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seeds Outdoor growers - What is your pot progression - seeds to plantout?

codykrr said:
hey patrick! nice to see you on here..

all i know is this year me and brian are going to be pooping fire! i cant wait to eat a trinidad scorpion! i think im going to keep it simple this year. il probly only transplant once to a 2.5 gallon, and then to a 5. im still in the "buying supplies" process so we will see what happens. either way its going to be good. and i just finished off a small bottle of sauce i made from your bhut powder! good stuff! maybe next year ill get some 7pot, and trinidad seeds.
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Hi Cody,

I thought that was you. Glad to see you made it here. Got you addicted to the burn did I? Good, never enough chilliheads in the world. Send me a PM and we'll talk about pepper powder and seeds and tarantulas and stuff.

Good luck with your growing.
 
AlabamaJack said:
I have no doubt Potawie uses the best method...hell, he is a master grower...

for me, handling so many plants and the transplants becomes back breaking work and I am basically lazy...I plan on selling somewhere close 800 seedlings this year and growing close to 350 for myself so you can see, I would be potting up all the time....

To me, the less plants you have, the more transplants you can go thru.... :doh:
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Except for the numbers (I'll be doing around 300?), I couldn't have written it any better AJ. That's EXACTLY how I feel. :lol:
 
ok, so can or should i still use the jiffy pellets? i mean say i germinate them in jiffy pellets as i plan to do. can i still just plant the seedlng still in the jiffy pellet, say to a 16 oz dixie cup? and go up from there?
 
codykrr said:
ok, so can or should i still use the jiffy pellets? i mean say i germinate them in jiffy pellets as i plan to do. can i still just plant the seedlng still in the jiffy pellet, say to a 16 oz dixie cup? and go up from there?
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yes you can do that. I'd say that's a pretty good idea. That's basically the way I do it, and for now I'm not planning on up-potting any more than that before their final destination.
 
It's just my opinion but if I use the jiffy pellets I always tear the net off them before I move them to a bigger pot. Sometimes i even tear the pellet itself away if I can do it without hurting the roots. I haven't had a problem starting peppers in the pellets but many don't care for them.
 
Truthfully you could just skip the whole jiffy pellets and start them in the 16oz cups. I have started my seedlings in the 4.5" pots and haven't had any problems. You just need to plant like 3-4 seeds per pot, instead of just 1 if you start in the Jiffy pots or seed trays.
 
AlabamaJack said:
To me, the less plants you have, the more transplants you can go thru.... :doh:
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For me its kind of the opposite since the more plants I have, the more I need to conserve space under lights, in the house and in the greenhouses
 
For me I simply start them in the small 72 cell jiffy type trays until their about 3" or 4" then move them up to the 4" pot size and let them grow for a couple months until their ready to be planted outside in my garden.

I have a question in regards to the guys using pots for the entire season, is using 7 gallon containers really needed? I'm just curious if you've documented results between using the different sizes. I grew a couple plants in 3 gallon containers last year just since I ran out of garden space and had decent results, but perhaps I'm missing out? The reason I really question this practice of using such large containers is because my garden grown pepper plant roots don't grow more then 5" or 6" into the ground and they all grow to their full size.
 
Most of my healthy plants end up in a minimum of a 5 gallon pot, and as much as a half barrel(20+gal) and I pot up progressively only when plants become root-bound. I've even had half barrels that were completely rootbound by fall, but that doesn't happen often. For me, bigger pots(when needed) always make for bigger plants
 
Pepp3rFreak said:
I have a question in regards to the guys using pots for the entire season, is using 7 gallon containers really needed? I'm just curious if you've documented results between using the different sizes. I grew a couple plants in 3 gallon containers last year just since I ran out of garden space and had decent results, but perhaps I'm missing out? The reason I really question this practice of using such large containers is because my garden grown pepper plant roots don't grow more then 5" or 6" into the ground and they all grow to their full size.
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PF...I have used one 7 gallon container for a 2nd year orange habanero but the rest of my containers are 5 gallon...the plants grow and produce well in the 5 gallon containers but about the end of August, you can see the roots on top of the soil and if you take the plant by the stem, the whole plant will slip out of the container and it is nothing but a root mass...this good in one way because you have maximized your grow area with highly dense roots so most of the water/nutrients going into the soil at least touches a root....now, with that said, I am going to try to transplant a few of my larger plants (probably Bhut Jolokia, 7 Pot, and T. Scorpion) into 7 gallon containers in August some time to see if there is a difference between the growth/production of the 5s and 7s...

by the way, if you remember in 2008, that orange hab produced well over 2000 pods...

