Pot size for window sill chillies

[fiferjim]

Advice required

I've got a few varieties of chilli I'm hoping to grow in the window how small a pot can I use or might a certain variety require a larger pot ?

They are currently in small drinking cups and are growing fine and flowering but roots are right to the edges and bottom.?

Thanks for any help guy n gals....

[rustylady]

If your pots are full of roots then the plants need potting on into a pot slightly larger than the one they are in now.

[eirish]

What varieties are they? I've grown little Thai-bird-types in 6" pots on the windowsill, but something like a Big Jim will presumably want more space...

[fiferjim]

Jalapeno, Super chili, ring o fire, habanero, Big Jim (lol) hungarian wax and scotch bonnet think that's them spelling maybe not correct though

[Florence Fennel]

As RL says, pot them on to (only slightly) bigger pots when the roots are straining to get out. I try to treat my chillies mean and keep them keen.

[eirish]

Somebody who knows better will probably come along soon, but I think those are mostly bigger varieties that will want bigger pots, maybe 8-10"? I think when I grew a jalapeno some years ago it was about a 10-12" pot, but that was a very different climate. Hope you have big windowsills.

(agree with t'others not to pot them up to that size straight away, though)

[fiferjim]

Its not so much the size of the window sill its the fact i only have two that face the sun

[Pa Snips]

My 19" tall cayennes are still in 3" pots at the moment and they seem quite happy. Before too long, maybe in a month or so, they'll be going into the greenhouse and will be potted on straight into Morrisons' flower buckets. For windowsill growing I would do as has already been suggested and pot on to slightly bigger than what they are currently in if and when they become root-bound. I think that should be the only gauge you need regarding the necessity for larger pots.

[Vince G]

Got one cayenne on the windowsill myself, just put him in a 6" pot. No space for him to go with his 12 mates in the polytunnel who already have fruit on - munched a green one the other day, eeugh, tastless. You grown 'em before Pa? Let 'em ripen I guess.......

[Jamesy_uk]

Got one cayenne on the windowsill myself, just put him in a 6" pot. No space for him to go with his 12 mates in the polytunnel who already have fruit on - munched a green one the other day, eeugh, tastless. You grown 'em before Pa? Let 'em ripen I guess.......

Another thing Vince, I found out last year with a few other folks that low temperatures and over watering really affects the heat of the fruits as well. This all came from me trying to figure out why my last fruits were nowhere near as hot as the first of the year.

[Pa Snips]

Got one cayenne on the windowsill myself, just put him in a 6" pot. No space for him to go with his 12 mates in the polytunnel who already have fruit on - munched a green one the other day, eeugh, tastless. You grown 'em before Pa? Let 'em ripen I guess.......

Nah, I'm new to this growing lark but I'm learning fast and seem to be having quite a lot of success so far. Maybe it's just beginners luck but me and Luck don't usually get on, so I've always had to buddy-up with his arch enemy, Bad Luck.

The best advice I could give is to give them room to spread their roots, over-water them and see what happens, under-water them and see what happens, deprive them of nutrients and see what happens, give them nutrients and see what happens.

My personal experience has shown that they're happiest when watered little and often. Yesterday the pots still felt a bit heavy so I didn't give them any...today they sulked and went droopy...a good watering later and they perked right up. Most people advise to let them get a bit dry because they prefer it but in my parallel universe a different set of laws apply.

[Snadger]

I would use roughly an eight inch pot for final planting of the varieties you mention (which all seem to be the larger type) but a six inch pot would be adequate for some of the smaller varieties.