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The Fatalii Experiment

Justaguy

Justaguy

Here is a little something I decided to try.
I figured I would start a new thread to track the progress.

Pepp3rfreak had a spare Fatalii that Sethsquatch brought down last Saturday(6-16-12).
The goal is to see how big I can get this little lady without potting her up and just feeding her all the food she desires.

1-Coffee can with 4 small holes drilled on bottom sides.
2-Filled it halfway with leaf compost.
3-Sprinkled around a teaspoon of some homemade nute powder I got from FarmerGuy on it.
4-Filled to the 3/4 mark with leaf compost.
5-Repeated step 3.
6-Set in the Fatalii after removing from the little square it was in.
7-Filled to the top with leaf compost.

Yesterday I took this pic in my garden.
100_1717.jpg

Now all she will get is plain water for the next month.

Today I put her on the bench to get a better shot. This is where she will be posing for updates.
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While getting her in position I noticed her bottom was quite warm from sitting in the sun so I figured I should help her stay cooler.
This is where she will reside between photo shoots and waterings. It should be easy to have her step out for a day or two when everyone else is getting their nutes and yet keeping her away from them when in her home, since she is uphill slightly with some distance.
100_1719.jpg


I plan on inserting a piece of thick plastic mat in a ring to help better protect her privacy underground.
 
LUCKYDOG said:
the only thing that would eventually slow her down is being root bound
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Yes -- but I believe the reason for the experiment is to see just how much being root bound will effect the plant if all needed nutrients are added to the small container to see if providing the extra nutrients as needed can bypass the need for the extra roots.
 
Sethsquatch said:
So you are going to keep her in a red dress all season?
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I confess a love of red. :rofl:

SuperHot said:
It looks like she is off to a good start.
Let's see what happens!!
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Exactlllyyyy! :D

LUCKYDOG said:
the only thing that would eventually slow her down is being root bound
JDFan said:
Yes -- but I believe the reason for the experiment is to see just how much being root bound will effect the plant if all needed nutrients are added to the small container to see if providing the extra nutrients as needed can bypass the need for the extra roots.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Hit that right on the head.
 
Sethsquatch said:
So you are going to keep her in a red dress all season?
Click to expand...

I feel bad for her, in that tight little dress. It would look better on the floor next to my bed ;)

I can see you know your stuff from the plants in the background. It will be nice to see how far a plant can go with just a little soil.

Are you going to increase feedings? or keep it the same as the others for a good comparison?
 
JDFan said:
Yes -- but I believe the reason for the experiment is to see just how much being root bound will effect the plant if all needed nutrients are added to the small container to see if providing the extra nutrients as needed can bypass the need for the extra roots.
Click to expand...
by feeding it nutes will not slow root production however it will produce roots to sustain its growth of vegetation. I think it will eventually "catch up" to itself and begin to strangle itself with its own roots. At the very least growth will be affected, in the worst case the plant could die.
 
I've done this myself with a few different pepper types when I ran out of pots and soil and figured even if I got few peppers, that was a few more than none from the plant. One time when I did that with some tabascos they took a totally different shape, very tall and thin and even the slightest gust of wind would tip them over.

What is going to happen is the pot won't hold enough water to sustain the plant between each watering and either you'll start drip irrigating, start watering a dozen times a day, or it'll droop a lot and be stunted. I'd guess it'll get to be 18" tall and not as bushy as it otherwise would.

Wait a minute, you're using the taller can size. I did them in the cans that are barely taller than their diameter. With the taller can I adjust down the dozen times a day watering to 5 times and adjust height estimate to 26". On the other hand, while I don't know your first frost date, it's pretty small for this far into the season.
 
She was a leftover given to me. My thoughts are being in the ground will help keep her cool and the moisture levels under when it rains and such will help.

I decided to try it after seeing this post
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/31242-question-about-container-size-peppers/
 
Justaguy said:
She was a leftover given to me. My thoughts are being in the ground will help keep her cool and the moisture levels under when it rains and such will help.

I decided to try it after seeing this post
http://thehotpepper....r-size-peppers/
Click to expand...
Small root space isnt a problem vs level of nutrients provided. You can have big plants with small root mass. For somereason though there needs to be a manipulation of the root in some way. Once they start circling they feed the plant differently(not as efficiently) Root pruning in any way is the manipulation im talking about. Whether its via air or scissors ya gotta mess with em. There's a good article out there somewhere about the circling...ill have to find it. Gotta keep the roots fibrous essentially
 
Update. She is doing good. In the ground where she was the other plants were shading her. She is now in a pan that I keep water in. This weekend she will be getting a dose of the nutrients via the water pan.
100_1820.jpg
 
Man, I just can't seem to get that beer here in Texas. Love that stuff!

My mother does this every year and it seems to work fine. She cuts the bottom out and lets them grow grow grow.
 
Ok that pepper shown ripened and was eaten. YUMMMMMY!!!!!

Here is an update
100_1886.jpg


Good many pods in my opinion for this size
100_1887.jpg


Yellowing is most likely nitrogen def., but as I stated in the beginning, she is getting only water/rain water.
 
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