I use a spade style 1/2" drill bit on my containers. I have never used 5 gallon buckets for my plants but in my 5 gallon containers, there are usually 4 already there by the maker and I usually drill 4-5 more to help with drainage and drill the 4 already there to 1/2".
Plants seem to like it.

Stoney

This post was edited by stoneys_fatali on Mon, May 19, 14 at 20:46

I pepper them pretty good with 1/4"-3/8" maybe 2-3 inches apart.

If you're going to be setting them on soil or grass, you might want to drill a few in the sides at the bottom also.

Kevin

I use the 5 gallon store bought buckets, blue or black. White is ok if its free. I believe people spray it black.

First I drill 9 small holes, using a 2/38mm drill bit or maybe a little bit bigger (6 near the outer ring, 3 close to, but not inside, the middle ring). Then I enlarge the holes with needle nose plyers- sissors will work if you dont mind a sore arm from twisting the hole open, and then using a carpet cutter, carefully remove the extended excess plastic around the hole until smooth. Try to cut it round. Check the inside too as sometimes there is leftover plastic that could block the hole.

I try to make the holes no bigger than 1/2- 3/4 in. Too big and the soil leaks out. If that happens, add some screening inside the bucket before you add the dirt. Water still flows and bugs stay out of the holes.

good luck.

This post was edited by RonnyB123 on Tue, May 20, 14 at 0:13

I think 5 gall. is pretty good size for most pepper varieties.

About the holes: I use a hack saw and make several "V" cuts that are mostly exposed on the side. I find this method much easier and more functional that drilling. Just look at nursery pots. Bottom can get clogged up when put on the dirt ground or will be partially closed .

Capet cutters are dangerous to those not familiar with them. Dont mess with them unless your really careful, better off just using a drill

I put 13 1/4in holes in each 5 gal bucket... 8 on bottom, and 5 around the sides about 1in up from the bottom. I'm not having any issues with drainage.
...simply how I did it is all

Jay

8 around the bottom side and 8-10 on the bottom.
1/2-3/8" is fine
Black buckets draw heat and cook off moisture faster,not good in Texas.

I drilled holes in the very bottom randomly. Probably a dozen. I also drill holes along the outside just above the bottom at about 2-3" intervals. I use much smaller holes to keep from having a lot of soil drain out. My holes are probably 1/8"-3/16" around. I drill the holes along the outside of the bottom to ensure there is always drainage as was pointed out in a previous post, holes in the bottom only can get plugged if left on grass or dirt. I have never had a drainage problem. Get a drill and have at it. Takes about 2 minutes per bucket. Good luck.
Bruce

Most likely will be sitting on the ground, which was part of my concern with drainage, so I agree with the comments about drilling side holes near the bottom as well, especially if the bucket does not sit exactly level on the ground.

I have one follow-up question. Some of you mentioned the color of buckets.

I have a source of $1 buckets (5 gallon and 3 gallon) which are food grade from Pillsbury. They have initially contained eggs, pie fillings, inverted sugar etc. All have been sanitized. They are all white buckets.

Other than using black buckets in an extremely hot southern climate (I'm in Minnesota by the way), there really is no issue with any color...right? Main issue is food grade or not...right?

Technically, a single 1/2 inch hole at the lowest point would be fine. But you can add extras if you want.

Josh

When I used 5 Gal. paint buckets I drilled a wine cork sized hole in each buckets bottom side.
I put a cork in the hole and filled the bucket with a 1/10 th mix of nutes.
let the bucket sit all night then pulled out the cork.
Let the soil drain and repeated every week or 3.

Used cheap commercial stuff for soil back then.

I dont worry too much about the color of the bucket. Some say dark colors are better as they tend to obsorb more heat early in the season which helps promote growth when day time temps are still not real high. I was going to buy Home Depot Buckets but my wife said no to orange in front of the house so I opted for green Menards buckets. If you have a source for free buckets, then I would go with that. If these temps hold up here in the midwest, you will probably be happy to have the white ones.

What is your heat zone, Bruce? 1 or 2 ?
I am in heat zone 1: Meaning cool summers, rarely getting over 85F. Maybe one or two days in a season, in average. So I am using mostly black pots.

