FUnny you should ask Ray, I came home from work this evening to find my Big Bertha Bell toppled over in my PepperTainer.
I grabbed a little 1x piece of wood I had laying around and whittled a point on it. Stuck the sucker through the plastic moisture barrier and propped her back up.
So far so good.
I need to post a pic for you. The pepperTainer is litterally a sea of pepper leaves with lots and lots of peppers. The one Big Bertha bell that toppled has around 10 nice bells going.

Brian

Brian,

I wonder if tying a string around the outer circumference of the Peppers will help keep them contained, and from leaning outward, possibly falling over. The nature of the potting mix, being loose, does not provide a firm footing for the plants. I have had to tie my corn plants in this way, to keep them from toppling over.

Raybo

hi raybo,
you will have to give the peppers in the top photo some
support the will have a lot of peppers.
my pepper plants ( ca. wounder ) have four plants going
two of the plants have four or five four lobed peppers
and many flowers the other two plants almost the same.
on the older two i have put 3/8 " dowels to support them.
i got the 3/8"x 36" at home depot.
there is a big big difference in the plants in the top
and bottom earthtainers !, different fert or what ?.
regards les matzek

Les,

Absolutely NO difference in the planting date, fertilization, potting mix, nor anything else. In fact, the ones in the EarthBox are in full sun. The ones in the EarthTainer are on a deck with a 50% lattice shade cover. Go figure!!

Raybo

Ray
I was thinking the same thing, but well, I'll have to post a pic tomorrow...
I still might try

Your EB is not covered?

Funny you should ask. I have a container full of peppers and I was wondering today if they need to be staked. Now we are having a wicked storm with possible hail and I wish I had staked them. I will do so tomorrow.

dit,

Neither is the EarthTainer covered, as you can see in the photos. I intend to put bark fines down as a moisture barrier.

I have an old badminton net that I may cut a section out of and "wrap" around the outside of the plants, with supporting stakes at the 4 corners.

Raybo

I cage mine. I use CRM (5' wide) and make two cages from each full height piece, cut in half to make two 24" tall cages, with 6" spikes to stick into the ground.

I have found them tall enough for all the peppers I grow, and the 6" spikes are enough to keep them upright (don't have to stake the cages like I do my tomato cages.) My finished cages are 6, 6" squares around, or about 11 1/2" in diameter.

Trust me Ray, they will get BIG. My pepperTainer is far outgrowing my pepper Earthbox.
Here are a few shots I just went out and took in the darkness

Here is the Big Bertha that heaved. You can see the makeshift stake

Here is one front center "Golden Summer Bell" with sweet bananas in the background.

Overall shot
Umm yeah, thats actually 6 plants

Brian

Wow! That looks like Pepper Soup!!!

Did I make a mistake by putting 6 plants in one EarthTainer??

Glad to hear that I am not the only one who is seeing a difference in the EarthBox vs. EarthTainer Pepper growth. Wonder what is going on in the eco-systems??

Raybo

SHhhh, maybe its the Actinovate

You should be better off than I as that is a 25 gallon Roughneck I picked up at Target. Its a few inches shorter than the 31g's

Looking good guys. I grew peppers in a swc last year and had a one foot barrier made of light wire fencing around the whole swc, it worked well. But most of the peppers in that container were hot peppers. So I think a taller barrier say 2 foot would be good for bells.

Damon

Brian,

I treated both with Actinovate, so that is a "constant". (In fact, I am thinking about treating my Frosted Flakes with Actinovate for breakfast tomorrow morning....)

Raybo

DON'T DO IT RAY!!!!!
You'll probably end up having to shave three times a day and cut your nails at least once :)

I was hoping for a "different" growth result!!

Raybo

Treat away
Report back with results :0

I always cage mine, because if I don't, they lean over and the peppers get eaten by bugs and snails. I use the generic circular tomato cages.

Carla in Sac

I had an old Pea Fence that wasn't being used, and I figured that I'd have to bend it at each of the 4 corners to get it to fit the 31 gallon Rubbermaid. Well, now I am certain that this sized Rubbermaid is in harmony with "Feng Shui", as it fit perfectly without any modifications. I just poked the 12 legs down into the 'Tainer and it worked:

{{gwi:39707}}

So now, my "PepperTainer" is in tune with Nature.

BTW, the CornTainers are doing pretty well for early June:

{{gwi:39708}}

Raybo-san