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container Outdoor containers and root zone temps....

OZZZ

OZZZ

I'm in flagstaff, AZ. Its Arizona so our Sun is relatively intense year round but I'm up in the mountains at 7,000' so my growing season is pretty short at around 100-110 days between frosts. The temps can be adequate in the 60-70's-80's easily for another two-three months or more even, in spring and fall outside of the growing season so I've elected to use 5 gallon buckets for my superhot grow (orange homer buckets) so I can bring them in when the nights get cold.

Our summer highs are usually around the 80's with some low 90's from time to time but obviously sitting in our intense Sun root zone temps can get much higher.

Is this something I should worry about? Obviously the nice thing about containers is they are portable so I can bring them inside when frosts threaten but during the day with the Sun beating on the pots I'm sure root zone temps will get hot. This is my first pepper grow outdoors so I'm not sure if I need to worry about it or not. As mentioned our temps don't get as hot as a lot of you guys with our highs being 85-90 degrees tops. Most houses around here aren't even built with air conditioners.
 
I've heard of people putting loose mulch around the pots to keep the sun off. That would still let you quickly grab pots before a chille night.
 
I'm sure there are several options but I'm not sure if I even need to worry about it?

Do you container growers do anything or do you just let your pots sit out in the Sun and not worry about it? How hot are your summers?
 
Last year I brought my plants inside when they were wilting from the hot sun. The main reason for this was because I had them in black pots which intensifies the heat. This year I wont be using black pots! :) I also brought the plants in when it got to windy out.
 
I searched this topic before, and I found out that on hot day + sun you can fry the roots.

Ambient temp should be good for the roots, but direct sun on the pot will make it even hotter than ambient temps. Imagine ambient temps of 100º or above.

I would suggest you paint the buckets white so the pot won't absorb much sunlight and protect the roots.

, Vegas
 
Ya my buckets are orange so not exactly white or black... I guess ill just have to watch them and see how they do
 
Pretty sure smokemaster had posted container temps a previous year, and the temps in the pot were way hotter than ambient, something like 20+.

For a slightly more optimal grow, I would place some sort of shade structure against the buckets, even if it's a simple 2ft high board leaning against them (something easy), or paint brush em white as Vegas suggested.
 
Jetchuka said:
Pretty sure smokemaster had posted container temps a previous year, and the temps in the pot were way hotter than ambient, something like 20+.

For a slightly more optimal grow, I would place some sort of shade structure against the buckets, even if it's a simple 2ft high board leaning against them (something easy), or paint brush em white as Vegas suggested.
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Thats a good idea ... I have a 12" x 10' board that I laid up against the buckets from the side the sun comes from, it covers all but the top 1" of the bucket so should be enough to help a little.
 
Fabric, air pruning containers do a very good job at keeping root zones cool and breathing. Just stay under 20% aerators with your soil mix out there in AZ. Was just there in Oak Creek Canyon camping. Beautiful state!
 
Just an idea, but you could do like Orchid Vanilla planifolia growers do :

a9f225.jpg
 
Damn had just potted my hab into a black container this morning. Oh well, too lazy to paint or repot ill just be careful. Might be a good thing when I try to overwinter it though.
 
I hear ya.

Im interested in hearing from container growers that dont do anything about it, and if they have any issues or not (along with what their temps are?). I see pics all over this and other forums with people doing container grows and none of them have any sort of bucket cover or shade protection of any kind so Im wondering how much it really matters... especially with my mid 80's-low 90's summer highs <--- which arent near as hot as many places.

I see all kinds of grows with the containers just sitting out in the open. Ill probably do something to try and shield the buckets just to be thorough, and I realize of course temps get hotter in the buckets which could have an affect... but if it was really that big a problem all these pics I see of peoples container plants would all have covers over the containers.... and none do.

So whats the deal all you container gardeners? Do you use bucket covers or protection of some sort? If not, do you have any problems? What are your summer temps like?
 
OZZZ said:
I hear ya.

Im interested in hearing from container growers that dont do anything about it, and if they have any issues or not (along with what their temps are?). I see pics all over this and other forums with people doing container grows and none of them have any sort of bucket cover or shade protection of any kind so Im wondering how much it really matters... especially with my mid 80's-low 90's summer highs <--- which arent near as hot as many places.

I see all kinds of grows with the containers just sitting out in the open. Ill probably do something to try and shield the buckets just to be thorough, and I realize of course temps get hotter in the buckets which could have an affect... but if it was really that big a problem all these pics I see of peoples container plants would all have covers over the containers.... and none do.

So whats the deal all you container gardeners? Do you use bucket covers or protection of some sort? If not, do you have any problems? What are your summer temps like?
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When I grow outdoor, I use the traditional terracotta pots. Simply because I noticed that plastic pots evaporate water very quickly under the sun and because my place is very windy (seashore).
 
PHB said:
When I grow outdoor, I use the traditional terracotta pots. Simply because I noticed that plastic pots evaporate water very quickly under the sun and because my place is very windy (seashore).
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Terracotta also breaths alittle since it's porous should help keep temps down.

OZZZ said:
I hear ya.

