Hello! I am new to gardening and I have been doing a lot of research and I read about growing veggies/ fruit/ herbs in containers. I'm deciding if I should give it a try. So my question is, who has had success growing in containers and what would you recommend to grow. Thanks!
I grow a lot of plants and I have grown in containers, too. Look for "container" or patio varieties when you are looking at plants. And you need decent sized (5 gallon bucket size) containers. Don't buy little containers and think that will be enough. Also put osmocote in the soil and either soil moist crystals or even a diaper in the bottom for extra moisture holding ability during the hot days of Summer. They need to drink and eat continuously for good production. If you have soil born disease or nematodes in your soil, container gardening is definitely an excellent option. If not and you have room for them in the garden or in flowerbeds plant them in the ground. They will actually do better than in containers. Raised beds are a great option, too. They make gardening a little easier, too. they are the hybrid of container gardening and ground gardening.
I have always had good luck growing Tomatoes and Green Peppers in big containers. I don't have a lot of full sun exposure (which is what they must have) so I can put the big pots in the sunniest spots. I use fresh soil/mix every year, and add slow release balance fertilizer before planting. Good luck! Nothing like a home grown Tomato!!!
After trial and error, we decided to use huge containers for our pickling cukes. They do so much better than when directly grown in the earth.
I am growing Potatoes, carrots, radishes, beetroot and sweetcorn in containers.You can all most grow anything in containers.
In addition to container gardening, I have a question regarding Pallet gardening.I know we must be careful that wooden pallets haven't been exposed to chemicals. This particular one has been standing against a wall at my daughter's house for a couple of years. The markings are NCUSM either WC or VC. I had hoped to try growing onions in it. The rows would be SO neat and straight. I also have hay to use as mulch. Some bales have mold. Do I dare use them?
The hay is fine to use. Old hay that molds is in the process of composting and breaking down. It has never hurt my plants. When the hay is exposed to sunlight and dries the mold stops. What I feed my horses has a good 6 inches of mold on the bottom of the rolls. That's pretty normal for these big round bales of hay. When the mold is on the inside but doesn`t show on the outside is when you do not want to feed it to livestock.
The only problem with container I see is they tend to dry out quickly during the hot summer days, so you really need to follow a watering schedule especially for the less than 5 gallon containers. I add peat moss to the soil mix just to hold extra water for my containers. Go ahead and plant in containers Esmi!
I find growing in containers is easier to control the conditions needed by the plant and also pest control. Almost any plant can grow in containers, just match the right container for the kind of plant you want to grow.
