Pepper and flowers in the same pot?

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Psychographic

With limited space to grow, I have an idea to combine a pepper plant with some flowers in a planter and have a few questions that I'm sure you guys can help me with.
 
1-  Is it safe to grow in a galvanized container? How about a rusty old bucket?
 
2- How many drain holes would a 24" diameter container need, and what size holes?
 
3- Can peppers grow with flowers?
 
A friend gave me these wash buckets and this is my plan if it will work. 
 
I want to cut the bottom out of the rusty bucket on the top, fill the galvanized wash bucket with soil push the bucket into the soil an inch or so and fill that with soil. I'm guessing some small stakes would be needed to hold the bucket secure. The pepper  would get planted in the top bucket and some small flowers would get planted around that bucket.
 
 
 
I'm not sure about your first few questions but you can grow flowers with peppers.
 
 
 

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I wouldn't plant anything that I was going to eat in a galvanized container - especially if it's already rusting.

From a purist gardener's perspective, one really doesn't want anything in the same container that will compete for nutrients - but that's not to say that it can't be done.
 
Drill 1/4 inch holes, say a dozen or more you just want it to drain good. Buy some of that teflon spray paint, like rustoleum or something and coat the inside with it after you drilled the holes. This should do it. Yeah you can plant flowers with peppers, I usually put a marigold through out the gardens because how they help to keep away pests. Good luck.
 
It depends on the flower. Peppers are in the nightshade family and they are sometimes finicky. Google "Companion Planting" and you will find out which combinations are beneficial and which combinations to stay away from.
 
I couldn't find any Teflon paint, so I used some etching primer on the galvanized container. As I don't know how far the roots will spread from the flowers, I cut the bottom out of a bucket that fit inside the top one and set it into the dirt. My idea was to isolate the roots from the pepper and the flowers. There is enough room for the roots from the pepper to go under the red bucket and spread out to the rest of the bottom container. Hopefully the roots from the flowers don't go that deep and it's open space for the pepper. I plant to plant one of the ornamental peppers in this.
 

 
I looked up companion plants and found petunias and marigolds will work, I've got some petunias, but have to find some nice marigolds. I found some really pretty coleus for around the container that were marked as full sun, but after doing some research I found they will lose their color in full sun. So now to find some cool looking full sun plants.
 
 
Psychographic said:
That looks great! What pepper plant is that?
Click to expand...
 
fidalga roxa, was an early pic, the petunias where hanging down to the ground by end of season last year. Pepper did well as well. I think petunias are a fair choice for co planting as their roots don't really get very deep so they don't compete with the deeper pepper roots for nutrients. 
 
Psychographic said:
 So now to find some cool looking full sun plants.
 
 
Click to expand...
 
 
 
     Lantana is a good one. It doesn't require much water at all, so it won't take much from your other plants, it attracts tons of pollinators and beneficial insects, it grows fast and it's really attractive.
 
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