I have my seeds growing like mad indoors, but when I move them outdoors I'd like to plant most of them in containers. (Our yard is too shady, so that way I can move them into the sunny parts. Also, I have a green thumb indoors, so I can take a baby step toward outdoor gardening!) I've asked about this before and people have said that five-gallon buckets work well. But we already have several 2-gallon buckets, and also some smaller planters (like bowls from last year's flower planters). Does anyone know what would grow well in the smaller planters and what needs the size of a 5-gallon bucket? I was thinking the lettuce/spinach/herbs might grow well in a smaller pot. Maybe radishes, too, since they won't grow too deep? And maybe I need a five-gallon bucket for corn. What about peas and beans? I appreciate any advice.
DanaK
Advice for Container Vegetable Gardening
Your smaller buckets should be fine for some. Potatoes would be fun in a bucket also. Your tomatoes need depth though. Corn, peas I don't know, beans should be okay.
I've raised peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant in large(15") pots with some good results so I would think that 5 gallon buckets would be ok for these plants. I would add some polymer crystals in each container to they won't dry up so badly. The best price I have found is at www.watersorb.com. 5# for $30 including shipping. They never wear out so you can use them year after year.
Thank you for you advice and ideas! I guess this will be a year of experimenting for me. I'll let you know if anything really works or really doesn't!
--DanaK
danak - just saw this. i have used 5 gallon containers for tomatoes and it works fine. i put quarter size holes around the bucket about 3 inches from the bottom this way there is always some water at the bottom of the container. i find that i have to water almost every days as they do tend to dry out quicker then if they were in the ground.
If you plan on growing root vegetables and other things with "spreadable" roots, go for a deep container... Lettuce has a minimum depth requirement, I've learned that because mine don't wanna grow :(
Hmm, do you know what have spreadable roots? Or what don't? Do you know the minimum depth requirements for lettuce? I'm still unsure of what pots I can plant most of my vegetables in... I have smaller pots (like 2 gallon buckets) already, so I'd like to plant what I can in those before going out to buy 5 gallon buckets.
Thanks,
Dana
Before you buy your 5 gallon buckets, check out a local resturant
I grow lettuce (usually romaine) in earthboxes which are about 10 inches deep but judging from the ease with which you can pull out mature plants I would guess you could get away with 6 inches of soil provided you keep the pot well watered. I believe most all lettuces are very shallow rooted.
Rich
Thanks for the ideas. I have a couple of containers that are probably about 6" deep for the lettuce. I'll try that. And checking restaurants is a great idea!
Danak,
About 20 years ago I put containers on my roof with tomatos and peppers in them. The peppers survived ok, but the tomatos couldn't handle the heat. I used cheap styrofoam cooler containers reinforced with packing tape. Probably wasn't too good for the roof either. The heat and intermittent lack of water caused the potting soil to turn hard as a rock! I have heard that corn can put down roots 6 feet deep. Big plants have large soil requirements. Styrofoam coolers are inexpensive but not very strong. May not be a bad idea if you can reinforce them enough with wood braces. They don't degrade, rot and are waterproof. Good luck:)
I was excited about the roof idea until you told me of the problems! I'm sure our roof would get enough sun, but I can see how they would get hot and I'd forget to water them... Thanks for the cooler idea. We might even have one around here somewhere. I think maybe this year I'll put some plants in containers and some in the ground. Hopefully through some experimentation I can find out what works here.
Has anyone tried squash (zucchini, crookneck, pumpkin, acorn) in containers? I'm wondering if that would work very well since the vegetable grows on the ground and the container would be above the ground. Does that make sense? It seems like they might fall off or grow weird or something...
We tried zuchinni and squash in containers with fair to middlin' success. The major problem was we put too may plants in 1 container. All of the eggplant provided fruit but would have been better if we had planted 1 per bucket. We use tires for potatoes with great results.Acorn squash did well in the buckets but butternut did not. Green peppers love to be in buckets.
Just remember not to crowd your plants in the buckets and water, water, water!! Good luck, keep us posted.
Dianne
Thanks! I'll let you know how this all works out...
If you have the room and can leave them in one place, old washing machine and dryer tubs do a good job of hosting eggplants and peppers. Mine were even in some shade. I'm going to try zucchini in some of them this year.
Has anybody tried using containers set in the ground? I have plenty of garden space but the soil is extremely alkaline (pH 8). Wondering if isolating plants from surrounding alkalinity would be easier and cheaper than massively amending the soil with compost and peat moss...
Thanks in advance:)
Just curious: I don't understand why you would want containers in the ground rather than just keeping them above ground...
Good question:)
1 I'm not interested in fancy containers, and old buckets are not that good looking.
2 Don't have to worry about them tipping over.
3 Soaker hoses and sprinklers can get to them (that's important in the arid west)
4 Wall o Waters can still be perched around them even if the container is small.
5 Moisture can wick from surrounding soil through drainage holes if necessary.
6 Plant roots could invade surrounding soil through drainage holes if the container was too small.
7 If only bottom half of container buried, benificial effects of raised beds may come into play (soil warmth and drainage).
8 Worms would have access to containers.
9 A protected space from neighboring plant roots - less root competition stress.
The downsides may be bad bugs having more access to your plants, decreased drainage, moisture stress from limited root space, lack of mobility...
Wow, that is very interesting. I would have never thought of that all on my own, although I'm mostly into houseplants at this point. The reason this year that I want to try containers is for mobility: our yard doesn't get enough sun in any one place. But that is something I'll keep in mind for the future. :)
pocotellomac -- Very clever idea ! This could help a lot of gardeners with unworkable soil.