• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

container The End of Container Growing

C

cmpman1974

This will most likely be my last year doing this with veggies. I just don't see the point when I look at the garden. The plants inground are much bigger, 5x more productive, and happier. Financially, it makes much more sense to build 2-3 more 4' x 12' raised beds that produce great vs. dropping money on quality potting mix. The initial building/renovation is difficult work, but the payoff is worth it. I understand some like Potawie need to bring those pots indoors early due to climate issues to get fruit to fully ripen. I think it makes sense to grow some wild peppers in pots to get a full harvest and ensure they can be ripened indoors, but 95% of stuff fares much better in high quality amended soil. This said, my soil isn't even optimal. I've been other places where the soil is better and container growing can't hold a candle!

Chris
 
I am leaning this way as well Chris. It also helps that you dont have to monitor the water as much when they are inground.
 
cmpman1974 said:
This will most likely be my last year doing this with veggies. I just don't see the point when I look at the garden. The plants inground are much bigger, 5x more productive, and happier. Financially, it makes much more sense to build 2-3 more 4' x 12' raised beds that produce great vs. dropping money on quality potting mix. The initial building/renovation is difficult work, but the payoff is worth it. I understand some like Potawie need to bring those pots indoors early due to climate issues to get fruit to fully ripen. I think it makes sense to grow some wild peppers in pots to get a full harvest and ensure they can be ripened indoors, but 95% of stuff fares much better in high quality amended soil. This said, my soil isn't even optimal. I've been other places where the soil is better and container growing can't hold a candle!

Chris
Click to expand...


I agree with you, Chris. However, since I have a small garden plot I have to use some containers in order to be able to plant everything I want to grow. It's a little more work involved in growing the plants that way, but I can't just keep tilling up more of my lawn for vegetables to grow in.

Alan
 
I agree with you completely as I now have a space in the community garden. With just some manure and amendment my plants are looking great compared to the ones I did in the containers. Container growing is an art and for some it works very well, but for me it isn't the best option either.
 
Chris,

I'm with you, though I am getting ready to start about 30 toms in containers this week. But that is because I have a GH that I can move them to in October. I don't even use a raised bed in the back yard - only at the Fair.

Mike
 
I wish I could stop growing stuff in containers but its not gonna happen in the next few years.

I know exactly what you guys are describing.
My father plants everything in the ground and it grows faster and almost always healthier than my container grows plants.


Bleash
 
Hehe, I can't wait to have a yard next year. My lease is up on May 1st. I just hope I can find a first floor apartment with enough space to let me grow out at least a few plants on the ground (Containers are a space saver though, and are likely to keep being my main planting strategy).
 
Same for me, my in-ground plants are alot bigger. However, I'm sticking with the earthtainer for my tomatoes, alot less diseases and pests than in-ground.
 
Sorry to here you're container plants aren't doing so well. Stick with the raised beds if thats what works for you but personally I couldn't do without my containers for chiles
 
Oh don't I wish; but I'm not there yet. I've still got soil issues and it's taken me months just to find a suitable potting mix, so for now, pots are the only viable option. I'm working on the soil here and have 5 plants in it, but, they're not thriving. Surviving yes, but not thriving, so I've still got a ways to go.
Glad to hear you're doing so well with it. Cheers.
 
I have thought the same, but then I look at Surfer's plants and tell myself to try again next year but use the potting mix recipe he suggested. It would be nice to just cut the plants down and move the bucket into the garage for the winter.
 
Very good point. I ran Tovarii in the first time we had a bad storm. :) I agree rare stuff does well in pots.

Potawie, I have no idea how the hell you grow the size plants you do in these pots. I have never in my life seen anyone come close. :) It almost seems not doable based on the root mass to produce 4 lbs of peppers on a plant and more still. One key is your ability to overwinter plants. I've failed miserably on every try. The advantage of a massive greenhouse!!! If I could see yields like that, I wouldn't change either.

Chris

chillilover said:
Pots have their benefits too. You can't move a raised bed for a violent hailstorm now can you?
Click to expand...
 
