not forget to harden them by gradually exposing them to outdoor environments. Once the nighttime temperature exceeds 54 degrees Fahrenheit, start adapting to them.

On the first day, place the seedlings outdoors in a sunny area and take shelter from the wind for a few hours. Gradually increase the time within two to three weeks before transplanting them outdoors.

Professional tip: Transplant on cloudy days, in the morning or evening to avoid causing stress on plants that have already undergone transplant shock. This will protect your plants from the heat of the sun.

Choose the correct location

Plant chili peppers in areas in the garden that receive at least six to eight hours of sunlight per day. These fruits also like fertile, fertile, and well drained soil, which is slightly acidic and has a pH value between 6 and 7. Before transplantation, enrich the soil by raking in 8 to 10 inches of aged feces to provide sufficient nutrition for your chili peppers.

Watering consistently

Chili peppers require approximately 1 to 2 inches of water per week. If there is not enough rainwater in your area, please use a soaking hose to manually rinse the plants. Continuous watering can produce the highest quality fruit. On the other hand, insufficient watering or reduced soil moisture can cause flowers to fall off or fruits to become smaller. Lack of water can also increase the vulnerability of plants to floral decay.

cover

Covering provides many benefits for plants. It can prevent soil moisture loss, weed germination, and competition for nutrients with plants. You can use 4-inch organic mulch, such as straw, bark shavings, or grass shavings. Due to chili peppers liking warm growth conditions, black plastic mulch is also a good choice to keep the soil warm.

Timely harvest

When chili peppers reach the desired size, color, and glossy texture, you can harvest them. You can even eat them when they are green! You can also choose to leave them on the plant for a longer period of time to further mature and form a sweeter taste. However, harvesting usually encourages plants to produce more flowers and fruits.

Wear gloves and use sharp scissors to remove chili peppers from the stem. They have the best fresh taste from grape vines, but you can store them in the refrigerator for a week or longer.

Make room for chili peppers

Proper spacing is one of the many necessary conditions for healthy plants. Planting them too close may expose you to the risk of disease transmission, excessive competition for resources, and challenging harvest risks. Placing them too far away can cause you to lose high-quality space and reduce production. Therefore, interval them at appropriate time intervals to encourage better growth and happier crops.