I'm thinking of transplanting my 3 ft peppers to the garden

[Francis Barnswallow]

I have pepper plants that are producing peppers, small ones. I have three pepper plants per pot. The pots are 20 inch diameter pots and about 6 inches deep. I'm thinking there isn't enough room in the pots anymore.

Is it a good idea to transplant them to the main garden? Will the plants grow larger? Keep in mind its still pretty darn hot here, not sure if that helps or not. I just don't want the plants to go into shock if I do replant them because like I said, they are producing small peppers.

[CharlieBear]

they would be very hard to transplant since they are so large into the ground without breaking off a bunch of intertwinned roots. You do have them very tight, but if they are bearing well just make sure you keep them well watered. In the future, I would plant them in something deeper and give the plants more room, but transplanting them at this stage will either set them back greatly or possible even kill them.

[Francis Barnswallow]

I'm glad I asked here before I did it. Thanks.

[gixxerific]

My suggestion would be to transplant maybe just one of them. TO see how it goes. Yes they will go into transplant shock. Most believe that when transplanting you should remove any flowers/fruit that are on the plant. Since after transplanting the plant needs to concentrate on root growth more than vegetative growth. Than it will kick back into fruit production.

That being said peppers usually fare pretty well in pots, now the question arises "will they do better in the ground." More than likely yes at least in my observations. But than I neglect my potted plants much more than my in ground ones.

That is why I say put one in see how it does, if it comes out OK and it's not too late do the rest. Or at least you will know for next time.

Gardening is a big experiment most of the time.

Good luck

[Francis Barnswallow]

I transplanted the smallest one and it pretty much went into shock and died. So as for the rest, I'll keep them where they are because I have a new batch of seedlings that just saw the sun for the first time in their young lives this morning and they're going into the main garden in a few weeks.


Back to the much older pepper plants in the pots, I've noticed that 70% of them (their leaves) are turning a light green almost yellow in color. They're still producing golf ball size peppers though. Are they on their way out?? They're about 10 months old.

The remaining 30% are growing new dark green leaves that have many new white blossoms and many baby peppers.

[gixxerific]

I'm very sorry if my advice sent you down a bad road. But that is gardening. Give the pepper plant some time you never know.

Last year I had a tomato plant that I broke at the soil in a pot. I was mad it was one I wanted badly. I roughly shoved it in the ground and walked away. It went limp and figured it was a goner. A few weeks later while tending the garden I tripped over something that shouldn't be. It was my Black Cherry it came back and did well that season believe it or not.

That is why I say taking chances is not always bad.

Again sorry if I killed your plant. Heres hoping it comes back.

Dono

[Francis Barnswallow]

Don't be sorry gixxerific. If it wasn't for your advice to plant just one test plant, I would have transplanted all of them.

So you and CharlieBear saved a lot of my pepper plants.

[stella1751]

For what it's worth, when I was reading Gix's advice, I thought it was a great idea. The peppers really need more depth for their roots, and there's a good chance they will never produce well for you in those pots. Is there any way you can cut out the bottoms of the pot to put them in the garden?

Another idea is to put them, pot and all, in one of those big black nursery pots. Strip off the bottom six" of leaves and fill the pot that high with potting soil. The spots where you pinched off leaves will make feeder roots.

[Francis Barnswallow]

I cut the bottoms of the pots off when I first planted them. Their roots are well into the ground now.

[gardenvt]

I grow peppers in 10 gallon pots and they produce amazing quantities of peppers. My favorite is Carmen which is an Italian bullhorn type. We have harvested 6-7 dozen fully red ripe peppers from 6 plants. The plants still have about 3 dozen in the ripening process this late in the season in Vermont.

I took out a couple of peppers plants we weren't fond of - cut them back to soil level. In a matter of weeks, they were back and have flowers again. So what gix said works in that way because massive roots aren't disturbed.

[gixxerific]

I grow peppers in 10 gallon pots and they produce amazing quantities of peppers. My favorite is Carmen which is an Italian bullhorn type. We have harvested 6-7 dozen fully red ripe peppers from 6 plants. The plants still have about 3 dozen in the ripening process this late in the season in Vermont.

I took out a couple of peppers plants we weren't fond of - cut them back to soil level. In a matter of weeks, they were back and have flowers again. So what gix said works in that way because massive roots aren't disturbed.

Glad everything worked out for you. But mine was the opposite. I left the roots of the tomato in the pot and stuck the stem in the ground, that is what grew.

Next time I should stick both in the ground.