How much it too much?

[TattyJJ]

I have space issues....
In my 6x8 greenhouse i'm planning to put 6 tomato plants down each side, maybe 7 if someone here tells me i'll get away with it
Then along the back i'm going to have 2 cucumber plants and some staging with a few chillies and sweet peppers.

Problem is i have loads of chilli and pepper plants and just not enough space for them!
I was wondering, as the tomatoes are in flower buckets which lifts the base of the plant up somewhat, and chillies/peppers generally being quite stumpy in comparison. Will i get away with putting a row of grow bags on the floor in front of the toms down each side so i can fit all my chilli and sweet peppers in?
So long as i can actually get in there it's ok right??

[Containergardener]

Are your toms all cordon /taller ones ?
My GH Is slightly bigger and i ran cordons down each side with layer staging at end for cuc and chilli high above in past .
No idea what il do this yr, go with flow.

Are your cuc In Or outdoor ? Could you get away with them or some toms outdoor where you are ?

[muddled]

So long as i can actually get in there it's ok right??

Not really, you need to consider airflow (to prevent mildews) and shade as the plants leaf up, pest control (how will you even notice you have red spider mite in dense jungle?

So, begin by looking at your seed packets for the eventual height and spread of your chilis and peppers...and think about how you will train your tomatoes....then you'll have a better idea of the space they need.
Also try to think of some other suitable places for a chili plant...a sunny kitchen windowsill?

Fitting them all in is gonna take a bit of planning...

[sparrow100]

I get 7 cordon toms down each side near the glass, sat on polytwine strings that will train them up and over a horizontal cane to another in the apex, plus a tumbling tom on the shelf at the end. Then I have a second row of plants closer to the path, currently 3 aubergines on one side and some basil, then tomorrow all the sweet peppers & pepinos go in. Chillies will stay in pots on the path.

It IS manageable, but this is based on my one and only year of having a greenhouse. I found I needed to a) be really vigilant and b) take off about a third of the leaves from the tomatoes just to make sure air-flow isn't compromised. I have an autovent and fully open the house each morning. I also water very sparingly (I plant into the borders, not in pots) to cut condensation issues and drape shade netting on the outside..

I plan on having a second greenhouse up for next year...

[TattyJJ]

The tomatoes are all cordon, San marzano and Jersey devil, I have 14 doing really well i'd like to keep inside, plus a few stragglers I don't mind loosing. The cucumbers are outdoor, but the plan is to have 2 inside and 2 outside to see how they crop.
As for the chillies, they are all cayenne, and the peppers are colour spectrum and mini mix.
The OH in her eagerness to pot things up got those all totally mixed up so I've no idea what is what with them now.
Sure a couple can find a home on a windowsill, but I've 25 (yes I know, very carried away) and would like to keep as many as possible.

[SusieG]

Tatty, glad someone else has gone totally over the top with toms - I've a big greenhouse and It's still not going to be viable to grow them all on PLUS all the chillis, cuces, peppers aarrgghh!!
Think I'm going to have to have a 'tom plant sale' (to go with the chillis already sent off ...)at work .....

[sparrow100]

In my experience chillies will still crop well outside in the balmy south Tatty, with often a better 'set' than those in a greenhouse. I struggle to get many pollinators in and this year have included some flowers to tempt more in.

[SusieG]

I think I might try putting just one chilli plant outside (!) when it gets a bit warmer (??) as an experiment ..... It could be worth the sacrifice ...
Sparrow - do you mean you need to get more pollinators into your GH? So, do you think it's worth having
some flowers growing (mine will be in pots) inside GH?

[TattyJJ]

Oh god, don't be telling me I should have flowers in there too

I'm struggling for space here....

[Penellype]

Not a great deal of experience here (my 3rd greenhouse year) but when I first started using my friend's greenhouse I put tomatoes at the back of the gro-beds and peppers and an aubergine at the front. The peppers hated it and soon died, the aubergine produced one tiny fruit (from a flower that was on it when I bought it) before dying of botrytis. They were not in individual pots though.

Have you thought of putting tomatoes round the edge then 1 row of chillies down the middle of the greenhouse with a path either side? Would that work? It may depend on how large you are (both sideways and height wise) - I'm fairly skinny but would have to bend as I am quite tall.

[TattyJJ]

That's a good idea, 1 extra row rather than 2 is more likely to work.
I'm on the skinny side and not remarkably tall so should be able to squeeze in ok.

[muddled]

They don't have to be big flowers Tatty, some little pots of herbs and lavender are good. you can move them around if they get in your way...just to encourage hoverflies in. You might even be able to figure a way to hang a small pot or two from the apex

One row of chilis down the middle will also mean airflow between each row of plants as well as less less shade on them....this plan is coming together

[Containergardener]

I have sweet peas and flowers at the door too

[ESBkevin]

I have a 6x6 greenhouse. I have shelf/bench down one side. Two paving slabs door/centre and I put 6 cordon toms down the side and along the end. You need to strip the leaves off up to the set truss as the plant develops and grows. Toms are set in the ground. I then put about 8 peppers or chillies in large pots in front of them, the beauty of pots is that you can 'shock' the plants with a drought early and they start setting fruit rather than grow masses of foilage.
This works quite well. All my surplus chillies, peppers and Tomatos go outside on the allotment, indeed last year they were better outside (earlier) than in! the greenhouse extended the season well toward autumn though whilst the outdoor crop was too cold or in the case of the toms got blight.

[Valleyman]

6x8 Greenhouse here too.

I have 5 tomatoes down each side, 3 sweet pepper plants on the potting bench at the end and 3 on the floor next to it. Then every single remaining inch of spaces it pots of various sizes with basil growing in them (we love home made pesto).

Not growing chillis this year as have huge amounts dried from past years. Cucumber are currently in there as well tripping me up, but they'll be going outside after i do the next harvest of lettuce and radishes.