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fertilizer Fertilizer help

K

Karmann177

Hello, I'm brand new to hot pepper growing. I have about 20 assorted hot pepper plants in 5 or 3 gallon containers. I have habs, reapers, butch t douglah hybrids, padrons and brown morugas. I mixed a soil composition of half rich topsoil and the rest of the container with lobster compost and some peat. I used coast of maine products. I haven't fertilized too much do to my high compost in the container. All the plants are doing well. They are starting to get pods. Some more than others.
My question is, how often should I fertilize now that they are budding and getting pods? Is it different now. I have Jacks 20-20-20 and a fertrell kelp liquid fert at my house. It's been several weeks since I've fertilized. I haven't done it because they have been looking great. Could anyone give me any suggestions on feeding and or caring for these plants at this time in the season. It's mid august in massachusetts. This is a great site. Thanks in advance...
 
I don't want to give you the wrong information, but I don't fertilize very often. I've found that peppers pretty much take care of themselves. If they are deficient, then yes, I try to give them what they need. I can tell you that 20-20-20 is too much nitrogen. You're better off with a 1-2-2 ratio. For example, I use a 5-10-10. I've heard that cactus fertilizer is the way to go. I looked and Shultz' cactus food is 2-7-7. I hope this helps a little.
 
Thanks so much, I'm trying to learn as much as possible. The plants look great and have tons of buds, flowers and a few pods thus far. With all the work and attention I've put into them, I just want to make sure I'm doing what's right at this point. I'm open to any suggestions as to how I could improve my yield.
 
Sounds like you're doing exactly what you need to do. If they look great, don't do anything. If over fertilization happens, like nitrogen, those pods/buds/flowers will start falling off and the plant will want to veg. You also did the right thing asking first. Keep up the good work! I dont know enough about increasing yields. I'll probably say the wrong thing. Lol. Good luck!
 
My experience has been a bit different.  I use the Kelp4Less 20-20-20 Blend at 150-200 ppm.  I feed that all the time.  From seedling, to podding.  Once I've got pods growing, I do up the ppm to something around 400-450 (mainly do to increasing my CalMag dosage).  I've been beyond happy with my results and don't plan to alter them anytime soon.
 
Another tidbit of info, my soil is fertilizer free.  No compost, just soilless soil.  A reason why I feed during every watering.
 
Just my two cents.
 
The more raw, un-decomposed brown compost material you have in the pot (including peat), the more nitrogen they need for best growth as that 'sinks nitrogen during decomposition.  Therefore I don't feel 20/20/20 is too much nitrogen, but 20/20/20 is a hot mix so only use a little at a time.
 
IMO, adding fertilizer isn't just about how they look. A plant can look good but still grow faster given fertilizer so long as you don't overdo it.   I judge more on how old the plant is, whether it had ample sun then is it the size I expect of it - which takes some experience growing the particular species or examples of others' results in a similar period of time and climate.
 
Since it has been weeks I feel they should be fertilized again.  The best fertilizer routine is to do it as often as you are willing but lower quantity to compensate, then just leave them be to soak up some sun.
 
The above are only generalizations, as it seems late in the season to start getting pods now unless you didn't start them until late May to June or it has been cold outside... a situation many have faced this season.
 
That makes a lot of sense. I didn't realize that the majority of people use pots. I have a garden and all of mine are in-ground. If I use too much nitrogen, things start looking squirrelly. You're better off listening to the other suggestions. I'm sorry for the wrong info.
 
^  You can definitely have too much nitrogen in pots, but I've never had a problem using a balanced ratio in moderation.
 
I've been happy with soiless mix using 9-3-6 at every watering.
If I had used compost in my mix I wouldn't want to have to pay for extra fertilizer as well. Don't you just reammend the soil for next season?
Maybe you should just foliar feed some calmag to make sure you don't get blossom end rot.
 
^  I re-amend my pot soil with compost and still use fertilizer but the cost of it is quite low...  40lb, $15 bag of 10-10-10 granular lasts several seasons though it also depends on # of plants. 
 
Peppers in pots don't need it as much as the limited space I have for larger plants in the ground which have exhausted soil nutrients over years of reuse.  I could till in compost there too but it's a bit more complicated than that with the areas also having spring flower bulbs and ornamental landscape plants scattered around so I don't want to disturb their roots any more than necessary.
 
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