container growing peppers in containers

PepperLover

PepperLover

Hi guys.
How is everybody … some of you guys use pots or containers for growing peppers, I have not except few wild peppers, now next season I will try to use about 50 plants for pot testing I want to know if the production and the health will be the same, I know AJ uses a lot of pots and most of his pepper gardening is by containers.
Anyway
I found this link sells cheap containers
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/elite-nursery-container/nursery-containers
Any recommendations or other sites may be cheaper.
I want to hear from AJ if he reads this post whats the beast size he uses 5 or 7 gallon pot
 
My little container garden wasn't as big as AJ's, but I had 48 pepper plants in pots this year. I wouldn't say health and production was any different, per se, except for one thing - I could move the plants to shelter when necessary, so as long as I did, they were in some ways better off. I just gave them the same attention they would have gotten if they had been in the ground - water when the leaves start wilting, fertilize from time to time, no big difference. You do have to make sure the pots have plenty of drain holes (you may have to drill more yourself), and you may find yourself watering them more frequently in the heat of the summer.

To me, the pot size depends entirely upon the expected plant size - jalapenos went into 3 gallon pots, rocotos into 5 gallon pots. Only 2 of the plants were 2nd-year plants (the rest first-year), so these sizes were fine. I can see moving some of the larger ones to 7-gallon pots if they last more than a couple years. However, part of my process includes pruning the roots as well as the stems before bringing them indoors for the winter, so this should help them stay in the 5-gallons longer. I found the douglahs had quite extensive root systems built up already in this first year, so they're likely 7-gallon candidates first.
 
I grew 100 supers in 5 gal pots this season and they rocked!! They grew very large and cranked out lots of pods. It was nothing compared to the 400 I planted in the ground…once I got the irrigation figured out they grew to 5+ ft tall and again just full of pods. I'm swimming in 10+ gallons of flakes even though I lost my last 100 supers to frost in the end.
 
Baker peppers...or anyone that grow in containers.......I am using a miracle grow fertizer.


Miracle-Gro® Shake 'n Feed® Tomato, Fruits & Vegetables Continuous Release Plant Food Plus Calcium

for my peppers with NPK of 9-4-12 with Micronutrients and added calcium

Is this a good product to use? or Is it better with liquid ferts in containers?
I also use epson salts every 2 weeks. I normally get very poor production using MG pottimg mix and MG plant food. I am moving to promix this year.


 
That looks like a great site. Prices for containers are much lower than Home Depot. I think I might go with this.

Thanks.
 
PepperLover said:
Hi guys.
How is everybody … some of you guys use pots or containers for growing peppers, I have not except few wild peppers, now next season I will try to use about 50 plants for pot testing I want to know if the production and the health will be the same, I know AJ uses a lot of pots and most of his pepper gardening is by containers.
Anyway
I found this link sells cheap containers
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/elite-nursery-container/nursery-containers
Any recommendations or other sites may be cheaper.
I want to hear from AJ if he reads this post whats the beast size he uses 5 or 7 gallon pot
Click to expand...


Judy,

Megastore is where I buy my indoor containers and the trade size which I sell my plants in during the Spring sales. They're blowmold construction, perfect for short grows and sales, but their flimsy especially when going over 3 gal. I've bought from "Homeharvest", I believe it's their 7 gal nursery containers....very sturdy and the right size. They're durable enough to withstand the bad winter elements if left outdoors. I also use 18 gal utility containers which are sold at the big box stores for 5 bucks. I just had to drill drainage holes in the bottom.

Greg
 
Trini said:
Baker peppers...or anyone that grow in containers.......I am using a miracle grow fertizer.


Miracle-Gro® Shake 'n Feed® Tomato, Fruits & Vegetables Continuous Release Plant Food Plus Calcium

for my peppers with NPK of 9-4-12 with Micronutrients and added calcium

Is this a good product to use? or Is it better with liquid ferts in containers?
I also use epson salts every 2 weeks. I normally get very poor production using MG pottimg mix and MG plant food. I am moving to promix this year.
Click to expand...

You can get by with a 10-10-10.....I have, for years.There's tons of products out their. If you want to pay. Pepper plants aren't finicky.

As for MG, it has time release Chemicals added....see if you can find BX, Sun Grow, Fafards or Baccto products on sale, then go for them. Add some compost, bone/blood meal
worm castings, top dress with granular ferts. I've used liquids, but at a highly diluted rate.

Greg
 
I used CalMag primarily, once the plants were more mature, and they acted like they were on steroids. I start with a fert that focuses on root and stem development when they're tiny, then move to something else, then CalMag. I'll have to tell you what ratios the other two have later, as I'm not remembering their names right now.
 
I too grow in pots.
In the past I chose 12L and 20L pots for economical reasons, but recently decided to use 20L pots as standard and even put some of the bigger plants in 25L pots. they look much better now. I don't usually overwinter plants and growing is a seasonal thing for me, but I suppose I'd have to transplant the plants into bigger pots (30-40L) if I choose keeping them for next year.

I like growing in pots for two main reasons. the first being in total control and having the ability to move the plants around, and the second being the extreme shortage of water. with pots I can calculate how much water I have to give them so nothing goes to waste.
 
I used Pro Grow Organic Fertilizer once everything has been moved outside for the last couple of years and amazed by the results. This stuff has everything I need in one mix.



http://www.norganics.com/products/fertilizers/progro.html
 
I only grew about 15 plants in containers this year (it was my first time growing peppers). I used standard Lowe's 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled in them. I used Farfard's potting mix and just Cal-mag and some of CCN fish poo fertilizer. The plants all did extremely well and I got a good, decent harvest.
 
