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Need advice for planters for chile peppers

LinNJoe

LinNJoe

Hey there,

We need some advice for this upcoming growing season for our chile peppers. We don't have any garden space to speak of, and converting what meager yard space we have available is too time-consuming for us. Besides that, the soil here has a lot of clay in it and is hard to work with.

What we've done in the last couple of year is grow our chiles in containers, but we don't have enough to grow this year's crop that we've ordered.

What we want to do is to use trough planters, like ones used for veggies. Most trough ones we've seen are for flowers and are a little on the small side, so we need big ones that could hold 2 or 3 plants per trough. Plastic is better, mainly due to cost, but also due to portability. We've looked at our local mega-stores that carry garden stuff (Lowes, Home Depot) and they just don't have the size and/or shape of what we want. Rectangular seems to be the way to go.

We considered just doing a raised bed, but the spot we have to put the peppers in isn't flat enough to fit a raised bed in terms of space.

We were hoping that any of you might have suggestions of who might have or where we could order some large rectangular troughs for our peppers that won't break our budget. Any advice, links, or misc. suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!!!
 
I know this isnt what you're asking for, but I use those round black plastic containers that small trees/house plants/etc... come in when you buy the tree/plant. we just saved the containers instead of throwing them away, its kinda free, I never needed to go buy new containers for my pepper plants.

ask a local nursiery or tree farm they might be willing to sell you some cheap, well at least cheaper than going & buying house plant containers from the store.

or another thought but this will take some work on your part, but they'd be free. go to new construction sites & look around for pails. some sheetrockers use small pails that hold the taping mudd they're about 1 gallon size BUT you'd need to clean them out good & if you're willing to use them, but me personally I dont know if the chemicals would be totally gone even after the cleaning or maybe the would ?
also theres plastic buckets that nails come in, I'd use those w/o any worries

ice cream buckets, hey you're asking for the cheap route its just not the pretty looking containers but non the less they'd still work.
 
chilehunter said:
I know this isnt what you're asking for, but I use those round black plastic containers that small trees/house plants/etc... come in when you buy the tree/plant. we just saved the containers instead of throwing them away, its kinda free, I never needed to go buy new containers for my pepper plants.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I use!!!!! They work perfectly!
 
At stores like Lowes or Walmart there are large plastic storage bins or totes. They're not made for planting, but for storing out of season clothes, toys, or Christmas decorations. Drill a few holes in the bottom, though, and they work just fine as a planter. They don't last but 2 or 3 years, but by then you might have a better solution.

I use containers where the previous owner had a shed for working on cars. The shed is gone, but there's still concrete that I'm slowly getting up (I swing a mean sledgehammer). I'm leery of planting anything I'm going to eat in that soil, too, so until I get all the concrete up and get it tested, I use containers. The peppers do very well in the plastic totes.

Now I just have to convince the new kitties that they're not giant outdoor litter boxes...
 
Pam said:
At stores like Lowes or Walmart there are large plastic storage bins or totes. They're not made for planting, but for storing out of season clothes, toys, or Christmas decorations. Drill a few holes in the bottom, though, and they work just fine as a planter. They don't last but 2 or 3 years, but by then you might have a better solution.
Click to expand...

Pam,

It's funny you should mention that, because we just saw those today at Walmart as we doing a little shopping. A 90-qt one was a mere $10, while a similar planter which wasn't quite as big was more than $20. For about $60 or less, we can have those to use as planters...plus we can paint or otherwise decorate them since it's clear plastic. The only thing we worry about is their sturdiness. We'll have to make sure we don't try to move them once they're filled with soil.

More questions for you:

1. What type of potting soil is best? Miracle grow has the wrong combo of ingredients, and makes the plants too leafy-green without enough fruit potential.

2. Would you poke some holes in the bottom of those plastic planters so the water can seep out the bottom or will evaporation do the trick so the plants don't get water-logged when it rains?

Thanks in advance!

- Joe
 
LinNJoe said:
1. What type of potting soil is best? Miracle grow has the wrong combo of ingredients, and makes the plants too leafy-green without enough fruit potential.

