I will like to get some information from members cause i'm changing my growing style by taking my plants out the ground and growing in pots.I will like to get if possible info on fertilizers,nutrients & best pot size for my plants,i'm new to this & i want to have a formular going into next year.Looking for details on everything.
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Peppers in Pots
- Thread starter skettle8
- Start date
Pepper-Guru
eXtreme
Easy! Knowing that ">" means "greater than" ... Large containers > smaller containers. Organics > synthetics. More light > less light. If you want details beyond that, I suggest you read up on Soil Biology and keeping a living soil. Feed the soil, NOT the plant
Promix - use for potting mix. Best stuff but also most expensive. I fert when leaves start turning yellow. I switch ferts from tomato tone one time then Bonemeal the next. This isn't the only way to grow. Like peper-guru state there is a bunch of info on soil here. You can always save money and make your own. I'm just lazy when it comes to that.
I use Promix BX, fox farm ocean, and cow manure combined and my plants are loving it. Fox farm is also good by itself and a 1.5cu bag for $16, which is not bad and the first 30 days you won't need fertilizers.
First of all, invest some time and read through some grow logs. The questions you ask are all in there. A couple of big guns (Alabama Jack and Silver Surfer to name only a couple) have posted very detailed logs. Spend some time, read what they went through, and learn stuff. Then ask questions.
Meanwhile, I'll throw you a bone with a couple things I'm gonna try for my limited container growing.
(The following ASSumes you have a good germinating and lighting system. If not, read the early portion of the logs and check the Grow Tech forum for equipment to consider.)
Around January, start seeds in a standard 72-cell tray using Hoffman starter mix. Fertilize with a very weak (1/4)solution of Botanicare Pro-Grow and Liquid Karma. After roots fill up the little cells, transplant up to 2.5" pots into Pro Mix BX. Continue weak ferts and use bottom watering techniques. When those containers are full of roots, transplant to #1 pots, which are about a gallon in size. For soil medium, mix the Pro Mix BX with combo of compost, and/or Fox Farm Ocean, Roots Organics, chicken manure, humus, worm castings, bat guano and whatever else seems like a good idea at the time.
Then it should be Spring and plants ready to go into final pot, which should be at least 5 gallon bucket size or bigger. There are several good 'big volume' recipes for soil medium for large containers that don't cost as much. If you combine a lot of organic materials, you really dont need much fertilizer. I'll continue to add some things if the plants are lagging.
Anyway, that's my basic plan based on ideas from the good folks here. Good luck.....
Meanwhile, I'll throw you a bone with a couple things I'm gonna try for my limited container growing.
(The following ASSumes you have a good germinating and lighting system. If not, read the early portion of the logs and check the Grow Tech forum for equipment to consider.)
Around January, start seeds in a standard 72-cell tray using Hoffman starter mix. Fertilize with a very weak (1/4)solution of Botanicare Pro-Grow and Liquid Karma. After roots fill up the little cells, transplant up to 2.5" pots into Pro Mix BX. Continue weak ferts and use bottom watering techniques. When those containers are full of roots, transplant to #1 pots, which are about a gallon in size. For soil medium, mix the Pro Mix BX with combo of compost, and/or Fox Farm Ocean, Roots Organics, chicken manure, humus, worm castings, bat guano and whatever else seems like a good idea at the time.
Then it should be Spring and plants ready to go into final pot, which should be at least 5 gallon bucket size or bigger. There are several good 'big volume' recipes for soil medium for large containers that don't cost as much. If you combine a lot of organic materials, you really dont need much fertilizer. I'll continue to add some things if the plants are lagging.
Anyway, that's my basic plan based on ideas from the good folks here. Good luck.....
I have been growing peppers for about 3 to 4 years and all of them are in containers. I have been getting very large plants in 7 gallon containers. The Bhut Jolokias are about 5 to 6 feet across and at least 4 feet tall. My weather is a lot like yours. We have quite a few freezing events, but we don't have days that freeze all day and that kind of thing. I bring my plants in my garage when it is going to freeze and bring them back out after the temps go back up. They rarely have to stay inside for more than a few days. Since they will produce peppers for maybe 5 years, all I do is cut them back in the spring and they keep going, yet alone, produce peppers earlier in the season. After a couple of years, they need to get stepped up into something like a 15, or you could go up to a 10 and then the third or fourth year, go up to a 15.
