in-ground In the ground or in pots?

winland

winland

I am hoping to plant about 50+ plants this coming season.
I am in NW Ohio
I can get plenty of 5 gallon pails, but soil, compost, etc would cost $$
I have plenty of property that I can till up and plant my pepper plants.
 
Is this a "no brainer" or is there a convincing reason to go with 5 gallon buckets?
 
 
 
I'd say ground + row covers are good.

Benefits of pots is they are isolated so diseases don't spread quickly. Also you can put them out earlier and move them easy in case of freeze.
 
winland said:
I am hoping to plant about 50+ plants this coming season.
I am in NW Ohio
I can get plenty of 5 gallon pails, but soil, compost, etc would cost $$
I have plenty of property that I can till up and plant my pepper plants.
 
Is this a "no brainer" or is there a convincing reason to go with 5 gallon buckets?
 
 
Click to expand...
I'd say plant most in the ground and have a few 5 gal pots by your backdoor/patio or  whatever you got... :idea:
 
I had much better yields with in-ground plants. This was my first time trying containers, it wasn't a complete bust, just not as good as my in-ground plants.
 
You will definitely yield more, that's for sure.  I would go with in ground, especially if you have never grown anything there before.  
 
In my opinion, If you have the land, go in ground. It will be easier to keep the roots moist in the hot summer months and like others have said you will get better yields.
 
Why not do some of both?
You can keep plants that you may want to overwinter in pots so you can move them to shelter/indoors if needed, and plant the rest in the ground
 
I'm in N.E. Ohio - where we get lake-effect snow. Your temps will at least be similar to ours, though you likely get less snow. I grow exclusively in pots, some of the reasons being:
 
- I'd never have more than a handful of ripe chinense or pubescen types due to the shortness of our season. I always end up bringing some plants into the house for ripening then overwintering. 
- I can move the pots in and out of shelter (the house or the garage) as weather demands. This includes not just snow, but excessive rain or wind.
- I can move the pots so they get more or less shade.
 
If you're going to do some in the ground, I'd recommend you only put annuums in the ground. Yes, you're going to have an initial expenditure to grow in pots. However, you can lessen that by using fabric shopping bags (like from Walmart or wherever you can find them at the lowest cost) and keep in mind you can reuse soil as long as you add to it over the winter - such as by composting. I'd rather start small then add on, given the weather here, where cost is a big concern.
 
winland said:
I am hoping to plant about 50+ plants this coming season.
I am in NW Ohio
I can get plenty of 5 gallon pails, but soil, compost, etc would cost $$
I have plenty of property that I can till up and plant my pepper plants.
 
Is this a "no brainer" or is there a convincing reason to go with 5 gallon buckets?
 
 
Click to expand...
 
Pots are a great way to grow ! 
 
I started off 7+ years ago with just a few pots and this past season I had 25 of them plus additional 25 in the ground. Except for having to focus on the watering more during our southern Ohio weather and gearing my potted soil towards pots it's a great way to grow.
 

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:2432]

 

 
An example of some of my potted plant harvesting this year I got:

1 C. Reaper plant approx. 140+ pods +(still producing while moved to indoors, kitchen 25+)
1 Trinidad S. B T plant approx. 135+ pods (last year had 175+)
1 Naga Jolokia plant approx 170+ pods
Jamaican Hot Chocolates 5 in ground, 5 in pots produced about equally at roughly 180+ each (I know a few got 200 easy)
 
Honestly both are great ways to grow...in ground has the watering advantage but pots have mobility for bad weather and potential for moving indoors if needed.
 

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:2430]
 
 
 
Thanks guys.
Probably going to do both.
The majority will go into the ground and will pot up 10 plants or so in 5 gallon buckets.
Question:  Do you really need to fill the 5 gallon bucket up with soil mix or can you use 3 gallons of soil mix?
I know, I am a cheap a**, but I prefer to call it frugal.
 
They both have their pros/cons.  In no way do you yield more with one or the other.  It all depends on how you take care of them IMO.  More or less it's about how early you start your plants and how far along they are come time to plant them outside for the growing months.  Another factor would be the medium in which you grow.  How rich is the soil that your gonna plant these in the ground???  I'd recommend sending out a sample to get tested.  
 
