Container Gardening: Odds & Ends

[Nyboy]

I would love to see your layout and how you went about creating cement potters! Thanks for input!

I didn't create I bought ( love to shop ) some new, some antique, some second hand. Yard sales and flea markets great place to hunt for them

 

[Nyboy]

@Carol Dee is very creative, bet she knows how to make planters using cement or clay.

 

[Carol Dee]

Thanks @Nyboy I will look up some instructions I have saved thinking I might make some.... someday!

 

[ninnymary]

Good morning @ninnymary You are the first person I thought of. Can yo put on your teacher's hat? I generally do lousy at container gardening.

In a nut shell container growing is a pain in the tush, haha. I have been gardening in them for years and there are some things that no one ever mentions. The bigger the better but every year or two you really need to take the plant out, add compost and new soil to your pot and replant. Hugh containers are hard to do but you can still do it. I just pulled my Bears lime out, trimmed 1/3 of the root ball, added fertilizer, compost, and new soil back in. You still need to heavily much them. I have noticed I can go twice longer if the pot is mulched. Small pots will dry out quickly. Once the soil is dried there is no way to save it. You have to take out the plant and keep watering and stirring the soil until it gets damp again. This usually takes about 5-6 times stirring it.

The soil also goes down over time and you just can't add more because then you're burying the plant. I have a water trough where I have 2 blueberries and the soil has gone down a good 6 inches. This fall they will come out so that I can amend the soil and add more to raise the level of soil.

I always fertilize when I plant and then tell myself I'm going to do it monthly but it doesn't happen. This year I did do it every couple months. I stayed on schedule only because my garden was going to be on tour and of course I wanted it to look perfect and beautiful. I use fish immulsion with kelp and this entails numerous trips with a water can.

I only use water cystals for small pots that I have on the deck or the side of the house with impatients. These are toxic and I am an organic gardener.


Mary

 

[Michigan_Nick]

Great stuff here, Mary! Thanks for the input. You definitely sound like a well-seasoned veteran I could definitely learn a few things from. I know containers are a pain in the rear, but I dont have the land to create the garden I wish I could. Suburban Michigan homes have their drawbacks which is why I mostly use containers for growing vegetables.

 

[Nyboy]

Do you have room for a raised bed ? You could get away with one only 3 feet wide and grow a lot more

 

[ninnymary]

Great stuff here, Mary! Thanks for the input. You definitely sound like a well-seasoned veteran I could definitely learn a few things from. I know containers are a pain in the rear, but I dont have the land to create the garden I wish I could. Suburban Michigan homes have their drawbacks which is why I mostly use containers for growing vegetables.

I can't imagine your yard being smaller than mine. My backyard is probably 35x50. A good portion of it is taken by a climbing hexagon structure that I have for my preschoolers and the paths for their bikes. You'd be surprised how much you can grow in a small space.

In the ground I have a persimmon, apple, plum, fig, dwarf avocado, and a myer lemon tree. On the deck in hugh pots I have another apple and tangerine tree. Almost forgot, I have a small Brown Turkey fig in a container on the patio.

As far as berries go, I have Heritage and Fall Gold raspberries in the ground and strawberries, and 6 blueberries in containers.

In 4x4 beds I have kale, jalapenos, zucchini, and in the back of those small beds I have 7 heirloom tomatoes. I have stucked a butternut squash between a big pot with clematis and the meyer.

On another small bed (which will become a raised 18" deep bed in the fall) I have more kale, 1 s h i s h i t o pepper, 1 asian eggplant, and radishes.

I also have two very small beds that each have a trellis of Kentucky Wonder green beans.

Cilantro is tucked everywhere and herbs are tucked in my perennial bed.

Our soil is super sandy but I have worked for years to improve it, adding compost, horse manure, wood chips, and leaves. It is pretty good now. So if it's poor soil you are concerned about you can improve it with time by lots of adding organic matter.

I also have 5 chickens.

Mary

 

[Michigan_Nick]

Do you have room for a raised bed ? You could get away with one only 3 feet wide and grow a lot more

I'm not sure if I mentioned in this thread specifically, but I'm a recent college grad and don't plan to live in my current house much longer than this growing season. Hence the container method I'm using to grow vegetables and such.

 

[Michigan_Nick]

I can't imagine your yard being smaller than mine. My backyard is probably 35x50. A good portion of it is taken by a climbing hexagon structure that I have for my preschoolers and the paths for their bikes. You'd be surprised how much you can grow in a small space.

In the ground I have a persimmon, apple, plum, fig, dwarf avocado, and a myer lemon tree. On the deck in hugh pots I have another apple and tangerine tree. Almost forgot, I have a small Brown Turkey fig in a container on the patio.

As far as berries go, I have Heritage and Fall Gold raspberries in the ground and strawberries, and 6 blueberries in containers.

In 4x4 beds I have kale, jalapenos, zucchini, and in the back of those small beds I have 7 heirloom tomatoes. I have stucked a butternut squash between a big pot with clematis and the meyer.

On another small bed (which will become a raised 18" deep bed in the fall) I have more kale, 1 s h i s h i t o pepper, 1 asian eggplant, and radishes.

I also have two very small beds that each have a trellis of Kentucky Wonder green beans.

Cilantro is tucked everywhere and herbs are tucked in my perennial bed.

Our soil is super sandy but I have worked for years to improve it, adding compost, horse manure, wood chips, and leaves. It is pretty good now. So if it's poor soil you are concerned about you can improve it with time by lots of adding organic matter.

I also have 5 chickens.

Mary

Thanks for the insight on your great setup Mary. As I just mentioned to the previous response on the thread I'm a recent college grad and don't plan on living here at home for more than this growing season. I just wanted to try my hand at the hobby and have been thoroughly enjoying it. I do plan to continue with it and hope to expand my capabilities!

 

[ninnymary]

Oh, I didn't know that. I think I did my post before I saw that. Anyway, glad you're starting to getting your feet wet and enjoying gardening.

Mary