On Thu, 20 Mar 2003 12:02:04 -0500, Pam wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2003 05:49:51 GMT,since it's all about me
"Lorenzo L. Love" professed:

snipped

I don't know about starting two together, but if you have problems with
sun scald, which affects both hot and sweet peppers in hot and sunny
areas, dense planting to provide shade for the fruit helps a great deal.
Sun scald starts as a black discoloration on the fruit, which is
harmless, but can proceed to dead and decaying spots. You can tell that
it's sun scald because it's only on the sunny side of the fruit.
Planting the peppers close together in blocks will shield the fruit
while still allowing lots of sun to the upper leaves.

I live in the South, and the sun is plenty bright and hot. I
find encouraging green growth by pinching off the first
few flowers allows each pepper plant to grow it's own
shade. If you live in a humid climate where molds can
be a problem, it's important to have enough room between
plants for air to circulate. I realize that I have a longer
growing season than Northern gardeners, so bit of a delay
in getting ripe peppers isn't an issue; except for my
impatience for home grown peppers!

I don't think I could bring myself to pinch off pepper blossoms, but
Pam's method may be a good idea. Sun scald usually occurs on very
early fruit, before the plant has developed a full canopy of leaves.

I don't see much point in planting 2 peppers together. Just a way to
raise 2 unhappy plants, both competing for soil nutrients, sun, etc.