container container-open ground

I

Itoero

hi,
Where do you get the best production?
In a container or in open ground?
In open ground your roots can develop better, but in a container you can controll the watering and fertilizing a lot better.
 
What do you think?
 
I grow my annuums, frutescens and baccatums in the open ground - baccatum esp can become quite a tall bush and they are easily blown over in windy conditions.  For the mpost part I grow all my chinense, except 1, in 20 liter nursery bags.  They respond better to this.  Except the Douglah - it is just abeast and prefers open ground.
 
Unless you live in a somewhat tropical area I would suggest chinense in containers (big: 10 - 20 liter capacity) as it is easier to regulate the moisture, nutrients and exposure.  The other stuff - open ground is best.
 
ok,
then another question.
I have a loamy ground, if I mix it with compost, it becomes very airy and loose.
It's a good gardening soil.
But once you go a bit deeper in the soil, it becomes harder and heavier.
So how deep do most pepper's roots grow?
 
I read basalt (volcanic rock) meal loosens loamy soil.
So can it help to put some basalt meal in the planting hole?
 
edit: I live in Belgium.
The growing season lasts from somewhere in may untill  half Oktober.
Some people prefer containers because the soil warms faster then in open ground.
 
Definitely mix it with compost, that is one of the best things you can do. I give my plants home made compost about once a month as a fertilizer, don't have to dig up the ground to hurt the roots at the later stages, just use it as a top layer and water will mix/dilute it in. I don't know how deep they go but they should be fine. They can penetrate harder soil if they have to, just slower. I never used Volcanic rock. Azomite is the first thing that gets to my mind when I think about it. Not sure about which rock is good or bad.
 
I've had a lot of success growing in self-watering containers (plenty of plans available on-line). The difference in plant size and yield between plants grown in the ground and in SWCs was enormous. Seems like SWCs may work well in your climate since the soil would warm faster.
 
I did in the ground last year (april to oktober where i live) and it was good. easy to do flood watering with trenches. lots of space, ground holds lots of water. 
 
This year i'm going to try containers because i don't have a good sized plot. and like that i can check the moisture easier and each plant is self contained i can move them around if i have to.
 
I live in Seattle, where its a cooler and more wet than the rest of the US.  I have had NO luck with peppers in the ground, but really good luck with them in pots.  For me its all about controlling soil temperature and good drainage. Because of our climate, it just doesn't (usually) get warm enough here to warm the ground up enough to promote good growth for peppers. Black plastic pots work really well at absorbing heat from the sun. Also, it rains a lot here so I like to mix my own soil to make sure I get really good drainage and the plats don't get too saturated.

I'm not sure what Belgium's climate is like.  My advice is to do an experiment.  Put 1/3 of your plants in the ground, 1/3 in 3,5 or 10 gallon black pots, and if you can 1/3 of your plants in raised beds.
 
Honestly, I find that the peppers do better in the gound or better yet in a raised bed filled with soil/compost/enriched soil (not soil-less media.)  That is... unless you are growing pepper plants in extremely large pots, which become prohibitively expensive in terms of the cost of the soil-less media you will use to fill several 5+ US Gallon pots when working with more than a few plants.  The primary reason I feel like growing in ground is better is that it is more forgiving if you cant water them all in time.  In other words... if you have gone one too many days without watering (because of some unforseen circumstance... or you are going on a little vacation over the weekend)... the plants in ground will be better off than potted plants, which dry out much faster.  On the other hand... if you have an incredibly rainy stretch in your growing season... then plants in pots will be able to dry out faster, which is a good thing in that situation.  Thats why I say that the best compromise is to use raised beds or 'mounds" of soil.  All thinjgs considered though... as long as you do provide the proper amount of water, sunlight, nutrients, and have decent potting soil or top soil (according to whichever method)... your plants will be equally productive.  It boils down to your ability to nurture each plants individually.  In ground tends to be slightly more forgiving (more room for error), while pots give you more control... but also a corresponding rise in responsibility.

Edit: Yes and your climate will make a big difference, as mentioned by others.  Another advantage of growing in pots is the ability to transport the plants to more favorable locations during weather events.
 
I stay in Cape Town and grow all mine in large pots. I grow another patch of the same peppers at another location. It is amazing to see the differences in pot vs ground grown. 
 
Jalapenos (8 in the ground, 3-4 in pots):
Pot: Doing okay, but nothing spectacular
Ground: Flourishing like weeds and producing many peppers
 
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (2 in the ground, 3 in pots):
Pot: Two of them are doing very nicely - likes half sun, half shade. The other one is hibernating probably because I repotted 
Ground: Two in the ground. One is growing the same as the potted ones. The other is getting rather large and growing quite tall with super hot fruits
 
Serrano (3 in pot, 3 in ground):
Pot: Doing nicely - average fruiting
Ground: Growing like the jalapeno - lots of nice fruit
 
Tobasco (1 in ground)
Ground: The largest of all my plants - hundreds of fruit on - very health plant
 
Poblano (5 in pots, 3 in ground)
Pot: Doing very nicely
Ground: Same as the potted ones
 
Cayenne (3 in pots, 3 in ground)
Pot: medium sized
Ground: Larger and more fruitful
 
There are others form my collection, but mostly in pots.
 
I prepared the ground with good compost, worm castings, bone meal and fish fertilizer every 2 weeks. The pots are the same, but with regular potting soil and worm castings, bone meal.
 
In conclusion I would say that on the whole, the ground crops are doing much better. The super hots seem to be more fussy and like to be moved around half shade, half sun. I try to make it as tropical as possible for the super hots and mist them daily. 
 
We have about a two months left of summer. I'll do a photoshoot this weekend and then post it here.

The 7 pot doughlah seems to grow like a jack 'n the beanstalk. It looks like it will be a huge plant! I have repotted it into a very large pot. It is now flowering and when it produces fruit I'll post the pictures. Never grown one of these ones before!
 
I was considering a container grow this year, but I have had second thoughts. Containers dry out rapidly during the heat of the summer, blow over if not hot tub size and are under constant assault from squirrels. And with the size of my grow, well over 200 plants total, I would have to acquire a lot more pots or bags and a huge amount of growing media.
 
Just not seeing it as a probability right now.
 
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