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What is the "ideal" pot for peppers?

So currently I have some African Bird Eye & Thai White Thai peppers growing. In total I am projecting to have about 15-20 plants in total for the summer. I was wondering would I better off transplanting them into the ground? If I go that route I will most likely make a raised bed to house them. My initial idea was to pot them in 5 gallon buckets but, they are such an eye sore imo. I do have some fabric pots I might use as well but, that option gets pricey quick.
 
What would you do with 15-20 plants? Thoughts? Ideas?
 
Maybe buy big plastic buckets and drill huge holes in the bottom, they might just be cheaper than huge pots used for plants.
 
I imagine it gets pretty hot where you are so the bigger the pot, the better. I've never used the fabric pots but I know a lot of people swear by them. I wonder if your soil would try out too quick in a hotter climate. Maybe someone else can chime in. I like growing in pots cuz I can move them if need be but this year I'm putting everything in the ground because I'm growing way too many plants to be spending that kind of money on potting soil. 15 to 20 plants isn't really that many so even if you went with the fabric pots I don't think it would cost you too much. You can buy the cheap knockoffs in packs of 5 and 10 online for pretty cheap I believe. All of the options you mentioned though are good options, just make sure it's large enough so your soil doesn't dry out too fast when it gets hot. Maybe try a few different ways and see what works best for your situation?
 
Edmick said:
I imagine it gets pretty hot where you are so the bigger the pot, the better. I've never used the fabric pots but I know a lot of people swear by them. I wonder if your soil would try out too quick in a hotter climate. Maybe someone else can chime in. I like growing in pots cuz I can move them if need be but this year I'm putting everything in the ground because I'm growing way too many plants to be spending that kind of money on potting soil. 15 to 20 plants isn't really that many so even if you went with the fabric pots I don't think it would cost you too much. You can buy the cheap knockoffs in packs of 5 and 10 online for pretty cheap I believe. All of the options you mentioned though are good options, just make sure it's large enough so your soil doesn't dry out too fast when it gets hot. Maybe try a few different ways and see what works best for your situation?
 

Yeah it' s my first season as I have failed last year and this year I am trying to be more than prepared. So with that said I have either doing it right or doing what works lol I guess. The 5 gallon buckets would be my first pick but, they are just ugly lol. So I might do a raised bed and make sure the weeds don't intertwine with my soil and etc. I will probably have to lay some kind of barrier in between my soil and the grass. And, yes it gets freakishly hot here in Houston so I am rethinking my idea of the fabric pots. The self pruning idea is what I like about the fabric pots but, I also don't want to be watering EVERY SINGLE day...
 
bangbangchabooky said:
 
Yeah it' s my first season as I have failed last year and this year I am trying to be more than prepared. So with that said I have either doing it right or doing what works lol I guess. The 5 gallon buckets would be my first pick but, they are just ugly lol. So I might do a raised bed and make sure the weeds don't intertwine with my soil and etc. I will probably have to lay some kind of barrier in between my soil and the grass. And, yes it gets freakishly hot here in Houston so I am rethinking my idea of the fabric pots. The self pruning idea is what I like about the fabric pots but, I also don't want to be watering EVERY SINGLE day...
If it gets that hot you might want to think about using a shade cloth too.
 
Grow bags work fine if you have a 2-3" deep saucer under them. They need about 2" larger than the bag all the way around. In a really hot climate i would look at the lighter color grow bags instead of the black/dark grey.
 
The other option are the small kiddie pools. You can easily fit 4-5 large bags in one. Drill a drainage hole a few inches above the bottom. Ive seen them at Walmart for around $9 each.
This guy added a watering system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sanol21Lmbc
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
Grow bags work fine if you have a 2-3" deep saucer under them. They need about 2" larger than the bag all the way around. In a really hot climate i would look at the lighter color grow bags instead of the black/dark grey.
 
The other option are the small kiddie pools. You can easily fit 4-5 large bags in one. Drill a drainage hole a few inches above the bottom. Ive seen them at Walmart for around $9 each.
This guy added a watering system
 
Very interesting concept!
 
 
I've run the whole gamut from the cheap walmart blue bags, to the standard nursery pots from 1 gallon - 15 gallon, grow bags 5-30 gallon now to the plastic air pruning pots and rootmaker pots. I'm settling in on the air pruning now and will not be using anything else besides grow bags. I still use large clay pots for my raspberry plants and 1/2 wine barrel containers for my blueberry plants. All my tomatoes and peppers that are not in the ground will only be in air pruning containers from now on and its worth the money, time and results that you get from these containers. 
 
Yeah last year i tested the Walmart bags and i liked the results so much i bought grow bags this year. 12 of the 7 gallon bags were only about $25 on Amazon. I would probably go with 10 gallon or larger in a hotter climate.
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
Yeah last year i tested the Walmart bags and i liked the results so much i bought grow bags this year. 12packs of 7 gallon bags were only about $25 on Amazon. I would probably go with 10 gallon or larger in a hotter climate.
 
Which leads me to my last question is what mixture should I use with my Pro Mix soil? I am using some perlite in my Pro Mix right now but, with these huge bags should I be using something else as well? With the weathers being warm like this what else would you guys suggest mixing in?
 
bangbangchabooky said:
 
 And, yes it gets freakishly hot here in Houston so I am rethinking my idea of the fabric pots. The self pruning idea is what I like about the fabric pots but, I also don't want to be watering EVERY SINGLE day...
 

lol I wish my summers were as cool as yours! You guys don't even hit 100 that often. Party on down there and :welcome: from Weatherford!
 
Chewi said:
 
lol I wish my summers were as cool as yours! You guys don't even hit 100 that often. Party on down there and :welcome: from Weatherford!
 
LOL, how hot does it get up there? This humidity is what gets me most of the time.
 
 
I saw another member on here was making his own fabric pots. I don't remember who it was but it might save you some money if you're handy with a sewing machine.
 
Dont really even need a sewing machine. A laundry basket or even some wire mesh would work fine. Coscto has huge 4ftx220ft rolls of ProShield on sale atm for about half msrp (under$30).
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2ftx50ft roll of vinyl coated wire mesh is under $30 and should be good for a couple seasons.
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Edmick said:
I saw another member on here was making his own fabric pots. I don't remember who it was but it might save you some money if you're handy with a sewing machine.
to much work for me lol
 
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