container garden

[LdyBluNH@aol]

i want to plant a few things this year -- 3 pea plants; 2 zuchinni and maybe a tomato

my landlord is hellbent on poisoning the grass so i dont want to put any of this directly into the ground since i intend to eat anything that i can grow

i know absolute zero about container gardening -- ANY words of wisdom are greatly appreciated!! !

[miasmom]

Hi! My MIL did a lot of Container gardening and she loves it! She had 2 weeds all summer! I am going to take a crack at it this year. We are hoping to grow tomatos, jalapenos, lettuce and whatever else I can get out there.

She had large pots nothing fancy and did her soil thing. I am not sure on the mix of soil, I need to figure that out too. We just moved to a new "zone" and I am behind at getting my seeds started so we will see what happens.

[ediesmom]

Just make sure ther is plenty of drainage, while making sure that its not TOO much drainage!

Five gallon buckets work great, with holes drilled in the bottom. Cheap but kinda ugly unless you cluster them together nicely. The wooden barrel type things don't work well for me.... too much drainage. I have a couple of old washtubs that I found at flea markets that I drilled holes in the bottom for drainage. These are my favorite!

I do mostly perennials, but all my food is container gardened. I don't know if there is anything in the five gallon buckets that will leech out into the soil. I never thought of it.

Randee

[leafylady]

My problem with my container plants is keeping them watered enough. If you go on frequent trips longer than 3 days, you'll want to have a backup watering system for your containers. I noticed that the Gardener's Supply catalogs sells some kind of water soaker pads that go into the bottom of the container. They soak up the excess water, but then release it back slowly into the dirt as the dirt dries out. This product would be worth it for me personally.

When you order seeds, look specifically for varieties that are marked as good for container gardening- usually smaller bushy varieties. All of the major seed catalogs mention this now because container gardening is more popular.

[bestjob]

I've done container gardening with my kids. Instead of having a big garden, everyone has one or two containers to look after. We use about equal parts earth dug from the garden (our soil is clay) and stuff pulled out of the composter. If I go to my brother's farm, I'll get a bucket of manure, too, and mix that in. I've found that some sand is nice because as the season progresses, the soil in the containers gets a bit compressed, so the sand helps the drainage.

If you have a community garden in your area, they might have some outreach programs to help you garden.

[Chanley]

Leafy, you can also make a wick for your potted plants.

Take some all cotton rope. Coil it gently around the root ball of the plant and leave a good length coming out of the bottom of the pot. Now take the end of the cotton rope and stick it in a plastic bucket of water. The cotton rope will wick up moisture around the roots of your plants. Prolly cheaper than the gadgets you described.

As far as tomatoes, if you dont mind the hillbilly look. I have seen folks plant tomato plants right into a bag of dirt. Just poke a big enough hole in the bag of soil and stick your plant into it. This does conserve water as there is no run off. Just a thought.

I hate container growing (do a ton of it at the nursery) cause plants in containers require a ton of fertilizer as they dont have enough dirt to fully fertilize them. But when ya gotta do it, ya gotta do it.

Terra cotta is always my first choice (tho it is a pain to keep watered)

[leafylady]

Thanks for the wick idea! That makes a lot of sense and is cheaper. I've never heard of that before.

[JR'smama777]

I love that wick idea! do you leave the wick in the water all the time?

[panda]

bolivian rainbow chilis

My best experiences with growing things in pots: leaf lettuce did great for me, and was beautiful. A bolivian rainbow chili that I started from seed did beautifully in an 8" pot on my windowsill. Grew maybe 20 little chilis, but I was too chicken to eat them (the packet said "searingly hot"). I've tried tomatoes, peas and some other things with mixed results, but I don't have enough experience with it to say if it was the container or some other factor. Good luck!

[armonia]

This is my first post here and I am so happy to find a section devoted to gardening!
I also love washtubs with holes drilled in the bottom! I have had great success with growing okra, tomatillos, chiles, and herbs in containers. Specifically, parsley, chives, basil, and fennel.
Cherry tomatoes grown in hanging baskets are really cool, too!

[quantumsarah]

Where I live, the ground is far too hard and clay-y to work in without a **trememdous** amount of effort. We bought the big 25-gallon tubs from Wal*Mart, the big plastic ones with lids, and drilled holes in the bottom. The holes are approximately 3 inches apart, and aren't truly on the bottom, but about an inch or two up from the ground all along the sides. We filled them with a mix of potting soil, homemade compost, and manure. We've grown excellant tomatoes, peppers, beans, radishes, melons, and squash in these containers. You can also grow potatoes in trash cans.