container Container Gardening On The Cheap: Homer Buckets Or Grocery Bags?

Fitsea

Fitsea

Hey THP,
 
I'm in the closing months of my first season, and I am loving it! I have been growing on my rooftop in Home Depot Homer buckets, and have had decent results. The problem is that I've now lost two plants to what I suspect is root rot (picture below). I believe this is due to the buckets getting warm (and thus dry) on the outside edges, but staying rather damp in the middle, so that when I water them to satiate the outer roots, I'm drowning the central mass. And yes, I have plenty of drainage holes in the bottoms. The reason I've come to this conclusion is that when I dump the soil, I have a ton of white roots at the edges of the soil, but the central mass is brown, and it's easy to tear the plant out of the ground (indicating their weakness). 
 
Now, I will say that my soil mixture could be better; right now it's just MG moisture control potting mix (or the Target organic equivalent for later plantings) and a Scott's hummus/ manure blend, with some ferts (bone meal and sulfur) mixed in. 
 
My question is this: next season, should I switch to cloth grocery bags and not bother amending my soil blend, or should I continue with my buckets and add stones/ sand to my soil to help aerate it?
 
4gsqXrd.jpg
 
     I do both of the above and find 5 gallon buckets to be an OK container (for a 5 gallon pot). I use a 1" hole saw to put four holes around the bottom sides of buckets and I use a shit-ton of perlite in my mix. 
     Something I noticed from your pic is that the stem of that plant seems to be buried. It might just be an illusion or just some soil disturbed at the base of the plant, but if it is buried it could lead to crown rot. If you pull the soil back how does the root crown look and how deep is it? Just a thought.
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
I find putting holes in the bottom of buckets then sitting them on concrete not to be very effective. I like to drill the drainage holes about one to two inches up from the bottom on the sides. This has worked out well for me on a back patio that can easily reach 110 due to being all block. 
Click to expand...
Yes all my buckets have 4-6 holes on the bottom and the same about 1-2 inches up the sides and I have no problems.
 
I agree with PeterS, and HybridMode01  about the Perlite.
I add LOTS of perlite to my grow mix.
 
This year, I experimented and used Homer buckets, expensive Root-Pouch's (for a bottom watering experiment), Cloth Grocery bags, and the cheap plastic grow bags from the local Hydro store.
 
If you'd like, you can see them in my attempt at keeping my 1st Glog here: http://thehotpepper.com/topic/54512-my-2015-grow/
(there's a few gaps, and it's long overdue for an update, but you can see the difference between the different containers) 
you can also see that the Green mernards Fabric Grocery Bags are already breaking down in less than 1 season (maybe the Wally bags are stronger?)
 
I have a short growing season, and I think the black plastic grow bags actually helped warm them up a little... With the colder weather we still have in May the plants in the black plastic Grow Bags took of more quickly, and they didn't seem to overheat last month either(something i was concerned about),
All in all they eventually did about the same though, maybe slightly better in the fabric bags (though they dried out more quickly and needed to be watered more often then the plastic bags or buckets)
 
We only have a couple more weeks before the night temps start getting to low to keep my peppers outdoors  :mope:
Now the really hard part is deciding which of my 70+ pepper plants gets overwintered, as I only have room for about a dozen indoors.
 
I hope any of this helps 
:cheers:
 
MIght also consider using the double bucket system and bottom watering using wicking rather than top watering in the single bucket -- That way you can not overwater as the soil will wick the water from the bottom bucket that it needs rather than draining excess after top watering -- and another benefit of doing it this way is the soil does not get as compacted as it does from the season of top watering and the soil will not dry out during the heat of the day since there is the reservoir of water in the lower bucket.
 
Here is a good article describing making them -- http://www.mybalconyjungle.com/self_watering.html
 
Guatemalan Insanity Pepper said:
I agree with PeterS, and HybridMode01  about the Perlite.
I add LOTS of perlite to my grow mix.
 
This year, I experimented and used Homer buckets, expensive Root-Pouch's (for a bottom watering experiment), Cloth Grocery bags, and the cheap plastic grow bags from the local Hydro store.
 
If you'd like, you can see them in my attempt at keeping my 1st Glog here: http://thehotpepper.com/topic/54512-my-2015-grow/
(there's a few gaps, and it's long overdue for an update, but you can see the difference between the different containers) 
you can also see that the Green mernards Fabric Grocery Bags are already breaking down in less than 1 season (maybe the Wally bags are stronger?)
 