I like using a Canadian peat based soil. MY standard potting soil is:
40% Canadian Peat
30% coarse sand
20 cypress sawdust
10% perlite
This is my mix that I use in my nursery, and was mainly formulated for growing cycads. I get 30 yards of it delivered, so I already have a pile of it laying around. What I am doing is taking the standard mix, adding 30% composted manure, and 10% used coffee grounds. The composted manure is a source of "fertilizer", but it also has microbes in it that stimulate plant growth. The coffee also has a small amount of nitrogen in it, but also systemically takes care of small insects that want to get on my plants. I am finding that I don't need to use chemical fertilizers at all with this mix. I am playing with worm castings which also has a bit of "fertilizer" in it but also microbes and beneficial fungi that helps the plants metabolize the available nutrients, but also kills, or eats bad fungi that can cause root problems. Feeding the microbes works almost like fertilizing the plant, so every couple of weeks, I am taking a tablespoon each of Lecithin and Karo syrup in a gallon of water and watering the plants with this mixture. That makes the microbes go ape and makes it where all you need for fertilizer is what is in the manure, and castings to make everything work great. The plants keep a nice green color and they produce piles of peppers.
If you want to use a good, regular fertilizer, I used to use 360 day Nutricote, 18-6-8 formula. You incorporate it into the soil when you pot up the plant, or for a second year plant, just dig some holes into the soil and apply it towards the top and then cover it up. This will literally, fertilize the plant perfectly for an entire year.
I like using a Canadian peat based soil. MY standard potting soil is:
40% Canadian Peat
30% coarse sand
20 cypress sawdust
10% perlite
This is my mix that I use in my nursery, and was mainly formulated for growing cycads. I get 30 yards of it delivered, so I already have a pile of it laying around. What I am doing is taking the standard mix, adding 30% composted manure, and 10% used coffee grounds. The composted manure is a source of "fertilizer", but it also has microbes in it that stimulate plant growth. The coffee also has a small amount of nitrogen in it, but also systemically takes care of small insects that want to get on my plants. I am finding that I don't need to use chemical fertilizers at all with this mix. I am playing with worm castings which also has a bit of "fertilizer" in it but also microbes and beneficial fungi that helps the plants metabolize the available nutrients, but also kills, or eats bad fungi that can cause root problems. Feeding the microbes works almost like fertilizing the plant, so every couple of weeks, I am taking a tablespoon each of Lecithin and Karo syrup in a gallon of water and watering the plants with this mixture. That makes the microbes go ape and makes it where all you need for fertilizer is what is in the manure, and castings to make everything work great. The plants keep a nice green color and they produce piles of peppers.
If you want to use a good, regular fertilizer, I used to use 360 day Nutricote, 18-6-8 formula. You incorporate it into the soil when you pot up the plant, or for a second year plant, just dig some holes into the soil and apply it towards the top and then cover it up. This will literally, fertilize the plant perfectly for an entire year.
Here is a wealth of information across multiple threads.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg1020215928898.html
Synthetic ferts can be beneficial if using soilless potting mix that lacks the organisms necessary to break down organic ferts into available nutrients quickly. Other than a soilless situation you are probably better off with organics.
Phil
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg1020215928898.html
Synthetic ferts can be beneficial if using soilless potting mix that lacks the organisms necessary to break down organic ferts into available nutrients quickly. Other than a soilless situation you are probably better off with organics.
Phil
First off, I need to caveat this with I am new to this. This is my first year and I have had my fair share of issues. That being said, in my *extremely limited* experience, the grass is not always greener. I am guessing you did not have the yield you were looking for/a number of problems/space for the growing list of desires in the ground. I started this season with no real idea of what I was doing and after spending time on other gardening websites jumped into raised beds. After the first month or two with no growth, curled leaves, leaf loss, and other issues I came across this forum.