We will be doing roughly 5,000 plants in the ground this spring.....along with another 3,000 or so in pots...the potted plants will be for sale as well as mothers for cloning purposes...The plants in the ground will be for pepper production...The upside to doing in pots on a large scale is the ability to pick them up and move them if need be, and for watering and fertilization ease...The downside to doing in pots on a big scale is the cost of the medium in which you are growing in...If we put them in the ground thats a cost eliminated for us! :) It will be easier and cheaper to prep the ground we will grow in than to put all 8,000 plants in pots :)
 
Mr baker....what mix do you use for the pots and what ferts? ......I saw your picks and your pod production looks great in pots.....give me some secrets.....if I get half your production. I would be satisfied...
 
This year I used Globalbuckets of 5 gallon buckets. They work really well and this year I am incorporating an automatic watering system along with 5 gallon pots until I can get all my plants in buckets
 
Trini said:
Mr baker....what mix do you use for the pots and what ferts? ......I saw your picks and your pod production looks great in pots.....give me some secrets.....if I get half your production. I would be satisfied...
Click to expand...

I wish i could tell you exactly..but my father woud KILL me...lol...been a close family secret for about 60 years :) Lets just say 40% Pine bark...u figure out the other 60% :)
 
good suggestions here Judy...

as you know, I only grow in containers. What follows applies to the larger trinidad varieties I love to grow. I use 5 gallon containers that I get from a local nursery for $2 each...they are used. They are heavy extruded containers and not the typical lightweight blow mold containers you see for a buck each. The blow mold containers are too lightweight and if you even touch one of them with a weed eater, it rips a hole right through it, plus the fact, they will only last a year or two....the heavier containers I am using will last me for years on end, some I have already used for 4 years. As I replace my 5 gallon containers, I will be moving to 7 gallon containers. Larger rootball, larger plant. Production for a normal year is about a pound per plant.

One thing to remember about container gardening is the volume of soil you will be using...when planting 300+ plants in 5 gallon containers, I usually use several yards of soil...some of it is recycled soil and some of it is new compost...I will be using rabbit poo this coming year to augment the new compost and recycled soil...

I highly recommend a drip fertigation system for container plants...it is not cheap, but will return your investment in time saved when hand watering....use 1/2" pvc and threaded 1 gph pressure compensated drippers...you will have to drill and tap the holes in the pvc...not hard but tedious...limit yourself to 50 drippers per
"circuit"...I use multi circuit timers from home depot...right now, I have two 4 circuit manifolds and two 2 circuit manifolds with a timer/valve per circuit (the timer valves are what costs the bucks...about $20-25 each)...this allows you to control the amount of water/feed you give each plant down to 1/60th gallon (about 2 ounces)...during the hot summer, I give my plants in 5 gallon containers 8 minutes twice a day...usually about 10 in the morning and about 4 in the afternoon...

Using the fertigation system also allows you to vary the dilution of the fertilize you put on your crop by the flip of a switch...

I have been using standard miricle grow water soluable tomato food for my peppers...one package every 10 days or two weeks...I figure one package will make about 300 gallons of feed...(this of course depends on the dilution at which you feed)...if I see the plants needing something specific like calcium, magnesium, etc, I augment the feeding with botanicare products...I would use the botanicare products exclusively but with the number of plants I grow, it is cost prohibitive...

IMO drip fertigation is like growing hydroponically in dirt...but if you don't watch what you are doing or feed to infrequently, you may unwittingly wash essential nutrients out of the soil...it just takes time to get a handle on what your system does...

Black containers are bad in the summer time...they heat up rapidly in direct sun so some kind of "shade" around the containers is essential...I let the grass grow up around the containers...I moved a bunch of my containers up off the ground this year and noticed a vast difference in the size and production of the plants sitting on the ground vs up off the ground...another advantage of sitting the containers on the ground is the roots from the plants will grow out of the containers into the soil beneath and provide a "stabalizing" force to the container in the wind...

all I can think of right now...
 
BakersPeppers said:
I wish i could tell you exactly..but my father woud KILL me...lol...been a close family secret for about 60 years :) Lets just say 40% Pine bark...u figure out the other 60% :)
Click to expand...

C'mon your father wouldn't do that...........right?........... Dale, don't say the other 60% is sandy soil and dead fire ants........ :lol: ....just kidding

Seriously, do you have any issue with the pine bark with the moistue and humidity?
I've used that in my yard for mulch but the slugs loved migrate out and about in it.
It use to be a battle with some of my perennials and the slugs but "Sevin" takes care of that...

Greg
 
Yep - wind is likely a bigger issue for pots than in-ground plants. However, all except one time I didn't pay close enough attention, I managed to get my pots moved to shelter before strong winds hit this year. That one time, though, 3 plants got hit pretty hard - it wasn't just a matter of them getting knocked over, but the main stems on two just broke clean off. The other had a branch break, but it was easy enough to just tape it in place - that branch continued to produce pods, regardless.
 
PIC 1 said:
C'mon your father wouldn't do that...........right?........... Dale, don't say the other 60% is sandy soil and dead fire ants........ :lol: ....just kidding

Seriously, do you have any issue with the pine bark with the moistue and humidity?
I've used that in my yard for mulch but the slugs loved migrate out and about in it.
It use to be a battle with some of my perennials and the slugs but "Sevin" takes care of that...

Greg
Click to expand...

I know one thing the pine bark does and that is help acidify your soil...azealea growers down south have been using this trick for ages...
 
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