Thu 13 Jul 2006
Container gardening is a wonderful way to spice up your garden with organic plants, vegetables, flowers, herbs, and beauty. Container gardens are perfect for people who have problem soil or little gardening space, disabled persons, people with limited mobility, chefs, and many others. This form of gardening is easy and convenient. Having countless of useful plants at your fingertips is enough for me, but you can also rearrange or re-do your garden without having to tear up your backyard. Container plants are also cost efficient and are not high maintenance. With the convenience and ease of container gardening, it’s almost a wonder why people do any other type of gardening.
The first items you need are pots. Whether they are made of wood, clay, plastic, or ceramic, they all need to have enough holes that are at least a half inch across in the bottom for proper drainage. Keep in mind you can always add new holes. Plastic containers have a tendency to deteriorate after long exposure to sunlight and wooden pots can rot in time. If you choose wood, be sure to pick either cedar or redwood without penta or creosote (common toxic compounds used for rot resistance, but instead damage plants. Clay pots are porous which can lead to a rapid loss of moisture. Ceramic pots are the best, but can be fairly expensive. Containers should be a few inches above the ground to prevent reduced drainage. You can use blocks of wood or bricks. If you want large plants, then you will need large pots.
Potting mixtures can be expensive. Sometimes potting mixes can be a little acidic, in which case you can add a little lime into the mixture. For container plants, lightweight mixtures are optimal. You can make your own with sand, compost, peat moss, garden loam, and a slow releasing fertilizer. Be sure to leave enough space between the soil and the top of the container for planting.
Fertilizer and water are essential for container plants, because they drain water rapidly. Liquid seaweed, fish emulsion, and dilute fertilizers are great for plant nutrition. Some plants may need to be watered twice a day because of draining, especially if they are in full sunlight. Small pots dry out quicker than larger ones. Water plants until it runs out the drainage holes. You can also group the containers so as to make a shading system out of the foliage.
Planting in pots is similar to planting in a garden. Use slightly damp soil when sowing seeds or setting transplants. Check the packages and tags to make sure you’ve catered to each plant’s needs. After planting add a little more soil so there is a half inch space between the soil and the opening. Then use warm water to gently soak the soil. Place containers in an area where the plants can absorb a minimum of five hours of sunlight. Some plants require more and some less.
There are several types of plants you can plant. Should you choose to plant vegetables cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, green onions, bell peppers, cabbage, kale, beets, bush beans, and summer squash are some of what you can plant to make your garden tasty. For an even tastier garden you can plant numerous berries. To put a little spice in your kitchen you can plant perennial herbs such as chives, mint, thyme, tarragon, and fennel. Annual herbs include anise, dill, coriander, and basil or biennials like parsley and caraway. Here are a few of the many flowers you can plant: pansies, geraniums, petunias, marigolds, begonias, snapdragons, nasturtiums, coleus, salvias, zinnias, chrysanthemums, achilleas, gypsophilia, sedum, daisies, candytufts, rudbeckias, and many more.