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Growing Chillies in buckets
- Thread starter BazBlitz
- Start date
Buckets are much cheaper then pots. I got 15 ten litre buckets for $9 the other day in Bunnings (Aus). I'm not sure if 10 litres is big enough though =/
Oh and I just drilled five 1/2 inch holes in the bottom of each bucket for drainage =)
it really depends on where you live, for me the benefit of growing in smaller 1 gallon containers, is i can get my plants in/out of storms way. this afternoon, i am in walmart(5minutes from my house), and as i am out in their garden centre, lightning starts flashing around me and the sky turns instantly black. for me, that's a queue to get my ass home and get my plants in the house. last year, i took my girls to our local public libray, again 5 minutes from our house, i notice a large black cloud appeared from nowhere with high winds, another sign, get my ass home fast. that day i just made it through the door and the hail started to smash everything in site. i saved most of my plants except a kung pao which lost a lot of branches and my skull that took the brunt of the hail damage.
in spring and fall, i can put my plants into totes and hall them in and out of the house quite easily. my plants can't survive a spring or fall evening and must be brought in every evening. during a short period in the summer, we suffer tornado warnings and hail storms can hit a moments notice.
by mid september, my plants have to stay indoors and having them in containers allows me to put them outside during nice times and bring them in, in bad times. overwintering is easier as well.
in spring and fall, i can put my plants into totes and hall them in and out of the house quite easily. my plants can't survive a spring or fall evening and must be brought in every evening. during a short period in the summer, we suffer tornado warnings and hail storms can hit a moments notice.
by mid september, my plants have to stay indoors and having them in containers allows me to put them outside during nice times and bring them in, in bad times. overwintering is easier as well.
For me, the main benefits are mobility and the plants grow faster in potting mix than in the ground because the roots can penetrate potting mix much more easily than soil. The mobility is nice because I can move them to get more sun, or more shade, or move them inside when it gets cold. The downside is it is more expensive, they require more frequent watering, and they become root bound and run out of room. Most of my plants in 7 gallon containers are root bound and it's only July- and most of them have been for a while. It's also a PITA to have to move the pots around every few weeks to mow the grass.
I get as good or better results (# of pods, size of pods) in buckets as in the ground. Meanwhile, buckets enable me to move the plants around, get them under cover in case of heavy storms or out of the way in case of extreme winds, and control the fertilization more exactly. The only downside is the watering - and that is a PITA to be honest, but worth it.
Edit: Now that I think about it, one thing I never get in pots is the runaway 200+ pod plant; that, I can only achieve in-ground. But for the basic 30 pod Biker Billy or 100 pod orange hab, the results are about the same.
Edit: Now that I think about it, one thing I never get in pots is the runaway 200+ pod plant; that, I can only achieve in-ground. But for the basic 30 pod Biker Billy or 100 pod orange hab, the results are about the same.