Containers Growing ?

[AlittleSalt]

I promised to show some trees around here. Those are all in what I call our yard (Post #522) The first picture shows the wildfire damage from 1979 and how the trees have recovered over the past 40 years.

I had just cut and pulled out briars and some poison ivy that was at least 15 foot tall. You can see in the picture where some of the poison Ivy was cut off at the last minute before I took the picture. They are the green vegetation you see near the trees in the picture.

To make a long story short - My stepmother passed in 2010, and mine and my half brother's Father passed in 2011. My half brother (Brother) wanted to let the property grow wild except around our houses, and I begrudgingly agreed to his request back in 2011.

In a way, I'm tired of seeing nature take over, and I'm slowly cleaning up some of the area. (Reclaiming the Jungle) is what I call it. I don't spray pesticides except on my tomato plants. and I do that when I have to. There are 11+ acres here. I like for some of it to be mowed and park-like, with an in-between area with just a little upkeep, and all the rest to be natural. To me, that is part of container gardening, or gardening in general. It all depends on what you are happy with. I know it seems off-topic, but it really isn't.

I did take care of the containers garden first with their feeding and I had to tie a stem closer to the cage (I should show pictures of that tomorrow). I really never imagined seeing a container garden growing tomato plants as huge as they are growing. I did see the huge tomato plants that AK Mark showed in his thread, but I had no idea about growing them outside in containers.

[GrowingCoastal]

Good idea to clear out the poison ivy if there are kids playing out there. As they grow older they will roam farther. I imagine that clearing some of the areas around the house will also give snakes less cover, again a good thing with kids running around.
Snakes are so good at camouflage I nearly put my hand on a little one last week while picking up a bit of litter in a wild walking place.

I love your oak trees that remind me of our coastal Garry Oaks.

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by GrowingCoastal

Good idea to clear out the poison ivy if there are kids playing out there. As they grow older they will roam farther. I imagine that clearing some of the areas around the house will also give snakes less cover, again a good thing with kids running around.
Snakes are so good at camouflage I nearly put my hand on a little one last week while picking up a bit of litter in a wild walking place.

I love your oak trees that remind me of our coastal Garry Oaks.

I agree. Make the area safer. Calamine Lotion is being used. That's what you do for others no matter what age you are. I did it as a child, a teen, young adult, father, grandfather. You just do what is needed for others.

[AlittleSalt]

The pepper plants are a little different in container gardens. I really didn't know what to expect when planning them. The 4-18-38, 15-0-0, Epsom Salt was made for growing tomatoes. Then there is the fact that peppers don't need a lot of water - so I missed many days watering on purpose and I factor in rainfall.

What I have seen from this is smaller plants producing a lot of peppers in May (A month early). I have F1s and OP varieties growing. I need to pick them tomorrow so more new flowers and peppers will grow. Which sparks an idea that I've had for over a month - small plants producing a lot that withstand too much rain. Summer is just starting, so I'm more than interested in finding out how this plays out.

I'll take pictures before harvest tomorrow. (I left out that they were partially harvested 3 days ago)

[SueCT]

Interestingly, I have found in my climate my peppers, especially hot peppers, do better and produce more in pots than in the ground. I suspect that it is because they like warmer soil and the pots warm up faster and stay warmer than the ground.

[slugworth]

picked my 1st tomato today.
4th of july hybrid in a cement block.

[AlittleSalt]

Very cool Slugworth

I didn't get to harvest peppers today. Every time I thought I had some time - something/s needed more attention. I did water/feed. I'm finding the buckets of tomato plants cannot go a day without water/feeding.

Sue, I agree with the warm container logic for peppers as long as the mix doesn't get too hot. I hope you don't mind - I'm doing some research online. Connecticut's hardiness zones have changed according to many sites. There's anywhere from zones 5A to 7A. In Texas, things are changing too, but not a whole lot. Zones 7 and 8 blanket a lot of the state. The heat zones are a different story altogether, and I know play a more important part. Connecticut's heat zone map is 1 or 2. I'm in zone 9. A general Google search https://www.google.com/search?ei=kBI...30.SEjyzGF7klc

Next year, I'm going to plant some tabasco peppers. I know how they grow in the ground here because I grew them for many years (My avatar picture over there <<<) I should have thought to grow them in containers this year, but I didn't. I am seeing a lot of production from smaller pepper plants grown in containers as I wrote about above. For now, I'm not going to change anything because it's working. It has been a cool spring here.

I could start tabasco seeds tomorrow and see what happens. It's getting very close to time for starting tomato seeds for the fall garden anyway. This is where conventional logic gets played with by 6 months. In this part of Texas, what is written online and in books is to start Tabasco pepper seeds in January. What you read isn't always right. Why not try?

[slugworth]

Last year I did the poor mans' raised bed with a 2 cubic foot bag of potting soil.
Put it on the ground and just slit the top to install the plants.
I can't grow peppers here,some bug chews the leaves at night and earwigs bore holes in
peppers.
This year to cover all the bases I have cool weather and hot weather tomato types.
Oregon spring,sub arctic plenty,and for the hot weather- phoenix and heatmaster.

[GrowingCoastal]

I grow only a few peppers in pots. This year I have already picked two from a variety called Lipstick that was added to my seed order from Baker Creek. The lipstick is a smaller plant with small peppers but they are full flavoured reds and taste like a very sweet bell with surprisingly thick walls for such a small pepper. Very nice.

[SueCT]

I do know about Connecticut's changing map. I went from 5b to 6a last time I checked the newest map. To a certain extent lines have to be drawn in a somewhat arbitrary way. I don't know that I kept the link or that it would still be accessable online, but I made Carolyn quite incredulous one time when I told her the new line went right through my town, so some of us were in one zone and others in another zone. She didn't think it was drawn that finely, so I posted the link, lol. I have not looked in quite a while so for all I know I could be in 6b by now.

Clearly, I benefit from the warming effect of containers when growing peppers much more than you would. It could clearly be a benefit to me and a detriment to you.

[SueCT]

Here it is. It is fun to play with, especially if you live in an area that is close to the map lines. Your friends and relalives can be in a different zone than you. if you keep pressing the + sign in the upper left of the map, you can actually start to see street names, highways, ect.

https://www.plantmaps.com/interactiv...diness-map.php

[slugworth]

6a but I get a cool breeze off the water most of the time,especially at night.
Even in the same neighborhood the temps vary due to houses blocking the wind.
The entire shoreline should have a zone of it's own.

[HudsonValley]

Originally Posted by SueCT

Here it is. It is fun to play with, especially if you live in an area that is close to the map lines. Your friends and relalives can be in a different zone than you. if you keep pressing the + sign in the upper left of the map, you can actually start to see street names, highways, ect.

https://www.plantmaps.com/interactiv...diness-map.php

Thanks for posting; cool website! According to it, my town "is in Hardiness zones 5b, 6a and 6b." The town is situated on some cliffs close to the Hudson River and varies in elevation...

[AlittleSalt]

There are ways to insulate containers that comes from old-school masonry. I am a 7th generation mason forced to retire due to nerve diseases. I can't forget what I already knew instinctively. That sounds pompous and I apologize, (I should edit this out.)

[Worth1]

No you shouldn't edit it out.