Peppers in containers

[luigiwu]

Aconite, that is awesome!! what is your secret?

[Father'sDaughter]

Amazing pictures! It sounds like you over winter them. How old are these plants? I've considered trying to over winter a few, and might give it a go this year with one or two.

[aconite]

All of those are last year's seedlings, the images were taken last fall, so they are young. I cut some down and put them inside for the winter, but it's not my general practice, i don't have good conditions for them so i loose a lot of in storage.

Luigiwu, no special secret, a good understanding of plant physiology and very careful balancing of nutrients. I had to perfect growing in containers because hot peppers do very poorly in my garden with clay soil. I went the small pot route because it's cheaper and i'm a hoarder lol, i can never have enough pots.

[Father'sDaughter]

Thanks aconite! I think, after seeing your pictures, I will go ahead and put all my hot peppers in three gallon grow bags instead of the five gallon bags I've used in the past. I have both sizes on hand, but would rather save the five gallons for my dwarf and compact tomato varieties.

The Capperino F1 I posted a picture of above and it's mate were started three months ago. Given your results, I'm now planning to keep them right where they are and see what they are capable of in their little pots. I have two more I started last month that will get planted out to grow bags. I'll also have one extra plant of each variety I'm planting out (my back-ups), so maybe I'll trial a few other varieties in small pots this year. Figure I have nothing to loose!

[aconite]

Give it a shot, especially if you have extras, it's loads of fun and you learn a lot along the way. I'd still maybe plant a couple of each variety in bigger bags as a backup, i don't know what your growing habits are. I have one more example, the by far the most drastic one, i just have to find where i put the pictures.
Remember to monitor your plants for possible nutrient deficiencies and react quickly, fertilize very often but with very small concentrations, and go easy on the nitrogen. Remember that small pots dry out faster, but with superhots it helps with getting them hotter (as if we really needed that...).
My only real problem was that the plants get so heavy, especially when fruit is abundant, that they tip over in the wind. Using a cucumber net around them or weighing the pots down a bit helps.

[Father'sDaughter]

The ones I'm planning to try growing in small pots will be my spares that I usually give away or toss after the ones I plant out in larger grow bags are established and healthy. I've had great luck with growing both peppers and tomatoes in grow bags, and am used monitoring them a bit more carefully than the plants in my raised beds. I guess I'll have to be a bit more vigilant with the small pots. Thanks for the tips!

[aconite]

Forgot to write, foliar feed them! It does wonders and it's almost impossible to overfeed them. Just stick with the lower nitrogen rule.
Good luck, if you post pictures at the end of the season i'd love to see them, and if you get stuck don't hesitate to shoot me a pm!

[jmsieglaff]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Yes drill the holes in the side at the bottom not under the container.

Worth, why the sides at the bottom instead of the bottom? Also do you line with fabric?

[ScottinAtlanta]

Originally Posted by feldon30

I've actually had better results for peppers in containers than in the ground. Either a single plant in a 3-5 gallon container, or four plants in an 15-18 gallon container.

Don't forget the dolomitic lime and a little bit of epsom salts along with copious amounts of TomatoTone, GardenTone, or your preferred low-N fertilizer. Also, I remove the first blossom that forms in the first branch or "crotch" of the plant.

Why lime? I thought peppers liked more acidic soil?

[aconite]

yeah but they get cranky without a good supply of calcium... and/or boron... especially during growth spurts.

[livinonfaith]

It may be a fluke, but it seems like my peppers like to have a companion. The ones I planted last year with three in a ten gallon pot all seemed happier and produced more than the ones planted singly in the five gallon pots.

However, it should be noted that mine have rarely looked as productive as the ones a lot of you guys post, so who knows? I may have just finally gotten some random thing right with these.

Anyone else see this happening with their plants?

[socalgardengal]

I plant all my peppers in recycled clear 1 gal. water jugs. You can see how the roots are doing and how much water is still in there. The best part is they are free after we drink the water

[spacetogrow]

I plant my "houseplant" peppers 2 to a 1 gallon pot. They aren't nearly as productive as acinite's plants, and probably only produce because they aren't exposed to the blazing sun and/or drying wind of the great outdoors.

[heirloomtomaguy]

I currently have a 6 ft tall carolina reaper pepper thriving in a 5 gallon container. Just dont forget to fertilize when they start getting big. As far as cheap containers go, i scored hundreds of slightly used 5 gallon pots from a new housing development behind my house, for free.

[AKmark]

I grow a couple hundred plants in 12 inch hanging baskets, which are hanging in the trusses of my greenhouses above the tomatoes. They do just fine, I just have to water daily.