2. Would you poke some holes in the bottom of those plastic planters so the water can seep out the bottom or will evaporation do the trick so the plants don't get water-logged when it rains?
Click to expand...

:intecepts question :

1. Sunland Organic Potting Soil is THE best soil for peppers taht money can buy in my opinion. You can also mix it with a little bit of sand and some Sunland Organic Compost and your peppers will be happier than a peach. (that’s assuming if the peach had emotions and a way to express it. Man, that’s a scary thought; a happy peach. Even more, imagine a bunch of unhappy peaches. Would they have mouths? Would they bite? What if all of those peaches were connected to one hive mind while on the tree. Hundreds of peaches screaming out at once would be quite an unnerving sight. It also brings up an interesting ethical question; should we even pick them? Once they are separated from the hive mind, or the tree as it were, which would be a traumatic experience I might assume, would the peach then gain individuality? What a crummy deal, it would only get to experience a brief moment of that individuality while he sat there rotting on the shelf until it blinks out of existence. Forever lost to the aether. Makes one think of our own fleeting experience in this plane of existence, doesn’t it? All because of one happy peach)

2. Yes, drill holes in the bottom, about 10 of them (around half the size of a dime, each). Instead of the tote idea, the best bet would probably be a 5 gallon bucket, I think they are about $1 each at your local hardware store. But they are also free at certain constuction site dumps. why go with trough planters when you can plant individually for cheaper (soil and container)
 
would have thought if the ground was clay based - you could dig a hole, fill it with potting mix & it would act like a bucket anyway ?
 
LinNJoe said:
The only thing we worry about is their sturdiness. We'll have to make sure we don't try to move them once they're filled with soil.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wouldn't try and move the really big ones, and they do bow out a bit in the middle by the end of the season. As I said, they don't last more than 2 or 3 years before UV radiation starts breaking down the plastic. so these are just a stop gap measure. If you're going to be using them along the lines of 5 years or so, it might be better to make the investment in a container that's made for gardens.

More questions for you:

1. What type of potting soil is best? Miracle grow has the wrong combo of ingredients, and makes the plants too leafy-green without enough fruit potential.
Click to expand...

Buying potting soil without a high nitrogen fertilizer added is a challenge anymore. I ended up mixing my own, using coconut fiber, cheap bagged top soil, and a little manure or compost. it is heavier than the commercial potting soil, but the peppers don't seem to mind.


2. Would you poke some holes in the bottom of those plastic planters so the water can seep out the bottom or will evaporation do the trick so the plants don't get water-logged when it rains?
Click to expand...

Oh, absolutely. Peppers don't like having soggy feet, and all it would take is one good frog drowner of a thunderstorm to fill even a really big container up.
 
imaguitargod said:
Sunland Organic Potting Soil
Click to expand...

*google, google, google*

Well, shoot, we can't get that here in South Carolina.


is THE best soil for peppers taht money can buy in my opinion. You can also mix it with a little bit of sand and some Sunland Organic Compost and your peppers will be happier than a peach. (that’s assuming if the peach had emotions and a way to express it. Man, that’s a scary thought; a happy peach. Even more, imagine a bunch of unhappy peaches. Would they have mouths? Would they bite? What if all of those peaches were connected to one hive mind while on the tree. Hundreds of peaches screaming out at once would be quite an unnerving sight. It also brings up an interesting ethical question; should we even pick them? Once they are separated from the hive mind, or the tree as it were, which would be a traumatic experience I might assume, would the peach then gain individuality? What a crummy deal, it would only get to experience a brief moment of that individuality while he sat there rotting on the shelf until it blinks out of existence. Forever lost to the aether. Makes one think of our own fleeting experience in this plane of existence, doesn’t it? All because of one happy peach)
Click to expand...


Dude, like, don't eat the brown acid.


Instead of the tote idea, the best bet would probably be a 5 gallon bucket, I think they are about $1 each at your local hardware store. But they are also free at certain constuction site dumps. why go with trough planters when you can plant individually for cheaper (soil and container)
Click to expand...

