OK. 1) it says 6 weeks before frost indoors. It's not as simple as that -- generally, one needs help with warmth just to get pepper seeds to germinate. Heat mats are commonly used, but something as simple as a the top of a dvr or refrigerator can be used. You want the temp to be somewhere between about 75-88F, with 88 being the sweet spot. Also, 6 weeks would be bare minimum for annuums. I'd go 8 minimum and at least 12 for chinense varieties. If frost happens to stick around longer than expected, one can always pot up. Having a nice mature seedling is paramount, especially for those in colder climates who only have a small window to work with. There's much more to starting indoors though. I suggest a visit to growing under lights forum and/or hot pepper forum. 2) it says 16" pot. Well, that may be fine for THAT pot, but I have 16" containers that are only 8" deep. That won't work. You need some depth also Container size is debatable depending on variety and length of season and the amount of potting mix one wants to buy. Many people(not me) grow their chinenses in as small as 2 gallon. I, myself, have had success with 5 gal buckets. But much better with 10-15 because of my longer growing season. With large fruited annuums like bells and others the video shows, I've done the 5 gal. But... the harvests past the 1st one suffer with misshapen and smaller fruit. For those varieties, I recommend 10 gal or bigger. I'm not saying you can't get a decent harvest in a smallish container, but the bigger the better, imho. 3) it says the Ancho Poblano is also known as the Pasilla. Not true. Here, in SoCal, Poblanos are sold with the name Pasilla in the grocery stores. It's a misnomer though. Pasillas are actually Chilacas --- a totally different peppers variety. 4) drip irrigation. This one really bothers me. Although it may be efficient, it's not the best way to water pepper plants. Pepper plants hate "wet feet." The soil like to be dried out between waterings.. almost to the point of wilting. So, if you go outside one morn or evening and your plants are still wilting from the hot summer, it's time to give them a good soak. One gets a feel for this the more they grow them. You actually don't want to get them to wilt stage, but right before it. But, better wilt than overwater. And with drip, I see too constant of a moisture level. So, here's how I do it. Water thoroughly, let get almost wilt, deep soak. Let get almost wilt, deep soak... and so on. 5) mulch. Love it! But, the chances of it breaking down and becoming useful to your plant is pretty small in one season. Still, always a good idea to mulch. SO, no true complaint here. Although, those leaves being used is garden "litter." Many pests "hibernate" in leaf litter, so one may be better off using bark or something else and saving the leaves for the compost pile. 6) Organic fertilizers. I have no problem with them whatsoever and in the beginning may give a boost to growth. But, maintaining a microherd in smallish containers is difficult because of temperature fluctuations. The only time i do organic in a container is with large containers like barrels. Anything smaller, and I go synthetic. 1 TB of CRF per gallon of soil and half doses weekly with an All Purpose water soluble fert--- Miracle Gro 24-8-16 or Foliage Pro 9-3-6 are 2 very common ones. If using MG, you'll need to supplement with Ca and Mg. Dolomite lime is used a lot or CalMag. Check the ingredients on your soil mix for lime since too much lime will raise ph too high. 7) Fish ferts for BLOOMS? Not too sure on that statement, but if the person in the video feels it works for them, then who am I to argue? The general rule is phosphorus for flowering, but a well balanced fertilizer is generally all that's needed for peppers. Fish ferts are a good way to keep the microherd going though, but like i said, organic ferts I tend to keep for in ground plants and LARGE containers. Not too sure on the foliar spraying also. There are some veggies that like to get their leaves wet. Like most though, peppers do not. JMO 8) Fetilizing -- all depends. Like i said, a well balanced 3-1-2 ratio with micronutes is best with containers every week at half doses. Epsom salts -- again with the foliar -- i say no. I also say no to epsoms unless my plants are showing they need some Mg. Then, I just add 1/2 tsp to my regular ferts for soil drench. 9) Cutworms and hornworms. Neem oil is used for soft bodied insects like aphids, mites, and whiteflies. Also fungal issues. For cutworms, diatomaceous earth can help, but it can also kill beneficials. Beneficial nematodes can help also, but I found that just a couple toothpicks inserted into the soil at the base of the seedling will prevent cutworms from wrapping around the stalk and nipping it at soil level. Hornworms -- hand picking helps, but i found that an IPM program and bi-weekly sprayings of BT (K variant) keeps them at bay. 10) Blossom end rot. A lot of people think that it's fixable. It may be in future harvests, but you want the ca to be present from the get go because most forms of it need time to break down and be used by the plants. If you're looking to get instant Ca to a plant, one may want to google "smokemaster witch's brew." But the best is to have it present in the beginning. Lime, bone meal, etc should be applied several months in advance. 11) When harvesting the peppers, I notice a lot of falling leaves and yellowing. This goes back to overwatering issues. 12) Not just the Thai pepper is PERENNIAL -- ALL varieties are. For people in Northern climates, overwintering is very popular. Google it. btw, I have found Thai varieties to do pretty well in smallish containers. Goes back to my theory of large fruited varieties needing LARGER containers. Was that YOUR video djkj? If it was, I'm sorry for ripping it apart. But if you're happy with the way things are going, then who am I to try to change your mind? That's the beauty of gardening.. what works for one may not work for the other. Wow! That is one long a** post! Kevin

