butiran

med pepper plant plastic cup

· 2 mins read

info

  • title Pepper plant in plastic cup
  • subtitle A step into microfarm without a real plan
  • url f195dc4ab916
  • date 01-sep-2025

content

This isn’t really a story so much as a handful of images — a quiet record of where my pepper plant has ended up. :-)

Unplanned planting

It’s been growing for months now, though I honestly can’t recall exactly when it first appeared as a seedling. What I do remember is that it wasn’t planned at all. It sprouted by accident, tucked into a bit of soil where I hadn’t expected anything, and instead of pulling it out, I decided to keep it. Since then, I’ve just let it grow at its own pace, watching it change little by little. There’s something grounding about that — a small reminder that not everything needs planning to have meaning.

Roots

Since the plastic cup is transparent, you can clearly see the network of roots. Because the seedling wasn’t planned, it ended up growing closer to one side of the cup. On that side, the root system is especially visible, while on the opposite side only parts of it can be seen.

Press enter or click to view image in full size

The small holes near the bottom of the cup allow excess water to drain, protecting the roots from drowning. And the faint mist, like dew clinging to the inner wall of the cup, shows that the cup maintains a steady, humid environment for the plant to thrive.

Flowering stage

What worries me now is the flowering stage. The plant started blooming about two or three weeks ago, but none of the flowers have turned into peppers. Instead, they just yellow and fall away. Some of the leaves have started doing the same. I’m considering moving the plant into a bigger cup — or maybe giving it a proper pot — so it has more space to grow.

Plastic cups are usually meant just for starting seedlings, not for growing a plant long-term (Johnson, 2024).

Closing

Once it’s transplanted into a bigger pot, that will become a new story — and I’ll share the link here when it’s ready.