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ontario canada

kevinv

kevinv

I want to look at growing some different palnts this year.

we plant in mid to late may. we do a lot in garden pots instead of ground plants.

1st - we want to try tabasco plants - has anyone tried them up here? anything I have to worry about?

2nd - pot size matters? How much ground should be around and under the plant?

3rd - someone told me I should water with miracle grow fertilizer. I s this a good thing? I was always told to much fertilizer was bad for peppers.

4th - I also want to try cherry bomb peppers. Anything special with these?

last question. Last year we had a problem with squirrel stealing my almost ripe peppers. Is there one pepper I can use to keep them out?

THANKS
 
i have 4 tabasco plants, 3 in 1 gallon containers and 1 in hydro. they are entering their 2nd year and did not produce fruit in the first. they plants i purchased were in a 6 pack container at CanTire and were being discarded as they had dried out and suffering from night cold exposure - so i knew they would be a challenge. the plants are very sticky, not sticky icky, but one large stem with little, to no branching, all plants looke the same.

1. they appear not to like cool weather, they are a capsicum frutescens, so when they do start to flower pay close attention to the "L" shape flower stem and compare to an annuum. this will help you identify that you did indeed get a tabasco and not something like a superchile that looks very similar.

2. pot size always matters, mine are in 1 gallon containers for convenience for me to carrying the plants outside when it gets warmer and the 1 gallon containers fit perfect on my south facing window shelf whilst overwintering. i do have some 2 gallon containers but i don't know if i want to waste them on tabasco, considering all my other varieties that i am focusing on. since building a greenhouse, i am thinking of those 4-5 gallon containers for some of my plants.

3. i use miracle gro tomato fertilizer and i make my own teas(seaweed, alfalfa, worm casting, molasses), i also mist with epsom salt and seaweed tea. i mix ground eggshell into my container soil. millworkman uses a general hydroponic multibloom and after reading it's label, i am thinking of moving to it for a more complete feeding, it appears to have calcium and sulfur added. i just have to find it locally. i have found that without higher phosphorous and potassium nutrients flowering and fruit set may not occur.

4. i grew cherry bomb several years ago and being an annuum they shot up, flowered, fruited with little attention. i found them boring and have switched to fresno, growing fresno is just as boring but the fruit is sweeter with equal heat to the cherry bomb. i do buy bottled pickled cherry peppers.

advice on last question: could you not build a wooden frame and staple chicken wire to make a secure enclosure? or if chicken wire is too annoying or difficult to work with, plastic netting is available. i have a dog that loves chasing squirrels, magpies and crows so i don't get that problem. but i did have problems with mice eating my strawberries and sprinkled cheap ground cayenne powder around the bed.

good luck with your growing.
 
If you get decent sized plants they should produce by the end of the season. Plant when the night low is now lower than 10 and they will live. Use 5 gal buckets if you cannot plant in ground. For squirrels chicken mesh man. Miracle grow fert is expensive but why not. I use magic carpet 25-5-10 for foliage growth, then I switch it up. Lots and lots of water during our hot days.
 
Tabasco's are gonna be a little slow. I had 4 last year and didn't get any fruit on them until late September. This year I started them from seed in January under strong lights in order to get a head start. I might have an extra plant if you're in the Mississauga or Hamilton area.
 
kevinv said:
I want to look at growing some different palnts this year.

we plant in mid to late may. we do a lot in garden pots instead of ground plants.

1st - we want to try tabasco plants - has anyone tried them up here? anything I have to worry about?

2nd - pot size matters? How much ground should be around and under the plant?

3rd - someone told me I should water with miracle grow fertilizer. I s this a good thing? I was always told to much fertilizer was bad for peppers.

4th - I also want to try cherry bomb peppers. Anything special with these?

last question. Last year we had a problem with squirrel stealing my almost ripe peppers. Is there one pepper I can use to keep them out?

THANKS
Click to expand...

I just scored a 10 5-6 gallon pots at dollarama today. cost me $30 + tax. they are so big and worth it!

where are you located? i could spare you a couple of superhot sprouts.

if you want a maximum harvest on your peppers put them on 5 gallon pots. imo
 
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