Sow down with the 10-10-10 or you will be posting about flower drop. Chiles are not tomatos so don't use a lot of fertilizer.

You can prune if you want, but you don't have to if you have room.

I would not add much. Maybe a teaspoon full. Only add it when the plant tells you it needs it. My first year growing tobasco I hardly did anything except stick them in the ground. They both grew to almost 6 feet and where some of the hottest little peppers ever( and easiest to maintain in the Florida heat) . I never topped them off but if you do not top them you will need to stake them or something. I will say that in Florida I can't use those red clay pots. They dry out to quick. Good luck

Thanks for the advice! For what it's worth, I added about 1/4 tsp of the time-release fertilizer, so maybe that won't be overkill.

I'll also remember that about the bone meal. 1 tsp sounds reasonable, and only if the leaves crinkle up.

If it doesn't really matter whether or not I prune the top, I'll just leave the plant as it is and stake it if it starts to droop.

My long-term goal is to keep this plant alive as long as possible. Maybe I'm over-thinking it right now, but I wanted to be sure of what to do.

I wouldn't worry with 'topping' it. How big is that pot? Looks pretty small for a full size pepper plant. I'd keep a transplanting backup plan handy. :-)

In that size container, the plant will probably max out around three feet tall,
and nearly as wide. My Tabasco (in-ground last year) grew to about three and a half feet.
I agree with the others - go easy on the fertilizer, add if you see signs of deficiency.
And keep us updated ;-)

Josh

Based on what you guys are saying, I went out and got a 5gal. Home Depot bucket. I'm thinking I might even rig-up a self-watering container (I have another bucket at my workshop). It looks easy enough to make, and as long as you don't fill it as high as you might with tomatoes, it seems like the pepper ought to do okay.

A buddy of mine has a nice vegetable garden he nurses every year from seed. Maybe I'll ask him to help me get the soil right.

Yessir, a 5-gallon will grow you a full-size pepper plant with a good harvest.

Josh