Best System for Peppers
 

I am going to build another system for growing hot peppers in, what would be the best system?

I am leaning toward either drip or bubbleponics.

I'm not sure about the size of the variety's you are planning get. I also have not checked to find out if they like well drained soil or not, but the flood and drain system I built seemed to work well for my peppers. I plan on using this design again for peppers, although I might want the growing chambers (containers that hold the roots) to be a little bigger next time. I might also consider a drip system using one or two gallon buckets, setup like a dutch bucket system for growing a large number of pepper plants.

Certainly won't claim what I'm using is "the best"....but for what it's worth the system I've been posting about here is for hot peppers. The gardener in my case might need some substantial work ;), but the system itself has worked really well for me.

I have built a drip system using a large tray, a 90 litre reservoir and 8 10 litre pots.

Just need to wait until May so we have good enough weather to use it.

Chris

This will be in the house. I have limited room to grow these.

How many plants are you planing, and how much space? The system that I built can be custom built to just about any situation. The only must is that the reservoir needs to be below the system for the overflow to work properly. I also have an upgrade to replace the 2 litter bottles with a much more durable container, not exactly wider but you can make it as deep as you want (so it's kind of bigger) if you are interested. You can possibly even do a stacked teared design to space them closer together and up agents a wall. Each tear would need it's own separate overflow because they would be at different levels.

Probably 4 to 6, but the growing space will 2'X4' with maybe 4' of height to it, and maybe a foot above the floor. I have a metal shelf I plan to convert to a Hydro stand, and will be growing Lettuce in my E&F on top and Peppers underneath it.

I may have to go to a small return res for the return nutes.

Well 2'x4' will be tough, I assume your lighting will need to be in this space as well? I am not sure if 4 feet of height will be enough. I can think of using a long wide short trough, or tray. Maybe 6" high and a drip system for the nutrient delivery. But the return reservoir still would need to be below the bottom of the growing medium, even of it's off to the side. So figure 1 foot space for the base and 1 foot for the lights. The max growing height would be 2 feet. If you can place the reservoir to the side and on the floor, you can probably save a few inches to get maybe 2 1/2 feet growing space. Do you have any pictures of the space you intend to use?

Here is the shelf, it will only have 3 shelves when I am finished. The top will be for E&F with 4' Tube Floros for light and the bottom will be for the peppers's with probably CFL's for light.

I will rearrange the shelves.

I think that using short storage totes would be your best bet, either as a drip or ebb and flow system. Taking one and making a bunch of small holes in it that are too small for the growing medium to go through. If using perelite or vermiculite as the growing medium, laying down a screen at the bottom. Then placing it inside the other. If using it as a drip system you would only need one return line out the bottom of the second one. An ebb and flow system would be a little more difficult to set up with two lines through the bottom, and setting the overflow level but would also work.

By using 2 containers one inside the other you will be able to keep the bottom of the roots from sitting in the inevitable small amount of water at the bottom, and you will be able to lift it out and trim them when they want to go through the holes. That will probably give you enough root space, and the low clearance you need for that growing space. I got the storage totes with lids from Walmart a while back for about $6 each. What do you think, would that work for you?

I have thought about something along the same line, I have a couple of more of those containers I used for the E&F system, they're much stronger than the sterlite stuff. I could use a low flat res for the nutes. That should give me enough volume.