What size pot?

[Barbee]

I'm planning to grow a Habanero in a pot for the deck this year. What size pot would you recommend I use?

[Lee]

You could probably go with either a 3 or 5 gallon pot.
Habs are pretty compact plants and don't need much soil...

Lee

[Zana]

3 gal should be sufficient, but you may have to water more frequently. I have grown peppers in 5 gal buckets (as well as some smaller tomatoes) for years. Anything bigger and they're a pain in the arse to shift. And I speak from experience when I had to shift about 120 buckets, pots and other containers 2 years ago mid way through the season do to foundation repairs closest to where they usually sat. Sighhhh...think the air was bluer than the sky for awhile there. Especially the 3 32gal containers.....grrrrr. (I learned to put those on a dolley after that...hehehe....what it cost me to build the little dolleys with lockable wheels, I saved in chiropractor bills. LOL)

[Barbee]

Thank you both for responding. The wheels are a good idea as I am hoping to be able to overwinter it in my greenhouse if it gets built, if not, in my sun room. I think I will start with the 3 gallon size. I can always repot it I suppose if for some reason it outgrows it's pot?
Next question....are those self watering pots worth the money for something like peppers? I use one for a cherry tomato on my deck and it works decent for that. I'm only watering every other day which is so nice. The downside is it take a LOT of water to fill it up!

[Zana]

I don't have any of the self-watering pots....I guess I'm too cheap considering how many I've been known to have on the go. And yeah, it can take allot of water especially if you're watering by hand. Last year I had 4 rain barrels that I used and with all the rain we had, there was never a shortage of water to use. However, it also meant that I had to remove the saucers from the pots, so the roots wouldn't rot when we were getting all the seemingly torrential rains.

Since all of mine sit on a concrete patio near the pool, I tend to water every day, unless its raining or been verrrrry cool. Otherwise the concrete adds to the heat factor and dries out the pots too soon. The flip side to that is that I have been known to be still harvesting until almost the end of November because of the retained heat of the concrete!

[Barbee]

I found a self watering pot at Gardeners Supply that has the wheels built in. It's right around 40.00 (ouch). I guess I need to decide if I'm more of a cheapskate or a lazy water-er. I do hand water my pots on the deck...from my rain barrel.
I have always had crappy luck with peppers in pots. And basil. I don't mind watering once a day but I was having to water those twice a day. I start out all gung ho, then about August, I'm sick to death of watering them. I think I may break down and buy this pot and see if I get better results.

[newatthiskat]

I was thinking of putting 2 pepper plants in a 10-18 gallon Earth Tainer. I have carrots in a 10 gallon one going now (they are doing good). The way I did the Tainer was simplified and only used 1 container (for the big ones I would do just as he said due to the weight but at only 10-18 gallon not that big of a deal). Not at strudy as Ray's but cheaper. It works great.
Kat

[Barbee]

That sounds like a good plan Kat.
I only want this one Hab, and if it flakes out, I'll use the pot for flowers next year. I don't even like hot peppers, but my daughter loves them. I just like the challenge of overwintering it

[Barbee]

Of course, I should point out that all this is dependant on IF the darn peppers germinate. I am having a heck of a time getting these things to sprout

[newatthiskat]

For some reason I could not get peppers to germinate last year and the year before. Had never tried before that. What I did this year was put them in the Burpee tabletop green house. I have read on here that peat is not good for germination of peppers? Not sure, but it never worked for me before. I put a regular heating pad for the back under them at first. Then (don't try this at home) I fell asleep with the stupid thing on high and I don't know how long I cooked them at least 3 hours. I also had tomatoes in another tray partially on the heating pad. Funny thing is everything germinated. Don't think I will try that again but I found non peat and heating pad is a good combo for me. Also it takes longer for peppers to germinate than tomatoes. I am a wuss and very allergic to habs so I will stay away from them and almost anything really hot. For some odd and bizzare reason I have decided to grow a ton of pepper plants this year. I even signed up for the hot pepper research project on here. My daughters birds are going to love me!
Kat

[nctomatoman]

Peppers are pretty unfussy about pot size - they will just adjust their yield appropriately. I've had habs fruit in a 4 inch plastic pot! Not many, mind you. But peppers in general are much more forgiving than tomatoes in terms of pot size.

And go cheap! Find those black plastic pots that you get trees and shrubs in! If I see them on the side of the road, I stop and grab them. Don't make Gardeners Supply company rich by spending more than you need on a hobby that truly needs very little...sun, water, good soil primarily!

[Barbee]

Ha Craig! I like how you think Probably best to see how much water it wants and all that jazz before spending the money for the pot, eh?

Kat, I have these little devils on a heating pad in plain potting mix and I have been testing the soil. It stays right at 78* Maybe I have cooked them, I dunno, but it's been 2 weeks now and nothing showing. Well, that's not true. I've had one red mushroom pepper germinate so far. I may be growing that in my pot instead of the Hab

Now sweet peppers, while it takes awhile for them to germinate, I have no issues with them. Just these hot thangs. Maybe that's my sign LoLoL

[ContainerTed]

I'd like to echo Craig on the point of stopping and picking up FREE containers. Last Saturday, I managed to make a major find. Somebody dumped a bunch of larger containers and I happened along at the right time. The one gallon size (first picture) are almost all the heavier gauge pots. The second picture shows the extent of the find. 5 of the large (10-15 gallon), probably about 40 of the 2.5 to3 gallon size and maybe 30 of the one gallon size. The orange 5 gallon bucket is there for size comparison.

[newatthiskat]

Great find!!! I keep hoping that I will come across something like that!
Kat

[Barbee]

I have so many of those pots it's shameful. And testament to just how many shrubs/perennials I buy each year. When we moved into this house 2 years ago this past fall, I brought most of my old garden with me in the bazillion pots I had at the old house. Since so many use these for container gardening, maybe I can freecycle them?