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Container Gardening….
Now that our blog has become one of your go to spots for straight forward information regarding all things gardening, let us talk now about container gardening. Container gardening has its pros and very few cons.
Not only can we add more beauty to our grow areas using rare pots with color and varying sizes, but some plants could do better in them. Especially plants like mint that love to spread all over your garden that could potentially choke out others in the process.
So, keep reading to learn more about growing vegetables, herbs, and fruits in containers. How to make your own potting soil mix that I have been using successfully for many years, and some plant recommendations.
Table of Contents
- Container Gardening….
- What Is Container Gardening?
- How To Make Your Soil Mixture For Container Gardening
- What Kind Of Plants Can Go In Containers?
- How To Water When Container Gardening
- Do I Need To Fertilize Or Amend My Soil?
What Is Container Gardening?
Container gardening is as simple as those two words, growing a garden in containers as opposed to in the ground or in garden beds.
Growing vegetables, herbs, and fruit in containers could be necessary if you live in an apartment with a small patio and no available ground soil. If this is the case for you, you are not alone and this does not present a problem or a hurdle to grow your own food.
Often said by permaculture folks, the problem is the solution.
Now is the time for some creativity and fun. I often hear a lot of excuses, but let me tell ya, it doesn’t work on me. There is always a way to grow your own food. There are two ways you can go using the container gardening concept, go out and spend hundreds of dollars on fancy containers to grow in, OR (our personal favorite) visit the grocery stores and ask the bakery staff if they have any empty icing buckets. If they do, you scored. Drill a few holes in the bottom and get to planting.
What About Soil?
Good soil is the key to your growing success. So, don’t skimp out on it by using Black Kow or the other garbage bagged soils commonly found at your local big box store. Yes, it is more affordable than others, but all your efforts along the way will be wasted because it typically filled with chemicals and other garbage that harms your plants. I also don’t care to use anything from Miracle Grow.
There are no miracles in gardening and you surely won’t find any by spending your pretty pennies on Miracle Grow.
There are great brands like FoxFarm, but it does come with a cost. Search for good quality compost and don’t ever compromise. If you can find it in bulk, you will be saving yourself money. Also, get yourself a bag of peat moss and a bag of vermiculite or perlite. If you have a wheel barrow you will be glad that you have it, because we are going to use it to make our mixture.
How To Make Your Soil Mixture For Container Gardening
You will need one part of each:
Compost
Peat Moss
Perlite or Vermiculite
- Grab yourself a five gallon bucket to get a consistent ratio.
- Fill the 5 gallon bucket with perlite and dump it into the wheel barrow. I like to add this first because it will blow away on a windy day.
- Fill your 5 gallon bucket full of compost and add it to the wheel barrow.
- Then a 5 gallon bucket full of peat moss again, add it to your wheel barrow.
- Add some moisture. Spray your mixture slightly with a bit of water to help it all come together.
- Using a garden for, simply mix it all together. Easiest way to do this is to dig the fork to the bottom, lift up and shake letting the ingredients pass through the fork. Do this over and over.
Keep adding moisture until your mix has the consistency of a rung out sponge. This my friends, is good homemade potting soil. Feel free to add some worm castings, rock dust (Azomite), and other amendments. This mix is now ready to use to fill your containers with.
What Kind Of Plants Can Go In Containers?
Plants you can use in containers are endless and will be perfectly happy and healthy in pots if you follow a few things.
Herbs are good to start out with if you are new to the world of growing your own food. Some can be very hardy and won’t quickly grow out of the container if you start with a good sized pot. It’s a lot of fun to plant multiple varieties of herbs in a single pot. Some though, would like a pot all to themselves like rosemary and mint.
Rosemary grows quite large, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t underplant it with some tasty thyme around the base towards the outside border of the pot.
Some other great herbs to plant in pots are,
Lemon Balm
Basil
Thyme
Mint
Mint is great in pots because it is a spreader that will take over an area. Some people despise its tendency to spread, but to me, the more mint the merrier.
Oregano
Chives
Cilantro
Sage
Parsley
Rosemary
How To Water When Container Gardening
Watering will be a bit different when it comes to growing in containers, and that is because the soil dries out quickly. You will need to check your plants more often when they are in pots or raised beds compared to when they are in the ground. It is still ‘required’ to use mulch for all the benefits that come with a thick layer of mulch. For more tips on irrigation read more here!
Do I Need To Fertilize Or Amend My Soil?
Plants get hungry sooner when they are grown in pots. It is advisable to use amendments/fertilizers during planting time in pots, but there is one catch. Nutrients will wash away through the drainage holes in due time.
You will not have the same living soil that can be eventually established when planting in the ground. So, that means that adding nutrients throughout the growing season is a good idea. This does not mean that you should be feeding your plants every week. Keep an eye on your plants. If they begin to show signs of poor health it is a good idea to feed them.
Growing fruits and vegetables is a blast. It is a healthy and money saving choice for you and your family. There are so many ways to grow them. In the ground, in pots, and hydroponically to name a few.
If you are blessed with a small amount of space on the back deck or love the natural decor and health benefits of keeping house plants, then growing in pots is a great option. One fun project you can do with your children, is to use old garden nursery pots or plain clay pots and have a paint party.
You can use you and your children’s creativity together to turn a plain pot or free plastic bucket from the grocery store into a work of art. So have fun growing, be creative and enjoy the many pleasures of growing plants in every way imaginable.
Until next time…
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