I find that using those flimsy "tomato" cages (@ Lowe's/HD) works well for the more light weight and shorter pepper plants. I space these cages about 30" apart but 24" should also work well for peppers if space is lacking.

I place mine so those 'tomato' cages are touching each other. I think it's around 16"-18". This way I can use a single T-post per four cages/plants and then I use zip ties to connect the 4 cages together so they are all supported by one T-post.

Peppers tolerate close company well and it helps to protect the fruit from sun scald.

I am trying to imagine a T-post and cages. Please explain.

O O O O O O

...T.......T........T

O O O O O O

That is the layout for 12 plants (2 rows of 6 plants) with 3 t-posts down the middle of the rows used to support 4 plants each. One cage is zip tied to the T post and then each of the 4 cages around each post are zip tied together.

This is in a 4'x10' raised bed.

Thanks guys, I always heard they grow good close but just wanted to double check. I also use round tomato cages.

Hmmmm... thanks for the explanation. I guess I never had enough pepper plants to do that.

I grow mine in pairs. Two, very close together in the same planting hole, then normal spacing (I always look that up). Apparently, they like to have a close neighbour and it works for me, plus I can get more plants in the row that way :).

Linda

You don't want them too close together. Air circulation is important for peppers too. I plant in a 18", staggered pattern, like this.

O <---36"---> O <---36" ---> O <---36"---> O

:

: (18" between offset rows)

:

.............O <---36"---> O <---36" ---> O <---36"---> O

This way, you have a plant every linear foot, but plants are 18" apart in all directions. ymmv

I looked them up. Flamingo lists spacing at 18-24", the other two at 12-18".

I've done like LoneJack in the past, but with only 6 large cages and 2 Tposts or somtimes smaller cages with more bamboo posts. By the time I get the whole thing strapped together, it is real sturdy. Even enough for dwarf tomatoes and some of the biggest peppers I've grown. If you use cages, they do the spacing for you with the top rims :)

I've been container growing for a few years though, so spacing isn't an issue. This year I need to grow out a lot of sweet peppers for processing and I'll do those out in a bed with 8 cages strapped together. Yellow Monster- 18" spacing, stays under 24". So I'll probably do medium cages with bamboo for them- larger poles in the middle smaller uprights on the outers, and probably a horzontal stablizer on the middle ring of the cage. The fruits are supposed to get really big so I might want to add in extra support places for those.

Labradors, nice to hear you do twinning and find it good. I recently learned of this, through some tomato chatter. Decided to try it for my tomatoes- 2 twins, instead of 4 seperate plants on the fence. Figured out peppers like it too. So I did 2 twins of Rezha Macedonian- those are 14- 18" spacing and will get two 10 gallon pots, medium cages. And Aji Amarillo. I haven't really found spacing info for it, but it's around 3 foot tall. So 2 twins into two 15 gallon pots, large cages. Or I might decide I do have room in the bed that's getting the Yellow Monsters, and just do 4 large cages for all the twins. I would do them as a seperate row. Not sure yet.

I've planted 12 inches, 18" and 24" apart and didn't detect any difference in growth between the three. At 12" I had nearly no losses due to sun scald but lost many in the foliage, but it looked cool. 18" spacing with the same between 2 rows reduced sun scald and still allowing easy access to picking. 24" or more was a waste of space and always had the most sun scald peppers.

I just stake my peppers because my growing season is to short (zone 4) to grow tall enough to need a cage. I may have been lucky but never had a problem with disease on my peppers even when planted at 12" apart. Is disease on peppers more common in the south because I've never had any here in all my years.

I routinely do twinning on almost all of my veggies. It's insurance that, if one plant croaks, there won't be a gap. Very true that you won't get optimal production out of both plants, but between the two of them, you'll get production that will rival one solitary plant. Two plants close together behave, in terms of soil nutrition, pretty much as two stems on one plant.

Dan, haven't though of the twinning Idea but makes sense and something to store in my memory bank.

"Peppers tolerate close company well and it helps to protect the fruit from sun scald."

I agree. Lacking any additional support, close spacing also help the plants to support each other. It also conserves soil moisture (which is important for good peppers) and helps to keep the weeds down.

When planting large numbers of peppers, I too use alternating rows; but more closely than above. I use rows 12" apart, and plants 24" apart, in alternating positions row-to-row... which equals about 17" between adjacent plants.

X_____(24")___X____________X____________X____________X

(12" BETWEEN ROWS)

______X____________X____________X____________X

(12" BETWEEN ROWS)

X___________X____________X____________X____________X

This works best in blocks of 3-4 rows, so plants are easily accessible from the edges. In my isolation cages (which are 9' X 3') I only use 2 rows, 9" from both long sides.

I too use the small "tomato" cages (which are basically useless for tomatoes) to support tall pepper plants; they work as if designed for that purpose. Within my tented cages though, I use short cut sections of welded wire fencing, bent into hoops. The fencing is cut so that there are prongs sticking out from one side, which can be driven into the ground. This is a good, cost-effective method for supporting large numbers of peppers... and if you lay weed suppression fabric around your pepper plants (as I do) pushing the prongs through the fabric holds it in place.

I like the staggered about 18" spacing in two rows, and let the plants grow into each other. Pepper plants can get quite large by late Summer. Further spacing just ends up for me with more broken branches and lots of small September peppers that don't get a chance to mature, so giving them more room doesn't really have an advantage. I've never had a pepper transplant die.

I never know sunscald was an issue! I had to look it up. I do get it but not often, I never bothered to check what it was I just assumed some creature got inside.