Toms and chillis are up

[Jimmy]

Been in propagator for just over a week.
About 15 varieties of toms and 5 chillis
Now the big job of potting them on.
Bank holiday job I think.
What do people use for potting on.
I have
1) Milk carton bottoms various sizes.
2) A pack of drinks cups from a pound shop ( like vending machine cups )
3) The tubs from the shop bought cake treats.
4) Standard pots.

I reuse my pots every year, I soak them in a bucket of J-a-y-e-s fluid for about a day. Do you think that is sufficient ?
Thanks
Jimmy

[Small pumpkin]

Any would do the job. Not sure what a tub from a shop brought cake looks like though?
Don't forget to put holes in the bottom if you're not using standard pots. And your disinfecting technique is perfect as long as you rinse them as well. Mine don't get pampered that much ( they should but they don't).

[Jay22]

I don't pamper mine either SP! I've sown some Apache and Basket of Fire Chillis. I've been wanting the Basket of Fire for a while and guess what only the Apache have shown face. Sown them just a couple of weeks ago so still hoping for some movement.,

[Jimmy]

Re "a tub from a shop brought cake "
These are the tubs that people in offices get the little bite size treats in, bits of flapjack etc. They are usually about 5 inch across!
Jimmy

[Small pumpkin]

I don't pamper mine either SP! I've sown some Apache and Basket of Fire Chillis. I've been wanting the Basket of Fire for a while and guess what only the Apache have shown face. Sown them just a couple of weeks ago so still hoping for some movement.,

Just checked back in my notes. My basket of fire took 7 days to germinate, but that was in a heated propagator. Definitely don't give up on them yet. Some of my chilli's took over 40 days to come up.

[Jay22]

Think it's maybe been too chilly for them as I don't have a heated propagation. I won't give up yet SP.

[Mitzi]

What do people use for potting on?

I potted on from Jiffy 7s into 1.75l or 2l pop bottle self-watering pots. You can see them here:

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1515156

Eventually the ones remaining indoors will go into Chilligrows which are 6l pots and the ones going outdoors will be going into Stewart Balconniere self-watering pots which are about 18l if I remember rightly.

[Jay22]

That's brilliant Mitzi, missed that first time around!

[Jimmy]

Self watering pots, any design details ??
Jimmy

[Mitzi]

Basically you need a container to hold the water (and feed when appropriate) and a container with the potting compost, which is somehow suspended above it, leaving an air gap (important - like Mary Berry's cakes, chillies shouldn't have a soggy bottom.) Bridge the gap with a wick - I use strips of capillary matting but you can use wool or string etc. Eventually the roots grow down the wick and into the water / nutrient solution so it's almost like a hydro grow. I didn't feed any of mine until they'd been potted up for six weeks, because my potting compost has feed in it.

If using pop bottles then it's best to discard the top and use some fabric or similar, with a slit cut in it for the wick to pass through. That way, when the plant needs potting on, you can more easily withdraw the roots back through the neck of the bottle and plant the whole lot: fabric, wick and all into the new pot. If you just make a hole in the cap for the wick to pass through then you will either have to cut the cap in half or cut off all the roots that have grown through.

I have a lot of algae growing in my pop bottles. If you use an opaque container you are less likely to have that problem. But pop bottles are free and readily available if you have friends like mine who get through lots of them. The algae doesn't seem to cause much of a problem for the plants; most of them seem very happy.