Starting habeneros in a container for a gift to a friend

[tenderloingardener]

I'm wanting to give a good friend a gift that he'll really like-if he can keep it alive. He is a hot pepper maniac-he often has nothing in his fridge except corn tortillas and 20 bottles of hot sauce. I am hoping that I can start and get an habenero plant well established in a container to give to him. In fact, even though he has a small sunny front yard that he'll likely be able to convince the neighbors to share a spot in, it might be easier if the plant could stay in a container. That way when the neighbors are doing the "every holiday" decorating the plant can be moved, thus making everyone happy.
I'm guessing a container at least as large as a joint compound bucket would suffice as long as there is good drainage- please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks!

Respect existence or expect resistance

[PunkRotten]

May be too tricky. Why not buy him a bottle of Habanero sauce instead?

[applestar]

People with experience growing them can correct me if I'm wrong, but I have the impression the regular habanero variety grows rather very large and is likely to be not as suitable for container growing.

Here's an excerpt from my own pepper inventory. As you can see, there are varieties that stay much smaller and would do better -- and will be just as hot.

VARIETY Species Ht in inches
AJI CRISTAL C.baccatuum 24 - 30
AJI DULCE C.chinense 18 - 24
(Aji?) HOT LEMON C.baccatuum 12 - 24
ANAHEIM M C.annuum 18 - 24 (more like 32-40)
Big Jim 24 - 36
BOLIVIAN RAINBOW C.annuum 18- 24
Carolina Reaper 48+
CORNO DI TORO RED C.annuum 24 - 30
Cuneo yellow bell 24 - 30
DE ARBOL C.annuum 18 - 24
Donkey Ears 12
ETKEZESI PAPRIKA
FISH C.annuum 18 - 24
"Golden Habanero (organic)" 60
Golden Summer Hybrid C.annuum 24 - 30
JALAPENO EARLY C.annuum 12 - 18
JALAPENO M C.annuum 18 - 24
PEPPADEW C.baccatuum
"PERU WHITE HB
(Peruvian White?)" C.chinense 26
Purple Beauty C.annuum 18 - 24
Ramiro sweet pepper
SCOTCH BONNET RED C. chinense 18 - 24
SIVRI BIBER C. Annul 24 - 36
"Thai Sun" 12
TOBAGO SEASONING C.chinense 24 - 30
TRINIDAD PERFUME C. chinense 24 - 30
BRAZILIAN STARFISH C.baccatuum 30- 36
CHILI PIQUIN/TEPIN
CUMARI C.chinense 18- 24
JAMAICAN HOT CHOCOLATE C.chinense 24 - 30
"PERU PAINTER PI215741"
QUADRATO d'ASTI GIALLO C.annuum 24 - 30
RED SAVINA C.chinense 42
ROCOTO RED C. pubescens 48+
Trinidad Scorpion 36

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah, smaller pepper varieties certainly can be grown in containers. Make sure it has plenty of drainage (put some holes low on the sides as well as the bottom) and use a pretty free draining potting mix. You need at least a 2 gallon bucket, 3 -5 would be better.

[imafan26]

I grow habanero and Carribean reds. They are actually some of my smallest peppers. They can be grown in containers and a 5 gallon container will work for a while. If the plant gets bigger then up pot. I have not had to go bigger than a 20 inch pot. Container peppers do not live as long as peppers in the ground. Habaneros have a small pepper load of about 20 peppers, if they carry much more the plant dies a lot faster.

[outdoorjim]

For the past two years, our habaneros have struggled in the ground and only started producing fruit after being transferred into a pot. I'm not sure why.. I assume it's some sort of soil nutrient thing. But yeah, they can definitely be grown in a container.