newbie after help please!

[nicnac]

Hi im new this site. I have been growing tomatos, peppers, courgettes and pots for the last couple of years now but i am after new ideas on wot and how i can plant others. i only really have space to grow in pots/containers. I have a greenhouse which i have just wrapped up (bubble wrapped!) before xmas as i have some flower bulbs in there but grow my toms etc in there later in the year. Anyone else a veggie pot grower out there who has ideas and help to pass on?

Many thanks

[beaufontboy]

Welcome nicnac, you sure too find loads of good advice here, I also grow in pots and very similar to you, gonna try a few broad beans this year and a climbing couguette and butternut squash again, had some success last year although it only had a couple of small fruit ! Good luck

[terrier]

Hi nicnac, there's plenty of people on here who grow in pots (me included). Anything you grow in the ground you can grow in pots (well almost), as long as your container is big enough. Onions and short carrots lend themselves to container growing and a whole host of salad and herbs. I know a number of growers who do sweetcorn in containers in their greenhouse. The only problem, esp. with very thirsty plants such as courgettes and squash is giving them enough water without drowning the roots. So get growing and post your ideas/successes/failures on here for us to share.

[shell]

Hello nicnac. I'm new too! I used to have an allotment but now can only grow in pots. I managed to grow my veg. last year. Potatoes, onion, carrots, parsips and all sorts of salad stuff! Peas and all sorts of beans do well in containers as well - or so I found. You'll have to let us know how you get on!

[Alice]

Welcome to the Vine Nicnac. Beans will do very well in containers. They're very greedy feeders so use a very rich compost, put in 8 canes to make a wigwam and plant 8 beans. Keep them well watered and pick the beans regularly and you'll get a good crop.
But they're not frost hardy so wait til May before planting.
The flowers are pretty too.

[kitchengardner]

Hi im new this site. I have been growing tomatos, peppers, courgettes and pots for the last couple of years now but i am after new ideas on wot and how i can plant others. i only really have space to grow in pots/containers. I have a greenhouse which i have just wrapped up (bubble wrapped!) before xmas as i have some flower bulbs in there but grow my toms etc in there later in the year. Anyone else a veggie pot grower out there who has ideas and help to pass on?

Many thanks

I spent nearly 10 years growing my veg etc in pots (and still do, to maximize the returns from my small garden plot). Most plants can be grown in a pot/container but you have to be realistic about yields. In addition to the plants you listed as doing already I'd recommend strawberries, salad leaves, herbs, cucumbers, peas, runner beans, french beans, broad beans, calabrese (mini or baby veg variety), carrots, parsnips, new potatoes, florence fennel, radishes (a real winner), perpetual spinach, chard, sorrell, beetroot, spring onions and apples (any variety on dwarf stock). A key trick is to maximise the use of vertical space ie use multi-tiered staging and encourage any climbers (eg courgettes, cucumbers, beans etc) up trellising or poles. Remember feeding is key, I generally used liquid feeds but have also topped pots with well rotted manure and/or blood, bone and fish meal. You can use feed inserts if you are not into organic gardening.

One of the other posters referred to the watering problems with containers. This is the key limitor but is easy enough to handle. A layer of fine gravel at the bottom of the pot (which needs loads of drainage holes = most commercial pots don't have enough) and the use of pot feet greatly reduces the risk of waterlogging. Equally the use of water retaining organic matter/gels reduces water loss, as does mulching and the use of drip feeders (recycled pop bottles filled with water and having a couple of pin holes in the bottom which slowly allows water to seep into the compost).

These techniques allowed me to successfully grow sprouting brocolli, raspberries and asparagus in medium size containers for several years

If you don't mind spending a little money I'd recommend using Link a Bord's raised bed for patios system, it has all the benefits of a deep raised bed but on hardstanding.

The best guide to container gardening I have come across is "Kitchen Harvest" by Susan Berry (isbn 0711218986), which I would highly recommend

Hope this helps

Kitchen Gardener

[kitchengardner]

Hi im new this site. I have been growing tomatos, peppers, courgettes and pots for the last couple of years now but i am after new ideas on wot and how i can plant others. i only really have space to grow in pots/containers. I have a greenhouse which i have just wrapped up (bubble wrapped!) before xmas as i have some flower bulbs in there but grow my toms etc in there later in the year. Anyone else a veggie pot grower out there who has ideas and help to pass on?

