I thought I would post my lesson now since I was probably one of the last people to ever see it before it was set on fire by pirates.
My lesson is: How To Grow Hot Peppers!
I use a 50/50 mix of miracle grow garden soil and chicken manure or steer manure, I've had good results using both chicken and steer. You just need to make sure the manure is composted so it doesn't burn the plants. Make sure the 2 are very well mixed. You also want to fill the container a bit more than you think you need to as the soil will settle once you water it for the first time. You can also add in some perlite or sand if you want to, but I've found this isn't very critical, the miracle grow soil has enough in it already apparently and gets good drainage.
I also mix in about 1 cup of bone meal per 5 gallon bucket when I first plant. After about a month when the plants are growing nicely, I hit them with a healthy dose of Osmocote extended release 4 month plant food pellets. After that i don't have to fertilize them again. One bottle of Osmocote generally lasts me 2 growing seasons growing about 20-25 plants per season.
I add bone meal as the plants need it. You can tell when they need it because the leaves will be all scrunched up, the bone meal helps the leaves to be nice and flat and supple. To apply the bone meal you just dump it onto the top of the soil and water it in.
I water them everyday, especially when it's hot out since they're in buckets and they'll dry out fast. I have found that they love growing in pots or buckets, it keeps the roots nice and warm which peppers seem to love. I prefer to use the 5 gallon orange home depot buckets. They are cheap and easy to find, I just drill about 10-15 1/4" holes int he bottom for drainage and they are ready to go.
Here are 2 photos. The first is a picture of a jalapeno planted in the ground in regular soil, the second picture is of a jalapeno planted in one of my pots. Both of these plants came from the same nursery from the same batch of jalapeno plants and were planted on the same day:
As you can see, there is a huge difference! The proper soil is essential for the peppers to grow well.
Here are some photos of my plants as of today on September 19 2010:
Ghost Peppers (Bhut Jolokia)
Chocolate Habanero and Ghost Peppers:
All of my peppers:
Keep in mind I'm also in the bay area in California and our weather is awesome most of the year so we have a long growing season.
Hopefully this will help someone to grow good peppers, but as you can see I've got hot pepper OCD and I go out of my way and spend lots of time to do this.