The consensus was that the majority of growers were using pots and felt it was easier to control all aspects of the plants. You could feed, water, and give light to each plant differently hell, if there is an issue such as disease or something you can just move the plant instead of having to dig it up. Guys like Silver Surfer has a ridiculous in ground farm and AJ has it all, a T Scorp field (which is an understatement) and the backyard that im sure rivals Neil from THSC, so no matter what you choose there are both types of mentors here. I read a bunch of posts and probably pissed a few off with the amount of questions and redundant threads I posted.
I heard about the illusive PROMIX BX and how it is "the best". I didnt see some of the shortcomings, or there really wasnt much out on the problems. But I got in my car and drove to ever nursery in a 50 mile radius until I found some, got enough to fill all the pots that I was going to rip my plants out of my beds and stick in, and I was off. Everything looked great, until the rain came. We had 2 days of on and off downpour and 50% of my plants had problems from it. The PROMIX just wouldnt drain. I didnt pack it, I let the first watering do that, I had plenty of drainage holes, the mix IMHO has trouble draining. So after this rain, the plants in the pots looked like wet noodles, yellow wet noodles, and the plants in the beds were a little small, but green and still setting fruit.
I am sure that if I would have done some more digging and read into everyone's mixes, I would have discovered that some add a handful or 2 of pearlite to lighten the mix, but I just read everywhere that PROMIX was the best, so in my noob attempt to get harvests like the best I had to have the best.
The moral to this admittedly too long post is understand that a bag of soil is not going to grow peppers, you are. Think about it, nature doesn't have PROMIX, and all these peppers presumably grow or have grown in nature. If you need some visual proof just look at SS or AJ's threads and im sure that neither the 3000 sqft farm SS has or the T Scorp amusement park aren't PROMIX. If you chooses to spend a fortune on it, be careful and mix it with pearlite. I would say like 3 to .5 and go from there. Also DO NOT PUSH ON THE MIX to set the plants in. When you water them in, the mix will compact and stay that way. But if you have the space to throw even a few plants in the ground, I would go with it and just apply what you have learned this season and from the pros.
My .02 (or actually .06 or .07)
Good Luck!
Matt
The consensus was that the majority of growers were using pots and felt it was easier to control all aspects of the plants. You could feed, water, and give light to each plant differently hell, if there is an issue such as disease or something you can just move the plant instead of having to dig it up. Guys like Silver Surfer has a ridiculous in ground farm and AJ has it all, a T Scorp field (which is an understatement) and the backyard that im sure rivals Neil from THSC, so no matter what you choose there are both types of mentors here. I read a bunch of posts and probably pissed a few off with the amount of questions and redundant threads I posted.
I heard about the illusive PROMIX BX and how it is "the best". I didnt see some of the shortcomings, or there really wasnt much out on the problems. But I got in my car and drove to ever nursery in a 50 mile radius until I found some, got enough to fill all the pots that I was going to rip my plants out of my beds and stick in, and I was off. Everything looked great, until the rain came. We had 2 days of on and off downpour and 50% of my plants had problems from it. The PROMIX just wouldnt drain. I didnt pack it, I let the first watering do that, I had plenty of drainage holes, the mix IMHO has trouble draining. So after this rain, the plants in the pots looked like wet noodles, yellow wet noodles, and the plants in the beds were a little small, but green and still setting fruit.
I am sure that if I would have done some more digging and read into everyone's mixes, I would have discovered that some add a handful or 2 of pearlite to lighten the mix, but I just read everywhere that PROMIX was the best, so in my noob attempt to get harvests like the best I had to have the best.
The moral to this admittedly too long post is understand that a bag of soil is not going to grow peppers, you are. Think about it, nature doesn't have PROMIX, and all these peppers presumably grow or have grown in nature. If you need some visual proof just look at SS or AJ's threads and im sure that neither the 3000 sqft farm SS has or the T Scorp amusement park aren't PROMIX. If you chooses to spend a fortune on it, be careful and mix it with pearlite. I would say like 3 to .5 and go from there. Also DO NOT PUSH ON THE MIX to set the plants in. When you water them in, the mix will compact and stay that way. But if you have the space to throw even a few plants in the ground, I would go with it and just apply what you have learned this season and from the pros.
My .02 (or actually .06 or .07)
Good Luck!
Matt