Judging by the size of the stem compared to the size of the pot, you should be OK for awhile yet. Watch for roots to appear at the drain hole & pot-up when that occurs. I don't use commercial soil mixes, so I can't recommend one. I would use leaf color as the key to when to fertilize. As long as leaves are not showing signs of yellow, or venation, I would hold off. Though peppers abort most of their blossoms anyway, excess nitrogen can interfere with fruit set.

Al

Thanks for the reply tapla, few more questions if you wouldn't mind. The plant has produced a small, maybe 1/2 in green pepper. Is this a sign that I should transplant? I haven't seen any roots coming out of the bottom yet, althogh there is only one hole.

My other question is that the very bottom leaves are yellowing slightly and all of its leaves are curled upward. Could these both be nutrient deficiencies? Thanks for the info, and sorry for all of the questions while i figure this stuff out.:)

I don't thing potting-up is necessary yet, especially in the light of the fact that peppers like it hot, bright, & dry. Potting-up makes it a little more difficult to judge just how dry the soil really is at the container bottom.

Your yellow leaves could be from a bunch of things. The first 3 things that come to mind is over-watering & the accompanying root rot, N shortage, or Fe shortage. Several other nutrient shortages could cause yellowing as well. How the yellowing manifests itself also provides additional clues. Copper & molybdenum (sp ?) scarcity also can cause the leaf distortion you mention.

Do you have any idea what the pH of your water is? High Ph often locks up macro/micro nutrients that would normally be available in soils if pH was lower.

I know I haven't helped, but I doubt you'll get a definitive answer without someone experienced looking at your plant.

I would: Use a light hand on the watering can, try watering with rain water or water collected from a pond or similar, and apply a balanced fertilizer in liquid form (for fastest results) at half strength and watch for improvement (one of the major fertilizer manufacturers is offering a fertilizer with the minor elements in it. My memory fails me, so I can't tell you which, but it was probably Schultz, Peter's, MG, or similar. I saw it at Lowe's) I think it is worth trying, for container gardeners). If leaf color and growth improves, I would begin a fertilizer program of half strength applications. You'll have to judge the frequency, based on how fast your soil drains & how much water you apply at each watering.

Important questions: How many seconds does it take for water to percolate through soil at watering time? Can you water freely, so water runs through soil, or would that leave your soil too wet for too long?

Al

Wow, thanks for the reply, sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. Your information definetly helps, I'm learning a lot just by reading and other peoples posts, It just gets better when my own gets answered so well.;)

As of now the plant is doing okay. I'm thinking the pot is too small though. The one pepper is getting at least what seems to me, large for the plants size. The pepper is about 3.5" wide.

I have also been losing lots of flowering sites, although I'm not sure if this just occurs often with green peppers.

As far as watering goes, I don't think I have been overwatering, I normally water throughly every two days as it has been hot lately. I have gone a day longer at times but the leaves were verrry droopy by then, witin an hour of watering i could see them perk up.

I have some fertilizer it is MiracleGro and is 8-7-6. That is a 'lil high on the nitrogen so I'm not sure if I will use it or not. Could that hurt yield at all?

Now to answer your question, it takes the water quite a while go drain out the bottom when water. I actually have to stop and let it drain then water more 3-4 seconds later. I know this isn't good and is kind of making me want to re-locate the plant. I picked up some composted chicken poop for my tomatoes and mixed it with soil. They seem to be doing ok so I think I would try that out with the peppers. This sound like a good idea? I would have done it already but I'm lazy and really need a wheel barrow, the good soil is on the other side of the house and it took me like five bucket loads for the tomatoes.:)

I'll throw some pictures up when I get my digi cam back from a friend.