The only benefit I see for using containers is to be able to move plants in to avoid the elements.

That say weed and pest control as well.

Or if you have root knot nematodes, like most of Florida

Hmm, I don't know what that is. Lol

I did my first season of growing peppers and would like to branch out this year to some other veggies.

I did not have much luck growing 'maters, cukes' & zucchini in 5 gal. buckets this year.

@northeast_chileman I have heard growing in 5 galon containers really limits what you can grow. And to be honest, having a bunch of containers doesn't look very good in my opinion. That is why I am talking about going in ground.

I'm in a frost-free zone, and I grow in containers because I can control the soil better, but then I have very poor soil in my yard. Also, it is easier to control weeds, and the herbs and chilies are higher up so that I do not have to bend down as much to pick them.

If you do not mind getting on the ground to remove weeds, and if you have good ground soil, then you should go ahead and plant in the ground. I occasionally have volunteer tomatoes growing in the ground, and they are a good choice because they grow tall (when staked), and that makes it easier for me to pick the tomatoes.

I do not use 5 gallon containers - I either use wine barrel planters or very large ceramic pots. I also have a large area of concrete in my back yard, and so growing in containers increases the area I can plant. I find that growing in containers is less work than growing in the ground, and I very seldom move my planters/pots, although I will move pots around when repotting, but being able to move the pots is definitely not one of the reasons I use them.

My soil is sand. I would have to amend it to be plantable (if thats a word). I don't have any large pots and it seems somewhat cost-prohibitive to buy a bunch of them.

If one lives in the northern half of the continental U.S. then growing in containers can give you a bit of a jump on the season. The container soil warms up faster, you can easily take them into a garage or building if it is chilly at night, and plants tend to produce earlier compared to those planted in the ground. It might not matter in Florida but for some it's another plus for growing in containers.

I prefer growing in the ground though. Less watering and fertilizing needed. Two things I hate doing.

Rodney

Sandy soil would be easy to amend, and so you should not have a problem with that. My soil is hard clay, which does not drain well, and I get a lot of root rot when I plant in the ground. Some plants, like banana trees, don't mind my soil so much, as they like a lot of water, but I have trouble with avocados and papaya, which I now have in large planters. I would love to have sandy soil! I think it is also easier to pull weeds from sandy soil. I can't even grow mint in my ground, and many people consider it a weed.

@lars Wow. Around here papaya grows like crazy.

A little off topic, but papayas have shallow roots and require well-draining soil, which I do not have, but I should do okay with them in a planter. They do not transplant well, and so I will probably always keep them in the same container.

Anyway, you are lucky to have sandy soil, as that is the easiest to amend, if needed. If I dig a deep hole, it will still fill up with water and not drain. The chilies that I have planted in my soil did not do nearly as well as the ones I kept in pots, but they do best in large pots. I had one Habanero that made chilies for almost three years in one pot, but the third year, the chilies were quite a bit smaller. I generally change out the pots every two years, unless I have volunteers that I want to keep.

Thats encouraging. Lets see what happens.

I grew several in ground (Above ground garden) and several in 5 gallon containers. I didn't see a huge difference in size or production. However, the root system on the container peppers was significantly more extensive than the in ground ones. I guess the loose 5-1-1 container mix is better for root growth but it doesn't seem to lead to a significantly higher production.

Have others found this to be true for them as well?