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Maligator's Grow Log

Well, I figured I should probably begin an online growlog. I have been keeping a personal grow log in MS Word but it's time to share my adventure with those of you that have helped make it an easier task.
I would also like to thank those of you that have been so keen to answer questions and help out someone who is trying this for the first year! I planted my first seeds on 13 Mar 2010. Here are a few photos I have taken since then:

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FadeToBlack said:
Looking good Mali, what size are your containers?
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Figured out how big they were. Found some for sale at Lowes: the containers are 3.7 gallons / 14.2 liters. I ended up ordering some (read 50) 5 gallon containers from Greenhouse Megastore. Going to be planting up as soon as they arrive. Will post pics when that gets accomplished. Depends on when they arrive and how much free time I have ;) The peppers are still plenty happy in the current containers :cool:
 
Maligator said:
Figured out how big they were. Found some for sale at Lowes: the containers are 3.7 gallons / 14.2 liters. I ended up ordering some (read 50) 5 gallon containers from Greenhouse Megastore. Going to be planting up as soon as they arrive. Will post pics when that gets accomplished. Depends on when they arrive and how much free time I have ;) The peppers are still plenty happy in the current containers :cool:
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FYI, 5 gallon (#5 nursery containers) are about the same size you have now (3.7 to 4 gallon).
 
looking good, Maligator!


I've been wondering about the "5 gallon" nursery pots that don't look like the 5-gallon food service or paint bucket sizes I'm used to seeing, also.
 
Silver_Surfer said:
FYI, 5 gallon (#5 nursery containers) are about the same size you have now (3.7 to 4 gallon).
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That was so strange I had to look it up... The "5 gallon" pots here holds 900 cubic inches or 3.9 US gallons. Why are they called "5 gallon"?
 
MrArboc said:
That was so strange I had to look it up... The "5 gallon" pots here holds 900 cubic inches or 3.9 US gallons. Why are they called "5 gallon"?
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My best summarized explanation of the gallon fubar I've gleaned from the web goes something like this:

The use of the term "gallon" when describing nursery pot sizes started at the end of World War II. The U.S. government had contracted canneries to pack gallon cans of food to feed the armed forces and when the war was over these canneries had a large surplus of one gallon cans. The nursery industry seized the opportunity to purchase this cheap can surplus and they sold them as gallon containers. After the surplus was consumed a tapered container was manufactured in order to permit stacking and more efficient shipping, but the gallon reference stuck even though the containers now held less. After size complaints aroused a government standards department, the industry started using #1, #2, #3 ... etc. for container sizes, but these # sizes still vary in volume between manufacturers and plastic manufacturing technique (blow molded vs. injection molded for example) as well as different shapes. The size number has more to do with the plant size of a species expected to populate said container # when selling plants in order for the customer to be able to fairly compare plant pricing.

If you want to know the volume of mix needed for you containers:

area = pi(3.14) x radius squared

volume = area x height

If the pot is tapered (most are), measure the diameter at the top and the bottom, take the average and divide it by 2 to get the radius used computing the area.

When computing the volume only measure the height of your personal soil fill mark if you want to know what the pot will consume when trying to figure the amount of potting mix you'll need for the season.

This is the best container size chart I've seen.
 
So, I guess the next question I have is: should I purchase larger pots than the "5 gallon" ones I presently have or are the ones I have now large enough for good healthy plants? I understand the pot size does have influence on the size of the plant and therefore the fruit yield. I read other's posts and they mention 3, 5 , & 7 gallon containers; is everyone that mentions those numbers speaking to the "accepted values" of container size or actual value of the containers. I just want to make sure I have the correct materials for the best possible growth chances. Aside from planting in the ground that is.
 
Silver_Surfer said:
My best summarized explanation of the gallon fubar I've gleaned from the web goes something like this:
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I would say crazy, but here in Sweden the measurement given on flowerpots is usually only the (top) diameter, sometimes the height and only rarely the volume IME. It's a good thing I can do simple multiplications in my head;) An even better thing is that I'll probably wont have to buy pots again in a few years, and when I do it'll be buckets not meant to house plants!
 
Maligator said:
So, I guess the next question I have is: should I purchase larger pots than the "5 gallon" ones I presently have or are the ones I have now large enough for good healthy plants? I understand the pot size does have influence on the size of the plant and therefore the fruit yield. I read other's posts and they mention 3, 5 , & 7 gallon containers; is everyone that mentions those numbers speaking to the "accepted values" of container size or actual value of the containers. I just want to make sure I have the correct materials for the best possible growth chances. Aside from planting in the ground that is.
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#5 containers are usually fine and all you need for first year plants, but if you plan overwintering a few you'll want some bigger pots to support the larger second year plant.

Container sizes vary from one manufacturer to the next, so if you want a particular volume, get the dimensions and do the math.
 
Well, had to remove "tepins" from this years grow list. The last little guy just didn't make it. What can I say...can't win them all. Planted up a few more pots today and got the confirmation for delivery of the 50 #5 pots for this friday. Gonna be a long weekend of planting I imagine. Also planted a Roma, Pink Brandywine and a Juliet tomatoe plant. Needed to have my own tomatoes for salsa ya know! ;) I'll post pics later this weekend when things are complete.
 
Ok, so I said I would post more pics after the next potting up session so here they are.

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A pic of my new Bearss Lime tree with an Aloe buddy

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more potted up guys with 3 tomato plants in the background

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Gotta tell ya that its getting to be a REAL PITA transporting these things back and forth into the garage at night. The goats don't leave for another 10 days and there is NO WAY I can leave them in the same area. I would be minus pepper plants very shortly followed by two goats!
 
Well the bunch located on the pinic table are up to about 5-6 hours of sun per day. The other group is only getting about 2-3 so far. To be quite honest it really depends on the day. If it is cloudy I leave them out all day long and if it is a really sunny day then they get the afore mentioned timeline. Pretty soon they will all get about 5-6 hours of sunlight. I just haven't decided whether it's going to be morning or evening sun yet. They would get the best evening sun in my front yard but I just don't trust people walking by. The backyard is privacy fenced as you can see in the photos. I kind of like that. ;)
 
I would think if they're getting 5-6 hours of sunlight they would be ready to face the entire day. Get some more opinions though--I absolutely suck at hardening off plants. Always end up with a sunburn.

I'm in the same boat as far as where to put them. I decided last year to keep them on the west side/front of the house. If somebody wants one bad enough to steal it they're welcome to it. Hope it burns they hell out of them too.

Good luck man.
 
So...I had a hiccup...you see my peppers came under aphid attack so quite naturally I counter-attacked with soapy water spray, however; it seems I may have incurred some collateral damage...namely some of my plants. Pretty sure I went a little overboard on the soap to water concentration because I began to see leaves falling off of the plants and it's quite possible I may have even killed a few. :doh:

Ah yes, the "fog of war". Another lesson chalked up to the newbie pepper grower :oops: I'm hoping that the few plants that look the worst will rebound but I suppose that if I lose a few out of 114 that would be an acceptable loss rate. My only real concern is that my 2 fatalii and 1 of my 2 Trinidad Scorps are amounst the wounded. :cry:

I'll post pics in about a week. I imagine that by then the weak will have fallen and the strong will have pulled through.
 
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