One more thing. It's a lot easier to pick up a pot and tip it sideways to spray underneath for aphids as opposed to bending over in your raised bed.
 
i see your point. i grow with a long time friend down the street. he put in a good sized raised bed. some stuff worked and some didn't. buying containers and quality potting soil has become a drain on the pockets but in the interest of disease resistance and overwintering i've got to keep going with it. some of these strains were very hard to obtain. i've got to keep the plants going long as possible. everyone wnts to do paypal and credit cards online. that whole deal has me paranoid.none of the nuclears can be bought by catalog.plus with 130 lb dogs the gound thing could be a disaster for me. whatever works for you works for you!
 
I actually kinda like container gardening. There are a few real upsides. One, you can move the plants out of the rain or sun as needed, when the weather gets brutal. Two, after you get the pepper maggot infestation or whatever, and you know that there are crawly things hanging out in the soil just wetting their lips for next year's pods, you .... throw the bucket of ProMix into the yard and start over, with fresh ProMix and no bugs. Three, the plants don't grow as big but you can stuff a lot more of them in a given space, because you can just kick the pots around as needed instead of leaving 1.5 or 2 feet between plants. So, there's some decent reasons to use containers. For me, the most important is getting a clean start without pests each year.
 
Its not like there's ever one right way to do things or one way that works best, find what works for you. I can however say that of all the huge plants and plant pics I've seen, the biggest, bestest plants are always grown in containers or raised beds and usually grown in Italy ;)
I guess my largest pots are pretty much just moveable raised beds so I see it as getting the best of both worlds.
 
I'm not sure I agree. Last year I had a few plants in ground but I also had one of them in a pot (3 gallon) and I didnt see a massive difference in their size or fruit production. Now mind you I'm in Canada so maybe I dont have enough heat and a season long enough to make that difference visible.
 
Potawie, the largest most incredible plants I've ever seen are grown by Luigi in Italy. Nothing comes close, except for Jukka's greenhouse.
 
You know what's ironic...? Over the last several weeks (at least a month), I've been contemplating and made my final decision on moving purely to pots next year. The main reasons behind my choice (that come to mind):

  • Virtually NO disease: My garden plants have bacterial leaf spot; it's spread like an epidemic, and is still infecting new leaves constantly. It's even infected a few actual peppers. It's not fun picking leaves off every day, especially after storms, to prevent the spread (which, honestly, seems impossible to truly stop now that it's begun. And guess what? It's getting really dark right now, and there is yet ANOTHER severe thunderstorm warning in effect right now! By comparison, there's nothing much on my potted plants; when it rains heavily or at an angle that it gets on the plants, I bring them down to the floor of the porch to minimize contact with rain to the leaves. Which is what it looks like I'm going to have to do in a few minutes.
  • No broken branches/stems: My Fatalii has gone through a lot, from several leaves and stems removed by to the wind to the main stem being broke off somehow (probably some animal). Not so on my potted plants; not a single branch is missing due to wind damage. When it's very windy, I move the plants onto the porch to avoid it. The animals tend to stay off the porch.
  • Nearly perfect shaped leaves: Very few leaves, and on very few plants, get holes eaten in them chunks taken from their sides by insects--and again, animals are practically no problem on the porch. No need for regular slug hunts, and I haven't seen any earwigs outside of the garden either. Fungus gnats are the biggest problem, but they're really more of an annoyance.
  • Easier to maintain and harvest: Once again, nothing beats the mobility of pots. They can easily be moved to a working area for watering, feeding and examination without having to bend down to the ground to find damn-near microscopic and well-blended pests, and I find it easier to gauge how much water the plant has than if it were in the ground.
  • Bigger, healthier plants loaded with peppers: With the exception of my Scorpion, none of my garden plants are very impressive in terms of size. Similarly, the garden plants also don't have a whole lot of peppers. Meanwhile, the potted plants are impressively big, and full of peppers.
  • Easier to overwinter: They're already in pots... I'll just bring thing inside on cold fall nights and eventually bring some of them in permanently for the winter. If they make it, they'll be re-potted next spring.
  • Garden is a PITA to maintain: With the tilling and endless weed pulling, the garden is just annoying to keep in good condition. Additionally, it's harder to get to each individual plant and to water/fertilize properly.
To make a long story short: My garden this year is a nightmare, while my potted peppers are a dream in comparison. Next year I will probably use bigger pots though, especially on the varieties with big leaves and big peppers; those ones seem to drain the pot of water in no time. I'll leave the garden for things like sunflowers, pumpkins, watermelons, tomatoes and other plants that make more sense out there, but the peppers are going right on my porch next year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top