To answer your initial question,  I'd try both to see what works best for your needs.  
 
ammount of soil = size of plant    in my experience. 
 
That's why in ground plants win growdown. because nothing is limiting their root growth, ability to absorb nutrients. You don't need to fill up a 5 gallon pot all the way, i usually leave a couple inches so it's probalby like 4.5 gallon. But of course you will end up with smaller plants. I see most of the most sucessful container growers use 10 gallon and get hundreds of peppers over the season.
 
my advice on beautiful f**king containers: go look at PIC1 growlog, he's in chicago so you can relate about your climates being close.
 
While what juanitos said about amount of soil equalling the size of the plant is generally true, it still depends on the size of the root ball. This varies by variety and age of the plant, amongst other things. Part of my overwintering process (and even just cleanup at the end of the season, except the trim part) is to remove the plants from their containers, remove as much soil as possible, then prune both the stems and roots. Relative to other varieties, annuums generally don't have large root balls. Putting, say, a jalaepno into a 5-gallon container in its first year is overkill, so you can easily use only 2 or 3 gallons in the first year. Heck, IMO putting one into a 5-gallon container is overkill at almost any age. Chinenses and pubescens have much larger roots. You will want to fill the buckets for those, particularly for varieties that get over 18-24" tall (or wide) when mature. To date the one plant I've grown that is a huge root hog is the douglah - every year they spread out as far as they possibly can, and end up a huge tangled mess, no matter how big a pot I put them into.
 
As jamison put it.. Containers can yield just as much. Just know you'd have to feed it more often as the plant can deplete all the nutes compared to ground. ..i foe one have to use new containers new soil as my plot is compromised.
 
5 gallon containers are small enough to stunt a plant over a good season of growth there, but another plant is still another plant.  Put the annuums in the buckets since they use less water, but even in the ground you may end up wanting to water them a few times over a season so if the plot of land is distant from your water, consider how much effort that will be, although it's probably going to be a lot less effort than more frequently watering of plants in buckets.
 
If the plot of land is high clay then consider starting a compost pile.  This is a great time of year for that to include yard debris like leaves, twigs, pine needles, grass clippings, etc.  If you till it in this fall then it'll break down a lot by next spring, but even doing that next spring and again every year will help, as might growing a cover crop you till under.
 
One other thing buckets can do for you is that if you have them over concrete or gravel, I mean a fair amount as a buffer, that can decrease insect infestation, and having them closer to your house can deter animals from eating them, especially if you're outside enough that they see or hear you every now and then.
 
winland said:
Thanks guys.
Probably going to do both.
The majority will go into the ground and will pot up 10 plants or so in 5 gallon buckets.
Question:  Do you really need to fill the 5 gallon bucket up with soil mix or can you use 3 gallons of soil mix?
I know, I am a cheap a**, but I prefer to call it frugal.
Click to expand...
 
What's your local dirt like?  You can mix your potting soil with a fair amount of it, but if it's mostly clay and fine sediment, you'll need to buy a few extra  bags of perlite, peat, and/or other 'fluffer' material.  Good old sand is 'dirt' cheap and also makes a decent additive.
 
Smaller container sizes become a PITA when the plants get big.  The plants will require more frequent fertilization, and during warm weather, a large plant will need daily watering.  Feeding is not that big a deal, it's easy to toss a weak dose of chemical ferts in the drink once a week. 
 
Personally, I'd go with 5gal and up, and buy/mix enough dirt to fully fill them.  Cut back on total plant count if need be.   
 
Next question:
I would like to plant my peppers in a LONG row along a fence as opposed to the traditional square or rectangular garden plot.
 
Is there a compelling reason why I should not do this, other than I will have to buy another length of garden hose?
 
Why not? But some questions that come to mind.
Is the fence tall+solid enough+facing a direction that would block out needed light?
Are there any issues with what's on the other side of the fence? Traffic? Compacted soil? Water-logged? Pest-infested weeds?
Is your property on a windy ridge or something like that?--in which case the peppers might prefer to be clustered. On the other hand the fence could serve as a wind breaker.
Do you have pesky neighbours who will walk along your fence and steal your pods once they're ripe?
What other possible implications of your fence that affect any of the following: soil, lighting, humidity, water, temperature, ecosystem interaction?
 
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