I'm not LinNJoe, nor do I play them on the web, but sometimes a trough-type planter is a more efficient use of space than the 5 gallon buckets; and when your space is very limited, you want to use it as efficiently as you can.
 
imaguitargod said:
:intecepts question :
(that’s assuming if the peach had emotions and a way to express it. Man, that’s a scary thought; a happy peach. Even more, imagine a bunch of unhappy peaches. Would they have mouths? Would they bite? What if all of those peaches were connected to one hive mind while on the tree. Hundreds of peaches screaming out at once would be quite an unnerving sight. It also brings up an interesting ethical question; should we even pick them? Once they are separated from the hive mind, or the tree as it were, which would be a traumatic experience I might assume, would the peach then gain individuality? What a crummy deal, it would only get to experience a brief moment of that individuality while he sat there rotting on the shelf until it blinks out of existence. Forever lost to the aether. Makes one think of our own fleeting experience in this plane of existence, doesn’t it? All because of one happy peach)
Click to expand...

Haha, pass that this way, guitargod
 
I guess IGG got sidetracked again ;) :lol:

mwr7h1.jpg
 
LinNJoe said:
Pam,

It's funny you should mention that, because we just saw those today at Walmart as we doing a little shopping. A 90-qt one was a mere $10, while a similar planter which wasn't quite as big was more than $20. For about $60 or less, we can have those to use as planters...plus we can paint or otherwise decorate them since it's clear plastic. The only thing we worry about is their sturdiness. We'll have to make sure we don't try to move them once they're filled with soil.

More questions for you:

1. What type of potting soil is best? Miracle grow has the wrong combo of ingredients, and makes the plants too leafy-green without enough fruit potential.

2. Would you poke some holes in the bottom of those plastic planters so the water can seep out the bottom or will evaporation do the trick so the plants don't get water-logged when it rains?

Thanks in advance!

- Joe
Click to expand...



I dunno if you have a Big Lots in your area. If ya do check it out...The plastic containers are like half price!! My wife just bought some the other day for her Girl Scout Troop....
 
bentalphanerd said:
would have thought if the ground was clay based - you could dig a hole, fill it with potting mix & it would act like a bucket anyway ?
Click to expand...
I've got concrete basically here.I have worked the soil for the last 6 years. Still hard as a rock. Not to mention dealing with the fire ants, stickers(grass spurs to those in the know) and critters(varmits). Our local Jr college has an agriculture program and the LARGE black barrels are there for the taking. So I did. About 20 of them. Guessing I'd say they are 12-15 gallon. I drilled a few 3/8" holes in the bottom of them. Got a horse next door and owner brought over a couple loads of compost soil from her stall. It's a new strategy and I'm hopeful. Only have 6 cayennes planted now. Eventually seranno, habanero and tabasco. If your growing peppers were there are no fire ants count your lucky stars.
 
yote - I'm curious to know what fire ants do to plants or gardens ? since we dont have them here & I have know clue other than I dont want to be bite by them :(
 
chilehunter said:
yote - I'm curious to know what fire ants do to plants or gardens ? since we dont have them here & I have know clue other than I dont want to be bite by them :(
Click to expand...
If you've ever been bit by one you'd know in a heartbeat and it ain't usually just one. They kinda go frenzied when you disrupt them. Our dog days(July and August) mean HOt Hot weather.Over the 100 degree mark and no rain. Thats when they start to devour plants and the roots of plants. They'll even take down a tree. I have lived in Iowa where you could just pitch a seed out the window of a moving vehicle and it would grow. Not here. Pretty darn desolate. But peppers do seem to thrive here. The heat don't seem to bother them and I think they're hotter. Just alot of obstacles to growing amything. Constant upkeep.
 
bentalphanerd said:
would have thought if the ground was clay based - you could dig a hole, fill it with potting mix & it would act like a bucket anyway ?
Click to expand...

too much clay will make it exactly like a bucket and water won't drain away causing 'chile-plantus-wettus-feetus'

the bucket idea is a good one because you can move them around easier than a big plastic box should you need to 'chase the sun' at the end of the growing season. just remember to drill holes and also to water regularly as the small amount of soil will dry out quicker the bigger the plant gets. don't use too much fertiliser in a small pot either.

$0.02

Mark
 
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