Pepper (Biochar-Blend simplified) Container Soil Mix
Capsicum spp.
Simplified pepper mix using Organic Mechanics Biochar Blend (or similar all-in-one) in place of separate biochar + compost + zeolite + minerals + meal amendments.
- Container:
- 5-gallon fabric or plastic
- pH:
- 6–6.8
- EC:
- 2–3 mS/cm
- Sun:
- 6–8 hr
Components
Percentages by volume. Quantities scaled for a 5-gallon container (US units).
| Component | % | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Quality potting mix Base structure, initial nutrients | 35% | 7 qt |
| Coco coir (low-EC, buffered) CEC, moisture buffering | 25% | 5 qt |
| Perlite Drainage, aeration
Alternates: Pumice | 20% | 4 qt |
| Vermicompost / Worm castings Nutrients, microbes, growth hormones | 10% | 2 qt |
| Organic Mechanics Biochar Blend All-in-one biochar + compost + castings + minerals + meal | 10% | 2 qt |
Per-container amendments
Scaled linearly to your container size. Apply at transplant or as side-dress per the notes on each line.
- Balanced organic fertilizer (4-4-4 / 5-5-5) 1/3 to 1 cup. The blend is an amendment, not a full fertilizer.0.3–1 cup
- 2 tbsp
- Mycorrhizae inoculant At root zone.1–2 tbsp
Growing notes
- Keep the separate 10% vermicompost — the blend's 10% addition only includes a fraction as worm castings.
- No pre-charging needed; the blend is ready to use.
- Shopping math: 3 batches each of pepper + tomato (6 batches ~67 gal mix) needs ~27 qt of blend = ~0.9 cu ft.
Want to scale this to a different container size, save it to a plot plant, or track applied dates? Open it in the interactive calculator.
References
- California Wonder pepper: 1.25:0.75:0.5:0.5 soil:sand:FYM:vermicompost best yield — Brunda & Singh (2023)