I see Potawie and I are on the same page...
 
7 gallon is not necessary, especially on a first year plant, but if you do plant them up to a 7 or 10 gallon pot you will get a larger pot. 3 gallon pot will support a pepper plant, and you will get pods from it, but you are limiting the size of the plant and crop. By using the larger pots, you get bigger plants, more pods and usually larger pods. Last year I tried growing some emerald giants in 10 gallon totes from walmart (drilled holes in the bottom), I had the best green pepper crop I've ever had, even though the roots were not as dense as they are if you pot up. With that said I feel that I get better results from container gardening vs planting in the garden, I can have more plants in a smaller area, and at a minimum 5 gallon is the smallest I'd go for a final pot on a first year plant.
 
Matt I somewhat agree/disagree with you...something that has not been mentioned is the length of your grow season...down here in Texas, I have about a 9 month grow season which accounts for my plants being "rootbound" in 5 gal containers in August...
 
Thanks for your replies and explanations Potawie and AJ!! I appreciate your insight and now after reading this I realize and it makes sense. I retire my plants every year so there's no overwintering and my outdoor growing season is only around 4 months so my plants don't get bigger then about 3 ft which I thought was full grown but I was mistaken. I'll try a few plants in large containers this year and attempt to overwinter as I'd love to have a big ol pepper tree :)
 
cool PF...if you grow them, they will come....
 
AJ - I think we are on the same page, just a little different perspective. The pepper plants are only going to grow so big in any given pot. I believe in potting up, and even putting them in bigger pots (Last year I used a bunch of 10 gallon containers). For most people who are not looking to maximize plant size or yield the 5 gallon pots will be fine, especially for first year plants. They would get a decent size plant and a good harvest from that container size. Yes they will start to get root bound, but if they are not going to be overwintered it's not that big of a deal. The plant itself may start to suffer and not look as good, but they will produce, just not quite as much if it had more soil to grow in (root/air mixture). I believe that larger pots are good as it allows more roots to support top growth, and can be very beneficial if you pot up at the right moments (It's not good to let the roots to get too root bound). I often use larger pots then 5 gallon, but also know that they are not Necessary, as not everyone has the same goals of maximum yield and size.
 
Yup...I totally agree
 
I'm using 7-gallon pots for my toms but have used 5-gallon ones for peppers in the past and been successful. So why change? I pull up my plants at the end of the season so I can add them to the compost pile. Though "most" of the roots are within a 5" radius of the plant, I know some of the smaller, capillary type roots extend further. I figure that extra two inches on each side will provide more room for the roots to grow.

But it also helps a lot with retaining moisture. I'm finding I need to water only about once a week, instead of a couple or more times.

Mike
 
Most of the root ball will be within 5" of the plant, but that does not mean that is all the roots there are. When I pull up my tomato plants that are in ground, the root ball is usually about 8-10" across and about the same deep on a 7' tall plant. That is just where they break off. I have have some plants where I pulled up a runner that extended over 10 feet before it broke. I also pulled up a 7pot plant that was in the ground with a 2' long taproot. What you pull up out of the ground is just what you see. There is a lot more that you don't see. I think that the bigger the container the bigger the plant for the most part. But the question is whether or not you get enough added production to make the extra cost worth it.

I will be started my seeds in a 98 cell flat this weekend. After they get 2 sets of leaves, I will transplant up to 3.5" square pots and hold them there until plant out time in middle of April. Then, they go to there final home, 5 gal pots. I got good production out of 3 gal pots last year and I am hoping to get great production out of the 5 gal.:lol:

Happy Growing!
jacob
 
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