A couple years ago for my cayenne pepper plant... a 3 gallon bucket was the perfect size for it and I used a lighter to make about 4 holes. Might of been about 3/4 an inch each. It grew super healthy and produced tons of peppers.

Prepping for this year for some other plants and not for peppers I used a drill to make many holes... I'm not sure if any type of plant will prefer this.... think about it with buying pots from stores... they only have a few holes. The more holes you drill the more watering they will need including likely closer ventures of fertilizing if you do this.

This year all of my hot and sweets are going in a 7 gallon grow bags... they already provided the holes and they claim it great. No holes on the bottom.. just sides. I've done extensive research reading on farmer and gardeners reviews... these bags work great. Only pit fall on these bags... they claim it 7 gallons... nah, it's more like 4 or 5 gallons in our metric system. Plus 10 gallon bags are cheaper at Home Depot. They only sell them on their website... about the cheapest I could find a couple months ago.
I'm growing new peppers this year... some will be much larger than cayenne.. they need more room. But I've seen people growing hots that grew about 8 feet tall in 5 gallon buckets before.

The more holes... the more watering and feeding. Don't forget. Lack of enough holes could damage the roots.

This post was edited by flo9 on Wed, May 21, 14 at 2:34

PS... make sure to have a dish on the bottom of bucket... the plants can soak that water up. Just keep it clean and rinse it every week or two... that excess water gets too dirty and can give the plants a bacteria infection... so to speak. Now I forget the other thing I wanted to mention... must be bed time.

I prefer not to use a dish. They keep the pot from draining.

Seyson: Not sure what "heat" zone I am in, but I am in growing zone 4b. We typically get a few days over 90 each summer but not a lot. Average at the peak in July is 82 for highs. I suppose I could benefit from darker pots, but I just don't think it makes that much difference. And those days we do get into the 90's, the lighter colored pots are better IMO. A couple of summers ago we had a really bad hot and dry spell where it was in the 90's every day for about a week and I was having trouble keeping my peppers from dying in the heat with the fast draining 5-1-1 mix that I use. I was watering twice a day.

I also don't like the idea of a dish for my containers. It allows the bottom portion of the container to stay saturated which isn't a good thing for peppers. If I have a container that has one of those built in dishes on the bottom, I just remove it or drill a few holes in it. Maybe the dish would be a good thing on those really hot mid summer days though.
Bruce

I use Clever/Smart Pots (Grow Bags)
Have a few rocotos in them this year and am doing a side by side comparsion with 25L buckets with plenty of holes drilled in bottom and sides. Can't recommend them enough, the roots really don't spiral as they tend to in solid containers. I'll post pics of the comparison when they're at such a stage of growth where there'll be a noticeable difference.
Geotextile containers are the way forward

Seyson: Not sure what "heat" zone I am in
%%%%%%%%

Bruce and anybody interested, you can go to the link shown below (GA interactive) , type in your zip code and find out what your Heat Zone number is. It is interesting that USDA zone number has no meaning when it comes to summer gardening.

For example I am almost in USDA zone 8. so are Atlanta, GA and Dallas TX. But my Heat Zone is ONE and theirs are 7 or higher.

A brief description:

HZ 1 : Number of days with temps getting to 86F or higher HZ 2 : Number of days with temps getting to 86F or higher = 1 to 7
HZ 3 : Number of days with temps getting to 86F or higher = 7 to 14
HZ 4: Number of days with temps getting to 86F or higher = 15 to 30
........ goes on ......

BTW: Most of WI is HZ 1: Eau Clair, Green Bay,Kenesha, Milwaukee, racine, Wausa

Here is a link that might be useful: your Heat zone

This post was edited by seysonn on Thu, May 22, 14 at 5:19

Thanks for posting that seysonn. Since joining the forum and looking up my USDA zone I've been wondering how I could be in only an 8 zone, and when was the last time their charts were updated? My Heat Zone is 9 and that makes much more sense for this area.

Well, the whole state of Wisconsin is in heat zone one it seems. So, that is my heat zone I guess.
Bruce

Welcome to the club, Bruce ! (that is HZ 1).
Actually, if you get good amount of direct sun, it is fine. But in addition to being in HZ 1, I get about 5 hrs of direct sun. But still manage to grow tomatoes, eggplants . And this year I am serious about growing peppers.