Container vegetables

[DirtMechanic]

So your saying you'd start ahead of that? My average last frost date is may 15th here. When should I be starting them?

I am saying since it is artificial, and thats temps and not just a grow light, you can please yourself to the extent you have room to do so. I do not grow that many peppers, it is just Becky and I, so starting a few early is no big footprint for me. There is no right "date" in an artificial grow environment. There will be some transplant shock but you can help that with rooting compounds. For me, having edible peppers early is the goal. I am not planting them for looks so I start peppers and Tomatoes this week.

 

[adam_ca]

So your saying you'd start ahead of that? My average last frost date is may 15th here. When should I be starting them?

i'm in zone 6a (last frost may 1st ish)
i'm staring my peppers indoors on March1st
i'm a bit of a newbie, but thats what i think i should do given the info online.

 

[adam_ca]

Last year I grey jalapeño peppers, cayenne peppers, and bloody butcher tomato in a grow bag. Peppers did pretty good and bloody butcher did average probably. Was just wondering if there's better varieties to grown in pots other than cherries? Not a big cherry fan and don't plant any.

I heard that bigger tomatoes tend to take longer, your growing season might not be hot enough for long enough for it to really start producing alot.

i'll be trying:
'Tiny Tim' (Non-GMO) Dwarf Cherry Tomato - (Heirloom)
'Bonny Best' - (Non-GMO) - Tomato Seeds
'Money Maker' (Non-GMO) Tomato


the one that ends up producing more pounds of tomatoes will be the winner and all the others I'm not going to plant again.

 

[Brian1985]

I made my own potting soil last year for the containers. What should I do about amending them this year? I don't really wanna dump the soil if I don't have to.

 

[DirtMechanic]

You sterilize it. Steam or otherwise.

 

[adam_ca]

should he maybe add some fresh compost to his grow bag mix?

 

[DirtMechanic]

should he maybe add some fresh compost to his grow bag mix?

Depends on what is there already. Mostly containers get sterilized and then can be reinoculated, but as to the content it can end up with too much of a good thing. Black Kow says 1 part manure and 2 parts soil, and other gardners use a 1/3 rule so I guess the way I would check the existing mix is the glass jar trick with a tablespoon of detergent. You can mark the relative ratios as the water mix settles out. Another way is a screaming hot fire maybe on a charcoal grill, where organics burn away and minerals do not, you just weigh it on a gram scale before and after for the organic ratio. You need to preheat the damp sample until its dry before you take the initial weight or you will mistakenly measure water. I use the jar test. It is not that critical to be off a little.

I would caution about crossing the border between planting in soil and in pots. Pots are a very artificial environment and reusing old soil might just mean a different fertilizer like fish fertilizer rather than relying on the nitrogen content of the proteins in cow poo. Mycorriza are not quite as big a deal in pots because the feeding handles their job so the organics end up being a carbon source or a moisture retention or oxygen space type use rather than a biologically interactive component of the biodome as it would be out in the yard or soil garden. It strikes me that hydroponics and potting a plant have more in common than it might first appear.

 

[adam_ca]

if he's worried about keeping the potting mix consistency right, he should add vermiculite to the compost.

"It strikes me that hydroponics and potting a plant have more in common than it might first appear. "
this probably becomes more and more true, if your re-using spent soil, over and over.
and that's probably what @Brian1985 wants to avoid.

if I was @Brian1985 I'd throw the potting mix in the compost pile and not think anything of it, and rest assured that mixing it in with all the other POOP will eventually become good soil again.

short of that... I would suggest, removing any large roots the previous plants might have left behind and added in some fresh compost and/or some weak insoluble fertilizer http://thedirtondirt.com/fertilizer-types/
that way his soil is as rich in NPK as it was before.

edit: maybe a little bit of this stuff https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.vigoro-hanging-basket-fertilizer.1000756303.html ??? man idk you can end up burning your plant from all these non-organic stuff.

slow release fertilizer + water fertilizer might make your plant OD, lol!

 

[DirtMechanic]

if he's worried about keeping the potting mix consistency right, he should add vermiculite to the compost.

"It strikes me that hydroponics and potting a plant have more in common than it might first appear. "
this probably becomes more and more true, if your re-using spent soil, over and over.
and that's probably what @Brian1985 wants to avoid.

if I was @Brian1985 I'd throw the potting mix in the compost pile and not think anything of it, and rest assured that mixing it in with all the other POOP will eventually become good soil again.

short of that... I would suggest, removing any large roots the previous plants might have left behind and added in some fresh compost and/or some weak insoluble fertilizer http://thedirtondirt.com/fertilizer-types/
that way his soil is as rich in NPK as it was before.

The best way is always your way!

That why they make potting soil. I do like you and throw mine out in the yard plants. I generally try to keep disease out of my garden and pots but use the remains generally on the lawn and shrubs.

I like that idea of biochar in the product they sell on the website link you gave. I do not need such a high P here though. Plus, my front yard is about 20k feet so manure compost is cheaper and I like protein and carbohydrates in my fertilizer for various reasons. I have tried them separately but manure has both so again its cheaper and better. I broke down and bought a compost spreader so its easy to lay out a thin layer more frequently.

 

[adam_ca]

The best way is always your way!

That why they make potting soil. I do like you and throw mine out in the yard plants. I generally try to keep disease out of my garden and pots but use the remains generally on the lawn and shrubs.

I like that idea of biochar in the product they sell on the website link you gave. I do not need such a high P here though. Plus, my front yard is about 20k feet so manure compost is cheaper and I like protein and carbohydrates in my fertilizer for various reasons. I have tried them separately but manure has both so again its cheaper and better. I broke down and bought a compost spreader so its easy to lay out a thin layer more frequently.

the best way is your way. couldn't agree more.

I've seen people make a compost extract ( mix compost in water and let it sit there a day or so ) and water the garden with that, as a way of easily spreading a little bit of compost everywhere evenly. there's too many ways of doing things, most methods probably work, and in most of the time, i bet the soils in garden beds are already saturated with plenty of NPK and all these compost teas and what not are over kill, and hardly make any difference.

@Brian1985

<-- he dose alot of potted plants and in this video talk about adding stuff to your pots so you dont have to refill them. notice how little fertilizer he uses 8-4-6 is probably too high.

I was going to reuse a pot from last year too, so I'll try his method as well, but my poor pot has been left out in the yard with nothing covering it since the summer, OPS!

 

[headfullofbees]

Last year I grey jalapeño peppers, cayenne peppers, and bloody butcher tomato in a grow bag. Peppers did pretty good and bloody butcher did average probably. Was just wondering if there's better varieties to grown in pots other than cherries? Not a big cherry fan and don't plant any.

F1 varieties are a bit more vigorous than OPs, and one like "F1 Fandango" could be your answer.
It has thin skins, so is especially suitable for containers, where control of watering can help with their one weakness, splitting.

 

[Brian1985]

Thanks everyone for all your help.

 

[Brian1985]

the recipe I used is jen largent-farnam. I didnt put the azomite and gypsate in but used everything else. Any tips on what i should be using to revitalize my soil this year?