container garden

[Alice]

Hello jennybain, salad leaves don't want a lot of sun. A west facing window would be fine.

[nick the grief]

thanks serenity. I wondered about potatoes but thought I would need a HUGE container to make it worthwhile. Might be tempted now though. Does anyone know if certain varieties are better for container growing than others?
Also, what kind of crop could you expect from a 12" x 12" container?

I've got two 25 litre pots ( about 14" diameter) and got 7lbs out of each last year!!

I also use the polypots (about 10" diameter with 1 tuber per bag and reckon on about 1- 1.5lbs per bag - these are for 1st & 2nd earlies.

As to other vege's, My sister grows runnerbeans & sweetpeas in the same tub - very decorative. Salads, Carrots in fact if you look at the Mini veg seeds there are quite a few things you could grow.

[jennybain]

thanks Nick - I wondered about growning carrots, but I guess I would be best to stick to the smaller varieties for containers.

[jennybain]

Nick - when you say you got 7lbs out of your tubs, what variety did you use? I am thinking of using Charlotte.

[momol]

Hallo Jennybain, try some gherkin, it grows well in 14'' pot, I have grown some asparagus beans in it too and also luffa.

[jennybain]

Hi Momol. I am getting so many suggestions from people, it has been great...but i have finally decided to grow charlotte potatoes, carrots, spring onions and dwarf french beans.
Hopefully that won't be too challenging for my first attempt! Can't wait to get started now.

[Two_Sheds]

Dwarf French beans are good (I grow them on my windswept allotment), but apparently you get more crop from climbing ones - I wouldn't know, mine didn't survive the snails & the drought last year. But the snails survived the drought...not fair

[serenity]

I grew purple tepee dwarf french beans last year and also the yellow variety rocquencourt. The yellow ones were really tasty and the purple ones had beautiful flowers on them which would look very nice in a window box or pot. I have plenty of seeds if you want to give them a try I will post some on to you. Just pm me your address.

[nick the grief]

Nick - when you say you got 7lbs out of your tubs, what variety did you use? I am thinking of using Charlotte.

I can't remember if they were Rocket or Winston I think they were Rocket, This year I am mostly be growing Maris Peer & swift in pots ( I've got some CHarlotte that should have been for chrimbo but were late going in ready to pick now)

As to Carrots, you could use Paris Market ( round types) or my son used to sow Amsterdam forcing 3 a quick maturing type and we pulled them at finger size , quick blast under the tap to wash the soil of chop the tops off & cook 'em - bootiful (ooops should say that should I )

[jennybain]

I grew purple tepee dwarf french beans last year and also the yellow variety rocquencourt. The yellow ones were really tasty and the purple ones had beautiful flowers on them which would look very nice in a window box or pot. I have plenty of seeds if you want to give them a try I will post some on to you. Just pm me your address.

hi - that would be great. I will send you my address now. Cheers.

[jennybain]

I can't remember if they were Rocket or Winston I think they were Rocket, This year I am mostly be growing Maris Peer & swift in pots ( I've got some CHarlotte that should have been for chrimbo but were late going in ready to pick now)

As to Carrots, you could use Paris Market ( round types) or my son used to sow Amsterdam forcing 3 a quick maturing type and we pulled them at finger size , quick blast under the tap to wash the soil of chop the tops off & cook 'em - bootiful (ooops should say that should I )

I am going for the Amsterdam Forcing 3 as well.

[snohare]

Hi jenny, I planted carrots (Amsterdam Early Forcing 2) in the wee plastic boxes you get at Poundland, 12" square but only 7" deep, left the opaque lid on until they had germinated (works well), never bothered to thin them, and had them growing shoulder to shoulder practically ! No feeding except a wee bit of Seaweed Extract and some pelleted Chicken Manure, no worries about carrotfly because it was on a rooftop garden. The soil was a mixture of (sandy) molehills and coircompost blocks, with a bit of sand mixed in. The only problems I had was that as they got bigger they ended up pushing themselves out of the ground and the root tops went green, or the end of the carrot started growing sideways and I ended up with an "L" of a carrot... Very convenient to have next to the back door, and I did so well with Salad Bowl Lettuce under glass this winter that I am thinking of doing that in placcie boxes as well this year, with an opaque box overturned to provide the greenhouse effect. Cut and come again veggies are ideal for containers, because you can keep the size down by tearing off a few leaves each day, and make maximum use of the area.
But this year, I think I will use the Morrisons buckets for the carrots...see how long they grow !

[jennybain]

I grew purple tepee dwarf french beans last year and also the yellow variety rocquencourt. The yellow ones were really tasty and the purple ones had beautiful flowers on them which would look very nice in a window box or pot. I have plenty of seeds if you want to give them a try I will post some on to you. Just pm me your address.

Hi - seeds arrived this morning - thanks so much. WHen can I plant these...not yet I am guessing? Although it has been so mild this year, we are still occassionally getting temperatures down to about freezing here in Fife.

[serenity]

you can sow them from april thro to july, the earlier sowings will need to be done undercover so you could start them in small pots, on a windowsil and then transfer to your outdoor containers later. I think you could probably get 4 plants to a 12 inch pot. they don't produce beans for long so if you sow every 4 you will have a continual supply.
hope this helps

serenity x