Can I Grow Chili Pepper Plants in Containers?

Yes! It is straightforward to grow hot pepper plants in a variety of different containers. You can grow them in a variety of containers. You have to plant chili plants in containers if you want to grow them indoors.

Once established, they produce a lot of fruit every year and are easy to grow from seeds. If you want the pepper plants to grow well and have a nice fruit production, you need to provide them with enough light and water.

Can chili pepper plants be grown in containers?

Chilies can be grown in all sorts of containers. It is very easy to grow hot pepper plants in various types of containers, including plastic buckets, terracotta pots, recycled glass bottles, etc.

When growing peppers in pots, you just need to make sure the soil has good drainage, so water does not sit on top of the root ball. It also helps to keep them slightly moist at all times as this encourages healthy growth.

Also, when growing chili plants indoors, you have no choice but to plant them in containers. This is not a problem since you can grow chili plants indoors with great success.

Chilies are, in general, easy to grow from seed, and once established, they produce a lot of fruit every year. You just need to make sure that you provide the hot pepper seeds with plenty of light during their growth cycle and water regularly.

You can use any kind of pot for growing chilies. However, there are some things you must take into consideration before planting, such as:

• Size – How much room do you have? Do you have enough space for two pots side-by-side? Or maybe one larger pot instead?

• Soil Type – What sort of soil do you prefer? Clay, sand, peat moss, composted manure, vermiculite, garden soil …

There really isn't a wrong answer here; however, certain soils perform better than others. For example, clay tends to dry out quickly, while sandy soil drains poorly.

• Watering Needs – Will you be watering daily or weekly? Daily watering means you only need to add water once per day. Weekly watering requires adding water twice per week.

• Light Requirements – Are you planning to grow under lights or without?

What size pots to grow chilies in?

Hot peppers do well in pots as long as the plants are not too big for the container. You don't want them to get root bound because this means there isn't room for new growth. So you need to make sure you give them plenty of space.

If the plant has been grown from seed in a small pot, you'll need to transplant it into a larger pot than the one used for seedlings. This way, the potted peppers can get bigger before being transplanted outside if this is what your goal is.

* Small containers: (~5 liters) ~20 cm diameter and ~20 cm height

* Medium size containers: (~12 liters) ~30 cm diameter and ~30 cm height

* Large containers: (~19 liters) ~35cm diameter and ~30 cm height

Most varieties would benefit from a container of at least 10 liters. This gives the plant plenty of room to spread out without being cramped. You can also use smaller sizes like 5-liter pots as long as they're deep enough, so there isn't any water pooling on top of the soil.

You can get away with smaller than normal-sized ones as long as there is plenty of room around each plant. Many people grow their hot peppers in 19-liter buckets because they think the plant needs more space than what a standard-sized container would provide. This is not necessarily the case.

The best way of determining a suitable sized container for a plant is by measuring its root ball before planting. If you're unsure about what size pot to use, a rule of thumb is to start with one slightly larger than the rootball measurement.

Of course, the size of the container also depends on what pepper variety you're going to grow. So, perhaps the best way to determine how big your pot should be for growing chilis would be by looking at what type of chili you want to grow.

For example, Sweet Peppers or Bell Peppers require more space than Jalapenos or Cayenne Peppers because they get bigger as they mature. Jalapeno plants can also produce fruit at an earlier age, so they don't need quite as much room. You can also choose to grow small bushy plants like Grandpa's Home Pepper or Orange Tabasco.

What are the drainage and lighting requirements for container growing?

These requirements depend on whether you plan to grow indoors or outdoors. Indoor growers usually have no problems keeping their plants watered regularly. They may even opt to mist their plants now and then if necessary. Outdoor growers must take extra care when watering their plants. The main problem faced by outdoor gardeners is that rainwater gets trapped between the roots and the sides of the pot, which causes the soil to become soggy.

A related issue many people are having trouble with when growing chilies in containers is the lack of proper drainage. If the roots of the pepper plants are in moist soil all the time, they will start to rot. This phenomenon is known as root rot.

To avoid root rot, you will need to make sure there are drainage holes at the bottom of your containers such that excess water can runoff. This also means that you'll need a saucer or something similar under the container to catch the excess water.

As far as watering goes, make sure that the bottom dries out before going back underwater again.

Yet, if the soil dries out too much, the chili plants won't get any water at all. This will lead to lousy growth. The conclusion is that you need a good balance of moisture for the hot peppers to thrive.

Another thing to consider is the amount of light the plants get when growing in a container. They like lots of light so make sure there's plenty of sun. If the plants are indoors, then they'll love to get extra light from a grow light. Anyway, this means that you need to make sure there isn't any shade around their pots.

How many pepper plants can I put in a container?

It is possible to grow more than one pepper plant at a time in a container. It depends on the variety, though. Some varieties like Jalapeno require lots of space while others such as Anaheims need less room. Some varieties need lots of room while others don't like being crowded at all.

Of course, this also depends on how big the container is. It would help if you always tried to give your plants enough room to spread out properly. In general, it's recommended that you only allow two plants per square meter.

Do note that they will start to compete for nutrients and water if you plant more than one pepper per container. Therefore, you may want to consider using a larger container so that each plant's root system has room to grow without competing against other plants.

The best way to find out exactly how many plants you can squeeze into a given-sized container is to measure the root balls first. Then add another 5 cm or so onto each side of the root ball until you reach the edge of the container. That's what you should leave yourself for planting.

If you're planning to grow your peppers outside, then you'll probably need somewhere between one and two meters of space between the plants.

Further Reading

• https://countrylivinginacariboovalley.com/how-big-of-a-container-does-a-pepper-plant-really-need/
• https://balconygardenweb.com/growing-hot-peppers-in-containers-how-to-grow-chili-peppers-in-pots/
• https://peppergeek.com/container-size-for-pepper-plants/