My hot peppers are well behind normal schedule. They should be flowering by now. I've got to mix up some Epsom salt water & possibly get some blood meal to heal them up, then they should start producing shortly afterwards. At least two of them are already budding but because of the nutrient issue of container gardening, the buds are not doing well. I'm hoping I can save the plants & get some peppers off them. On a good note, my green bell & orange bell pepper plants are budding & some even flowering already! yay! :) Here is a link that might be useful:

Hi MusicSub - Well, I wouldn't say I abandoned it, no and I hadn't heard there is a new square foot gardening method. I'll have to check it out. I still grow in raised beds and plant fairly close together, but I don't mark out each square foot or pay that much attention to the distance. I'm still paying more attention to other projects, I guess. This year, I planted in the spring, kept it mulched and watered and barely paid any attention to the vegetable garden at all. It made a difference, I was not as successful with the garden this year. I've had trouble with tree roots invading my veggie beds and I just didn't have time to dig them all out before I got started. It was discouraging. Speaking of peppers and having no fruit on the plants. I planted Carmen peppers this year. I grew them in the backyard where there is 6hrs of sun and the front yard where there is full sun. I've always planted them in the back and produced peppers by the end of the season. This year the plants in the front grew much larger than those in the back. I'd say double the size. Strangely, same variety of pepper, 3ft apart, in same amount of sun, same amount of fertilizer and water. One Carmen pepper was covered with peppers and nothing on the other one, all season. Plenty of flowers and bees too. I just noticed there are a few tiny peppers on that plant finally, but the other plant has a lot more and already picked a couple of red ones. The Carmen pepper is a nice elongated pepper and they really produced. I'd say that they have a thin wall though. I really like a juicy Bell pepper and I haven't found one I like yet. I have about a half dozen still left in the back that are almost all red. And a dozen green peppers in the front right now. Sungold tomato - grew it in the back in 6hrs of sun and full sun in the front. What a difference. The plant in the front is probably triple the size of the one in the back. Pushing out tomatoes to beat the band. Shared them all summer and had more than enough for us. It was our earliest tomato too. I just brought in 5 dinner plates full of ripe tomatoes this morning from one plant. Pretty good for doing very little to the plant all summer. Weekly, half strength Neptune fertilizer and that was about it.

Chandra, I don't know that I'd trust that lady bug thing from the Farmer's Almanac. I've had lady bugs for 3 or 4 weeks now and had frost just a few days ago! Jhart, I agree with the others on Sprite, Lime Green Salad, Garden Peach and Paul Robeson. Of those 4, Paul Robeson has gottest the tallest--about 4 feet but it just doesn't like me and tends to die before producing ripe fruit. I don't know why. Maybe it is my soil. Baker Family Heirloom is very large and should grow in the ground. Razzleberry is a determinate that gets about 4 or 4.5' tall so it could be grown in a large-ish container. By large-ish I mean at least 7-10 gallons. Winsall did not get as large in my garden as I expected an Indeterminate to grow, but I grew it in a year when we had extreme drought like this year and the other year when I grew it we had excessively heavy rain and all my tomato plants sat in really wet soil for too long and stalled and stunted. I haven't grown it in a 'normal weather year' because I don't think we have those kinds of years here. For me, Indian Stripe grows like Cherokee Purple--taller than your average determinate but not a huge indeterminate. I usually grow it in the ground, but I've grown it in 20-gallon containers and it did just fine. I grew Lillian's Yellow in a year we had exceptional drought (the most severe form of drought) and it only got 3 or 4' tall, but I think it would have gotten taller in good moisture. Yellow Brandywine is a huge monster so I'd only put it in the ground. Rio Grande is a determinate but I would put it in the ground. It grows very vigorously (wide! thick! full!) and puts out a huge load of fruit. Because paste tomatoes like Rio Grande are prone to blossom end rot, and because moisture is hard to control in containers, and because uneven moisture contributes to blossom end rot, I'd put it in the ground. Hope that helps. Y'all. Unless you are going to water like a maniac or are in one of the far NE OK counties that has had plentiful rainfall, expect smaller than usual plants in this year's drought conditions. That will allow you to space them a bit closer than usual (as long as you're NOT using overhead watering) and to grow some Ind. in containers because in these conditions they won't get really huge. Please realize that if we are already in Extreme drought now (as any of you are), the next step "up" is to Exceptional Drought. I find it hard to water enough to keep a garden going in exceptional drought conditions. There's only so much water any of us can afford to pour onto the dry ground. In these conditions, water well early (in April and in May) in an effort to get your plants to grow well and set fruit. However, once fruit are sizing up nicely, you need to be very careful not to water excessively or your fruit will have bland flavor. It is a delicate balancing act. Dawn