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Beatin the dead horse... pot size!

Katrina

Katrina

I am potting my peppers today, and since I have grown in the ground my entire life, I am fretting over what pots to use!

Here is what I have to work with, and I am potting in some AWESOME homemade screened compost!

Could I plant multiple plants in some of the LARGE pots?

Thank you so much!

Kat

Home Depot bucket for size refference.

pot2.jpg

pot3.jpg

pot1.jpg
 
I wish I could help, but I'm no grower. My thumb is only green when I hit it with a hammer, it turns purple too. LOL
I do know this, those pots are not "too small". Someone will help you tho.
 
Yeah you absolutely can pot multiples, especially in some of those huge pots. You might even be able to plant 3. I like to give 5-7 gallons per plant. A couple of those look like they are 25 gallons so 2 or 3 would be easy to do.
 
Agreed. But pay attention to the size of the adult plant. Jalapenos are pretty small, for example, so it would be easy to put 3 of them into one of those pots. Rocotos can get pretty big, as do Douglahs. So if you don't know how big each plant is going to eventually get (and keep in mind whether you will be overwintering or not), I recommend that you look up the size on a handful of sites, such as chileplants.com - and note I said "a handful." I found that some sites have their sizes listed incorrectly - like one said the Douglahs would only get 18" - 24" tall. HA! Of course, if there's one you're unsure of, post a question about it here so anyone who's grown that kind can help out.
 
I use 5-gallon buckets strictly. I have two 10-gallon buckets this season and only put two per bucket. The more you crowd them, the more it will hinder their growth.
 
HOLY SH!T !

I screened TONS of compost all by myself today through 1/2" hardware cloth, and filled every single pot !!
I am BEAT.... I need a beer!

Thanks so much for the input! I am planting only Fatali and Datil this year (for the most part).

pot5.jpg


pot4.jpg
 
Looking good! I've got habaneros in 5 gal buckets that are root bound already. Your plants will be towering tall in those huge pots very soon!
 
geeme said:
Agreed. But pay attention to the size of the adult plant. Jalapenos are pretty small, for example, so it would be easy to put 3 of them into one of those pots.
Click to expand...

Not too long ago I put a Jalapeno in a pretty massive pot. It hasn't really been growing all that much since, and now it's starting to flower. I've been wondering if it was a waste to give it that large a pot. Maybe I should repot it (into a 10, 15 or 20L pot) and save the big one for the Rocoto I'll be trying to start soon.
 
Tman said:
Looking good! I've got habaneros in 5 gal buckets that are root bound already. Your plants will be towering tall in those huge pots very soon!
Click to expand...

How long has your hab been in the bucket?

Op, In your buckets, just compost, no perlite to lighten things up?
 
Wow great job! I am using the orange Home Depot buckets this year myself. From what I've read, one plant per bucket is recommended with 5 gallon as a minimum. Plus, I plan on taking a few plants inside for the winter, so I couldn't use large pots like the ones you have. Looking good!
 
In general, bigger is better, but you can bend this rule by feeding with every watering (think hydroponics). If the roots don't get what they're looking for where they sit, they grow outwards looking for more water and/or nutrients. So if you are feeding heavily with each watering, you can get away with smaller containers. (I've grown a 8' sunflower with a 12" head out of a 4" rockwool cube to prove this point) I feed heavily, dependant on plant size, conditions and weather any time I apply water to the plants. The 10"-11" flattened tubes end up being more than enough room since the solution ranges from eC 1.3 mS to 4.3 mS (roughly 800 - 2,150 ppm)

Growing in compost, those 5 to 10-gallon buckets should yield some nice-sized plants! You are already ahead of just about everyone with those when it comes ot container gardening. Loved the fact that you screened the compost too - very thorough.

:party:
 
FarmerGuy said:
In general, bigger is better, but you can bend this rule by feeding with every watering (think hydroponics). If the roots don't get what they're looking for where they sit, they grow outwards looking for more water and/or nutrients. So if you are feeding heavily with each watering, you can get away with smaller containers. (I've grown a 8' sunflower with a 12" head out of a 4" rockwool cube to prove this point) I feed heavily, dependant on plant size, conditions and weather any time I apply water to the plants. The 10"-11" flattened tubes end up being more than enough room since the solution ranges from eC 1.3 mS to 4.3 mS (roughly 800 - 2,150 ppm)

Growing in compost, those 5 to 10-gallon buckets should yield some nice-sized plants! You are already ahead of just about everyone with those when it comes ot container gardening. Loved the fact that you screened the compost too - very thorough.

:party:
Click to expand...

Thanks Farmer Guy.... a LOT of work, but past experience has shown me that it will pay off !
 
FarmerGuy said:
In general, bigger is better, but you can bend this rule by feeding with every watering (think hydroponics). If the roots don't get what they're looking for where they sit, they grow outwards looking for more water and/or nutrients. So if you are feeding heavily with each watering, you can get away with smaller containers. (I've grown a 8' sunflower with a 12" head out of a 4" rockwool cube to prove this point) I feed heavily, dependant on plant size, conditions and weather any time I apply water to the plants. The 10"-11" flattened tubes end up being more than enough room since the solution ranges from eC 1.3 mS to 4.3 mS (roughly 800 - 2,150 ppm)

Growing in compost, those 5 to 10-gallon buckets should yield some nice-sized plants! You are already ahead of just about everyone with those when it comes ot container gardening. Loved the fact that you screened the compost too - very thorough.

:party:
Click to expand...

Got any pics of the sunflower? I'm surprised it was able to support itself and stay upright with that proportion of it's mass above ground. Very cool.
 
MAFWIZ said:
Got any pics of the sunflower? I'm surprised it was able to support itself and stay upright with that proportion of it's mass above ground. Very cool.
Click to expand...

I checked and unfortunately I do not - I was trying it at work a few years ago and no longer work there.

It sure as heck didn't stand up by itself. Behind it about 30" was a wooden fence, so I rigged up some monofilament fishing line and tied loops in the end (a la bass rig loop) then supported the stem every 12" vertically. It was just a 4" rockwool block sitting on a piece of plastic with a dripper on top of it that fed of the effluent of a commercial NFT setup (15 min on, 15 min off). Excess solution just ran into a trough that went to the garlic field down the hill.

I'm actually srating some sunflowers tomorrow in a 4" tube of growth media since we're on the subject - I'll definitely be posting some pictures of that once they get going.
 
Mumrik said:
Not too long ago I put a Jalapeno in a pretty massive pot. It hasn't really been growing all that much since, and now it's starting to flower. I've been wondering if it was a waste to give it that large a pot. Maybe I should repot it (into a 10, 15 or 20L pot) and save the big one for the Rocoto I'll be trying to start soon.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a smart move.

If you overwinter the Rocoto, it can get pretty big.
 
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