Im interested in hearing from container growers that dont do anything about it, and if they have any issues or not (along with what their temps are?). I see pics all over this and other forums with people doing container grows and none of them have any sort of bucket cover or shade protection of any kind so Im wondering how much it really matters... especially with my mid 80's-low 90's summer highs <--- which arent near as hot as many places.

I see all kinds of grows with the containers just sitting out in the open. Ill probably do something to try and shield the buckets just to be thorough, and I realize of course temps get hotter in the buckets which could have an affect... but if it was really that big a problem all these pics I see of peoples container plants would all have covers over the containers.... and none do.

So whats the deal all you container gardeners? Do you use bucket covers or protection of some sort? If not, do you have any problems? What are your summer temps like?
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Some people's pots get shade during part of the day which likely keeps temps down.
 
I'm in the Phoenix area and all of mine are in plastic pots. Most only get direct sun until about noon and then they are in shade with some occasional sun. Last year the production really slowed down during the hottest couple months (only got cayennes during that period), but all of the plants looked good otherwise.

I measured surface temps with a laser thermometer and I remember it getting very hot sometimes... like around 140&deg;F. The soil temperature underneath the surface was a little cooler but still significantly higher than ambient temps of 115&deg;F or whatever. Maybe this year I should try to protect them more. :fireball: They did get watered every day so that probably helped them cool down a little. Temporarily.

Personally I doubt it would be a problem in Flagstaff, and if you keep that board up I'm sure they'll be fine.
 
fuxtik said:
I'm in the Phoenix area and all of mine are in plastic pots. Most only get direct sun until about noon and then they are in shade with some occasional sun. Last year the production really slowed down during the hottest couple months (only got cayennes during that period), but all of the plants looked good otherwise.

I measured surface temps with a laser thermometer and I remember it getting very hot sometimes... like around 140&deg;F. The soil temperature underneath the surface was a little cooler but still significantly higher than ambient temps of 115&deg;F or whatever. Maybe this year I should try to protect them more. :fireball: They did get watered every day so that probably helped them cool down a little. Temporarily.

Personally I doubt it would be a problem in Flagstaff, and if you keep that board up I'm sure they'll be fine.
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I appreciate everyones input... theres some good info here much of which I had never considered before. Certainly we dont get near as hot as phoenix. Most of our summer days are in the 80's with a few days in the hottest months of summer getting into the 90's. However our angle to the sun is of course very similar to Pheonix and its crazy how mild the temps can be and how strong the sun can be all at the same time.

Even in winter the sun is pretty decent, I really gotta look into getting a greenhouse I think our climate is perfect for it. 80-90's for highs in the summers and most of the times in winter our temps are around 10-20 degrees with a few of the coldest months dipping down to -10/-15 degrees for a week or two. Often though we still have decent sun!

I wonder how much it would cost to heat a 10'x12' greenhouse to just above freezing so I could plant/overwinter into raised beds without having to move containers around.... hmmmmm ??

I do have spots in the yard that get FULL sun all day... and I mean ALL day. My house and lot sits SW to NW so a big portion of the yard gets sun all day... as in bright and early 5:30 am until sun sets over the horizon... easily a good 12 hours of full arizona 7000' elevation sun. In fact it may be too much sun during the summer? I do have a spot that gets sun from around 7-8 am until 2 PM which may be better placement. Im not sure.
 
OZZZ said:
I wonder how much it would cost to heat a 10'x12' greenhouse to just above freezing so I could plant/overwinter into raised beds without having to move containers around.... hmmmmm ??
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We made a removable Greenhouse for the cactus of my mother. We made it out of stuff like that :

Polycarbonate-Greenhouse-Panels-HSL-A05-.jpg


It's UV proof and break direct sunbeams. It didn't froze this winter and we had some days around 20F&deg;. But the temperature rise very high if the weather is a little bit sunny, so it's good to let the door open or put extractor.
 
fuxtik said:
I'm in the Phoenix area and all of mine are in plastic pots. Most only get direct sun until about noon and then they are in shade with some occasional sun. Last year the production really slowed down during the hottest couple months (only got cayennes during that period), but all of the plants looked good otherwise.

I measured surface temps with a laser thermometer and I remember it getting very hot sometimes... like around 140°F. The soil temperature underneath the surface was a little cooler but still significantly higher than ambient temps of 115°F or whatever. Maybe this year I should try to protect them more. :fireball: They did get watered every day so that probably helped them cool down a little. Temporarily.

Personally I doubt it would be a problem in Flagstaff, and if you keep that board up I'm sure they'll be fine.
Click to expand...
 
 
It's supposed to be about 95 today and my plants have been getting sun all morning. Was curious on the temps so just measured them with an infrared thermometer:

- Soil surface temp ranged 140°F - 165°F
- Internal soil temp was around 110°F

The plants are in black and semi-dark brown plastic pots, but they're different designs. The black ones were actually a little cooler.
The plants are growing fine, no signs of any negative impact. But I can't imagine it's "good" for the temps to be that high. :hell:  As I mentioned, though, they only get direct sun for the first part of the day.
 
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