Many thanks

Sorry forgot to mention on previous post, pots go particulaly well with greenhouses on hardstanding. Mine keep me in strawberries from April to december and salad (including radishes & spring onions) all year round. I also use the GH to grow aubergines (ophelia from Marshalls) in growbags

Regards

Kitchen Gardener

[nicnac]

Hi im new this site. I have been growing tomatos, peppers, courgettes and pots for the last couple of years now but i am after new ideas on wot and how i can plant others. i only really have space to grow in pots/containers. I have a greenhouse which i have just wrapped up (bubble wrapped!) before xmas as i have some flower bulbs in there but grow my toms etc in there later in the year. Anyone else a veggie pot grower out there who has ideas and help to pass on?

Many thanks

Hi thanks for the advice its been really good reading them all. My next dilemma is where and when to sow them!

Cheers Nicnac

[nicnac]

Sorry forgot to mention on previous post, pots go particulaly well with greenhouses on hardstanding. Mine keep me in strawberries from April to december and salad (including radishes & spring onions) all year round. I also use the GH to grow aubergines (ophelia from Marshalls) in growbags

Regards

Kitchen Gardener

Dear Kitchen Gardener
Thanks for all your advice I'm sure it will be really helpful, thats if I manage to put it all in to practice! Do you grow all your veggies from seed and when to do you start sowing them?
Some other boards on The Vine are talking about sowing tomatos already in their greenhouses, should i be doing this as last year I didnt sow them till later in the year! I told you I knew nothing!

Cheers
Nicnac

[kitchengardner]

Dear Kitchen Gardener
Thanks for all your advice I'm sure it will be really helpful, thats if I manage to put it all in to practice! Do you grow all your veggies from seed and when to do you start sowing them?
Some other boards on The Vine are talking about sowing tomatos already in their greenhouses, should i be doing this as last year I didnt sow them till later in the year! I told you I knew nothing!

Cheers
Nicnac

You're welcome, I do not mean to go on but I know how hard I found starting out in containers without any advice. Back then most gardening books were based on a traditional plot and regarded pots as a waste of time! Personally I don't sow tomatoes until at least March as I do not heat my greenhouse - as stated in the original article the January sowings are only really successful if you use a heated greenhouse. I did a head to head trial last year, with the Jan sowing having 56% germination versus 58% in March. However, most of the Jan sowing died over the first 4 weeks (even on a sunny window sill in my heated house and the few that did survive were not robust, yielding very little fruit only about 3 weeks earlier than the March sowing.

Personally I sow my Garden Pearl (as free with this month's GYO, unless you got the Roma like I did) in early March and the rest (Roma, Moneymaker & Yellow Perfection) at the very end of March. I also sow a succession of Garden Pearl in early April & early May. The Garden Pearl's are ideal for container growing and produce good quantities of superb cherry toms for several weeks if you feed well. I plant the initial sowing in pots and put them in my unheated greenhouse, these crop throughout June. The later two sowings I transplant into hanging baskets (to maximum use of space) and hang these outside ; they crop in July-Aug and Aug-Oct respectively. The other types go into growbags or my raised beds.

In all cases I sow 2 seeds per module in potting compost, place in an unheated propogator (ie seed tray with clear lid - ensure it has vents)and leave in a greenhouse or on the window sill until the seedlings are large enough to transplant (usually 3-5 weeks). Once transplanted I feed with liquid seaweed weekly from the start of the third week until the flowers appear. Then I feed weekly with comfrey tea/organic tomato feed, which is essential for a good and prolonged cropping

Hope this helps. If you want any further tips or suggestions please feel free to contact me via the private messaging on the Forum - I do not go on the Vine every day unfortunately so can easily miss a posting.

Regards

Kitchen Gardener

[Herbie]

Sorry forgot to mention on previous post, pots go particulaly well with greenhouses on hardstanding. Mine keep me in strawberries from April to december and salad (including radishes & spring onions) all year round. I also use the GH to grow aubergines (ophelia from Marshalls) in growbags

Regards

Kitchen Gardener

Hi nicnac
Welcome to the vine.
I also did ophelia aubergines in a pot in the greenhouse. I can recommend them as I got about 8 from one plant. So it can be done as kitchen gardner says.

[mr worm]

hi and welcome i used to grow lots of veg in pots before i got an allotment

[zazen999]

Dear Kitchen Gardener
Thanks for all your advice I'm sure it will be really helpful, thats if I manage to put it all in to practice! Do you grow all your veggies from seed and when to do you start sowing them?
Some other boards on The Vine are talking about sowing tomatos already in their greenhouses, should i be doing this as last year I didnt sow them till later in the year! I told you I knew nothing!

Cheers
Nicnac

nicnac, the tomato sowing is a trial for early tomatoes using a few spare seeds. These are not our main crop toms, so don't panic.