Container gardening

[hikerchick]

I no longer have a yard, so I am limited to patio gardening. I want to grow vegetables. I have a plastic tote, 45 gallons, 36" x 21" x 19".


What - and how much - could I realistically grow in there?

 

[boggybranch]

What are you interested in growing?

 

[vfem]

This is a good time to look into square foot gardening! There are lists of veggies and how many you can grow per square foot. If you determine you need more then that tote can give you, I bet a second tote would help.

My first 2 gardens were completely done in containers. I did the long railing size pots and lined my deck with them. I did about 3 tomato plants, about 1/2 dz heads of lettuce, 1 pepper plant and several herbs. I had a total of 12" wide runner pots that covered 8 feet. I also had some of the herbs in small 8"-10" pots randomly placed around.

The first year was horrible, I had drainage issues and made bad calls on fertilizers for the plants. The second year I think I had fixed my issues and learned about timing with planting better. I was impressed with the tomatoes, which I think will do well for you in a deeper tote then I had used a pot.

 

[hikerchick]

Vegetables- "salad", maybe root veggies of some kind. I am thinking squash and watermelon are out; but I was hoping I could tomatoes, peppers, greens, maybe carrots or potatoes.

I can come up with another tote if need be,but then I am out of space altogether. Gotta love living in an apartment complex.

 

[vfem]

If you build a trellis, you can trellis the squash or watermelon... or some cukes as they can grow up! Cheat your space!

 

[hikerchick]

There are actually wrought iron supports that go from my railing to the balcony above - the property manager told me when I moved in that they can be used as plant supports. That is such a good idea!!

 

[hikerchick]

any idea how much soil I need to buy for a 45 gallon tote? And what kind is best?

 

[vfem]

Here, you can buy bags of garden soil in 2 cu feet, here's a conversion chart

http://www.asknumbers.com/CubicFeetToGallon.aspx

 

[hikerchick]

Thank you vfem!

 

[hikerchick]

I had a sort of a radical idea. The apartment complex that I live in sits on 25 acres. There is a lot of "lawn" area. I contacted the management regarding the possibility of a community garden for residents. I know other complexes in the area have them. Wish me luck.