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garden vs. containers

To each their own I suppose. I really feel that in ground plants should be better off, but it's just not the case with me. For some reason I can never get the in ground plants the same as my containers. Possibly it's that I have more control with the containers, or maybe a multitude of factors. Either way, I now stick with what works best for me. No doubt that the in ground experts can blow my container plants away, but I just can't seem to make it happen. One day I'll try a small raised bed - in my mind it's like a mix of both worlds...and see what happens. For now though, it's 5gals all the way.

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I find, every single year, that my container plants begin much quicker.  They grow impressively fast and pod up a great amount.  Then comes late summer...  During late summer the in-ground plants have exploded with growth.  Don't know if they finally realized all the roots they were growing are good enough but come August the in-ground plants are in far better shape than the containers.  In-ground give me bigger pods as well.  I have found a great alternative though, massive pots.
 
Other than a few pots on the balcony or patio I just started truly gardening about 4 yrs ago, every year I grow beans, squash, tomatoes, herbs, peas, and of course boatloads of peppers, every year I grow some in containers and some in the ground, I amend the hell out of the garden, but my containers I've been able to create a fluffy, well draining, nutrient rich, living thriving ecosystem in my containers and they do way better than the ones in the ground, my in grounds get about 4-4 1\2 tall, some of my bigger container plants get 6-7 ft tall by the end of the season, with the same all natural nutrients as the garden gets and the production is roughly the same given the size but often my container pods are larger, but I do grow in 5,7,10,12,15 and 20galpots depending on the variety!
I also am not trying to add to any controversy here just what works well for me
 
If your plants grow well then pot size starts to limit them...
 
3 gallon - 2 months (from sprouting) then stunted growth
5 gallon - 3 months
7 gallon - 4
10 gallon - 5
 
Constant watering and fertilizing can offset that a bit, but it's a lot more trouble than just using a larger pot.
 
I just took 4 wallybags that had a plant each and put them in the ground. Hopefully they live but I'll take some pictures of plants that hit the ground the same as them. I have a feeling the mix I used compacted just a tad in the wallybag. I freed up a row today by weeding so had the room to put 4 more plants int he ground...time will tell. 
 
I am getting the itch to plant now and I know it's way to late for this year....I do have a bare formal living room and dining room since I got divorced and it would make a great grow area...it is about 16 feet wide by 24 feet long....and has vaulted 10 foot ceilings...I have everything I need as far as lighting goes,,,my germinator still works and my 7 foot tall 4 X 4 grow box sitll operates although it is filled with other stuff....yup...that does it...I am going to plant some seeds...
 
sorry all, just thinking out-loud and rambling....
 
AlabamaJack said:
Geeme....the only plant that I leave outside and has survived the past 3 or 4 winters is my wild Tepin...it seems I has a will of it's own to survive....and we had a "hard" winter for North Texas this past year...my mother has the sister plant to this one planted in one of her flower beds down in Pensacola....
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 Yes, every time someone from my home state posts something like that, I want to move back! Here the winters are too harsh - I've left plants out in my (unattached, unheated) garage and hoped I'd find a miracle in the spring, but it hasn't happened yet. Any time it gets below zero hoping isn't anything more than wishing. 
 
AlabamaJack said:
the key to growing peppers is to find out what works for you, then tweak that system every year with new knowledge that has been learned since the last season....no matter how you grow, after a few years, your plants will be beautiful, large, and very productive...
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 And yes, yes, yes - AJ's point can't be driven home often enough. Each of us has varying grow conditions to deal with; there is no one way that is best for everyone. I've lived in Texas, southern California and now Ohio, and while TX and CA had somewhat similar weather, coming to OH was like learning to grow from scratch again. I never grew in pots when I lived in TX, but I won't grow chiles in the ground here. 
 
Another thing to consider when growing in pots is how much space you have and how big you want your plants to be as well.
I deliberately have 12 liters as maximum, because my window sills are the only places where my plants get any reliable amount of sunlight and the space there is quite limited.
The smallest pot now is 2 liters, but so be it, it's just a dirt poor and ghetto way of growing pepper plants and I already have gotten quite some pods with even more incoming.
As far as superhots are concerned, I do not need that many pods anyhow.
 
geeme said:
 
I've lived in Texas, southern California and now Ohio, and while TX and CA had somewhat similar weather, coming to OH was like learning to grow from scratch again. I never grew in pots when I lived in TX, but I won't grow chiles in the ground here. 
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Geeme , are you growing in pots because of the winters in Ohio? The constant weather changes? Heat/Humidity?
I'm down in Cincy, where in Ohio are you?...
Ooops, just saw that you are up in the NE corner...
 
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