Container gardening is often recommended for city dwellers or those would-be gardeners who have more enthusiasm than space. However, container gardening can be a useful tool for those living in the country or the suburbs as well as those in the city. Container gardening is an ideal way to “get your feet wet” and see if gardening is a hobby that fits with your life style. If you’ve toyed with the idea of growing your own tomatoes, but don’t want to dig up a patch of lawn for a vegetable garden, container gardening is the answer! Container gardening is also a great way to teach your children about where food comes from and how to take care of a plant.
Many edible plants lend themselves extremely well to container gardening. Tomatoes, beans, zucchini, radishes, salad greens and almost every kind of herb do very well when grown in containers. The key is picking the right container for the plant and making sure the plant receives the appropriate amount of sun, water and nutrients. Sun is absolutely key since almost all the best container plants require a lot of sunlight. Herbs, however, can do very well indoors on a windowsill and may be the easiest plants to grow for a beginner.
The first step to container gardening is to assess your space. Where is there sun in your yard? On your patio? On window ledges in your home? If you are blessed with a lot of sunlight you will be able to grow more plants than if you live in a shady neighborhood. Once you’ve found your patches of sunlight, you can begin to determine how many containers you can plant. And once you’ve decided how much room you have, you can start to decide what varieties you want to plant!
When choosing what plants to put in your containers really think about what you like to eat and what you will use. There is no sense nurturing a tomato plant from spring to late summer if you won’t eat raw tomatoes! What vegetables do you buy every week in the store? What vegetables do you buy from farmer’s markets in the summer? Concentrate on the plants you know that you like and that you are the most likely to use.
Next, choose your containers. Although plants will grow in many types of pots, it is important to make sure that the pot is deep enough for the roots to spread. It is also important to be sure that there is enough room in your pot for enough soil or growing medium from which your plant will derive its nutrients. Relatively small containers can be used for herbs or for pole or French beans, while deeper containers should be used for deep rooting vegetables like potatoes and onions. Hanging baskets can be used to grow strawberries and low growing herbs such as thyme. If you fall in love with a large planter, but decide upon a smaller plant variety, you can fill the planter part way with stones, bricks, or other materials and then cover that with your soil or growing material. A good rule of thumb is that small plants require pots with an 8 to 10 inch diameter and which are 8 to 10 inches deep. Deep rooting plants or root vegetables should only be grown in pots 18 inches or more deep.
Once you’ve decided what to plant and what kind of container to plant it in, you need to decide what type of soil or growing material you will use. General multi-purpose compost is suitable for most vegetables and can be bought by the bag or in bulk from most discount stores and garden centers. It is possible to make your own compost, but this is not recommended for beginning gardeners, as it is time consuming. Start with the bagged variety, and if you enjoy gardening your first year, then you might try your hand at composting in the future!
Most compost sold has a pH of 6-7 and should be clearly marked on the bag. This is considered an “average” level of acidity and is appropriate for most vegetables. A lower pH number indicates a soil that is more acidic while a higher pH number indicates higher alkalinity. If you need a more acidic soil (for plants such as blueberries) you may need to add peat to your compost. Watering with saved rainwater rather than tap water can also boost soil acidity. To make a spoil more alkaline (as for brassicas) add a little lime to your compost! The rule of thumb is one tablespoon of lime to a 12 inch diameter container.
I do not recommend growing from seed for beginning gardeners. Although growing from seed can be very rewarding and some vegetable varieties are available only as seed, it can also be very frustrating for novices as seeds may fail to spout or may be eaten by birds, etc. before they can mature. Most garden centers and discount stores carry a wide variety of vegetable and herb seedlings, which are young, but relatively developed, plants. Seedlings will require less care than plants grown from seed as they are hardier when they are planted in your container.
Once you have planted your seedlings in your containers, they will begin requiring daily care. It is important to both feed and water your container garden. Feeding your plants means giving them the nutrients they need to grow and develop. Although many nutrients are contained in the soil, this must be supplemented in container gardens. Plant foods and fertilizers come in pellets, or can be mixed into a liquid form. One of the very best supplements available is manure tea. Manure tea is nothing more than a mixture of organic materials such as decaying vegetable scraps or manure that is placed in a cotton bag and steeped in water for about ten days. The resulting water should be diluted with water until it is the color of very weak tea. It can then be applied to your plants. You should begin feeding your plants about four to six weeks after planting. Plants should then be fed every other week. Do NOT feed your plants more often than every other week as over-feeding can cause plants to burn up!
Your plants should be checked to see if they need water at least once a day. When it is very dry and hot, you may need to water twice a day. It is very important to be consistent with your watering as inconsistent watering puts plants under stress. Both under and over watering can result in stunted plants. A good rule of thumb is that if your soil mixture comes to about an inch below the rim of your container, then when you water you should fill the container to the rim. The water will then leach through the soil and any excess will drain away. The best time to water is in the early morning or in the evening when the sun has begun to dip below the horizon. You should never water in the middle of the afternoon as the combination of water on leaves and sunlight can scorch your plants.
If you are growing plants than climb, vine or grow very tall, you will eventually need to provide support for the plant. Wooden poles or canes are an ideal support structure base, as are the “cages” sold at most garden centers and discount stores. Plants should be trained to the support by tying them to the supports using very soft materials. (I save all my old panty hose and cut them into strips for this purpose. It saves me money and is very gentle on the plants.)
Find out more about your particular plant varieties by researching them on the internet or buying a basic gardening book. The Western Garden Book by Sunset books is the bible for gardeners West of the Mississippi, and all gardeners can benefit from a basic prime such as the New Illustrated Guide to Gardening by Reader’s Digest. And don’t forget to check Associated Content! Many articles with tips and tricks will be appearing as spring makes things start to grow and bud all across the country.
Above all else, have fun with your garden! If you forget to water one day, don’t beat yourself up about it, just try harder in the future. At the end of the day, gardening should be an enjoyable activity that you want to engage in. If you don’t want to garden, chances are you’ll find ways to avoid it, which will only hurt your plants. Make it fun and everything will thrive: You, your children and your plants!
