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Transplanting year-old pepper plants?

Steve973

Steve973

I have a peach habanero and a datil plant that I grew last season, and I seem to have overwintered both of them successfully. They appear to have outgrown their 3 gallon pots, and I am going to be transplanting them to new 7 gallon homes. Previously they were in a pretty even mixture of sand, potting soil, and a calcium-rich compost. This year, they are going to be in a mixture of Pro-Mix BX and organic fertilizer. I intend on using water to rinse off most of the old growing media, then place them into the new stuff.

My question is whether or not this is risky, or if it seems like I should be good to go without much concern. Also, what about outdoor acclimation after being freshly transplanted? Thanks as always for any information!

Steve
 
Seems to me a 3 gal rootball will be hard to manage when washing. Unless you plan on cutting it back? I've never attempted anything that large without just doing it dirt and all.
 
I'm with carol on that. I had 3 plants growing in like a 10 gallon container and i just cut all of them back and let them sit for a bit last winter. I decided to only keep one so I dug it up, cut back the rootball and transplanted it into coco in about a 10" pot. And it's loving it right now.


However my chile pequin has been growing in the same soil in the same half-barrel for about 3 or 4 years now and doesn't seem to mind.....but i really should get that guy new soil so who knows. Seemed to work both ways for me lol




But yeah, its not going to hurt anything to rinse the rootball off. Best way, IMO, is to fill a large container with water and set the plant in it and kinda swish it back and forth. I do that to plants a lot since i prefer to grow in coco but you can only buy transplants started in soil.
 
So how soon can transplants be put out into the sun, or how quickly can they be acclimated for the new season afterward?
 
I think that you can do it as you described without damaging the plant at all.

Once you have the root ball (and soil) free of the old container just gently shake as much of the old soil free as possible. Before doing this I would let the soil dry out so that you can easily rid the root ball of the old soil. Use your hands to gently "rake" the old soil free that does not come loose with the shaking.

You'll be good to go. After transplanting, my biggest fear for moving outside would be sunscald. I'd put the transplant in a window that gets at least 5 hours direct sun a day for one week. Even then you will have to be careful though...
 
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