I have a short growing season, and I think the black plastic grow bags actually helped warm them up a little... With the colder weather we still have in May the plants in the black plastic Grow Bags took of more quickly, and they didn't seem to overheat last month either(something i was concerned about),
All in all they eventually did about the same though, maybe slightly better in the fabric bags (though they dried out more quickly and needed to be watered more often then the plastic bags or buckets)
 
We only have a couple more weeks before the night temps start getting to low to keep my peppers outdoors  :mope:
Now the really hard part is deciding which of my 70+ pepper plants gets overwintered, as I only have room for about a dozen indoors.
 
I hope any of this helps 
:cheers:
Click to expand...
 
This is my first year growing and I already know deciding which of my peppers plants to overwinter and which ones I effectively let pass into the pepper afterlife will be tough lol.
 
I only have 10, but I plan on keeping 6 as long as I don't have too many pest problems.  The other 4 I think I'm going to bonchi and keep a couple in my kitchen and maybe give the other 2 away as gifts.  At least that way they live on :)
 
Good luck.
 
M
 
I agree with above - no need to put anything other than perlite to aerate. 
 
As for grow bags, etc, they can work great - but dry out fast when it's hot. You may need to water 2X a frequently as pots/buckets on hot days (eg, every day vs. every other day). I would recommend trying some out, but don't entirely switch. I tried about 10 out a few years ago and never added more because the cost/benefit ratio isn't so great. Also, I add more peat (less perlite) to my grow bags, as they drain just fine and it helps retain a bit more moisture.
 
The problem with buckets and containers is they tend to have a perched water table if you have poor draining soil. There's a great article on Garden Web about building a great draining soil but I'm too lazy to link it right now. A simple thing you can do to get rid of the perched water in buckets is to add a wick. Just cut a strand or two off of an absorbent mop head and run it/them through your drainage holes.. Just leave a few inches laying on the bottom on the container and a few inches hanging out. Put your buckets on concrete or the ground and the wick should drain out excess perched water. It worked great for me when I was still using buckets. I use Walmart bags now and they work pretty damn great and are cheap. Just need to water a bit more on the hot days.
 
You sure the whole plant isn't getting to hot? Out here in Cali if I put anything on the roof it would burn up this year, I had to grow everything under shade cloth Tried to put them out but the Sun torched them lost a bunch of pods to scald so back under shade they went.
 
Pots are the only way I garden with my small yard. I get the biggest I can, put two plants per pot, drill 1/2" holes around the bottom and let God take it from there -

JoynersHotPeppers said:
I find putting holes in the bottom of buckets then sitting them on concrete not to be very effective. I like to drill the drainage holes about one to two inches up from the bottom on the sides. This has worked out well for me on a back patio that can easily reach 110 due to being all block. 
Click to expand...
yeah, it get's well into the 100's here in central Alabama also, I water in the evenings and the plants love the heat, they actually do much better the hotter it gets!
 

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I mixed in a ton of partially broken down organic matter to mine because that is what I had around at the time.  Seemed to help a lot with drainage.  The last bucket didn't get as much and I do have some stunted growth and overwatering signs. 
 
I just take standard gardening soil from Lowes... drill the 1/2" holes... boom, done.... once I'm sure they are well established I take tomato fertilizer, 2 scoops to a bucket of water and water 3 plants with it and repeat for the remainder of the plants. I also do the Jamaican bat guano for the blossoms... spray them maybe once a month and you see what happens. Had a slow start this year due to the abnormally cool Spring we experienced this year in my area but I still plan on a decent harvest sooner or later. 2nd year grower here, last year, my first, I had so many peppers I supported my local Mexican eatery all through the winter until early summer, then I donated the left over dried peppers I had.... they're still making salsa c/o Spicy Joe. Once I start getting the hang of it, I'll start playing more and more with cross-pollinating, etc. I will always grow in containers though!!! 
 
Hi neighbor!

I agree with the perlite contingent. I used 25% this year. Also, as I said early in the season, they need some shade during the day. Can you rig a cloth or move them near a wall? Not too close, I discovered that my east facing brick wall creates a late afternoon oven.
 
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