When planning his vegetable garden Erik quickly realized that containers would be the best option; the topsoil in his backyard contains numerous bowling ball sized rocks and various construction debris left over from when the house was built. To accommodate his needs he has employed various large plastic containers, including these storage totes which have a capacity of around 15-20 gallons.
Erik drilled between 15-20 3/8" sized holes in each container for drainage, and planted six equally spaced pepper seedlings grown indoors from seed.
On the left are a nice pair of purple bells and to the right a prolific 'popper' pepper
Erik also planted jalapeno, cayenne, golden bell and anchos (seen fruiting on left)
In addition to avoiding the very unusable ground, these containers have the advantage of mobility. This can be of particular use as fall approaches and the position of the sun changes. The containers are easily moved to follow the sun's declining arc. Another exciting advantage will be the ability to move the peppers indoors when the temperatures drop. I recently learned that peppers are a perennial--which, unlike most other annual garden vegetables which grow for one season and die-- and can live and continue fruiting for several years if grown under proper conditions.
Erik plans to experiment with growing a few of the plants indoors. It will be interesting to see how they respond to the new conditions.
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