Advice for uneducated newbie??

[Hippie_chick]

Hi,

I'm new to this grow-your-own thing and was just hoping to get some advice from people in the know. I want to gradually become self-sufficient with what I eat but for now I just wanted to try to grow a few different things to see if home-growing is for me. Everything will be grown in pots on our patio, as our garden has just been landscaped and the grass replaced with gravel I just have a couple of questions to help get me going.

The first thing I'm going to try to grow is potatoes. I remember doing so at school, so figured they must be one of the easiest things to grow?? How would I go about growing these on a patio?

The other thing I will try to grow is tomatoes - can anyone give me advice on which ones are the best - I'd like to grow plum tomatoes - and how often to water etc. Also(assuming all goes well!), if I chose to grow other stuff like lettuces etc. as well at a later date, could I just grow everything in the same pot(provided it was big enough)?

I already have a couple of herbs growing in my kitchen but I wanted to put them outside and maybe grow a couple more. The only concern I have is that I know some herbs can be funny about the amount of watering they like. At the moment, my chive and basil plants are really happy with being kept more on the dry side. Does anyone know if I could grow a range of different herbs in the same pot or if certain herbs need to be put together/separated?

Lastly, I wanted to start the long road of growing an olive tree. Which ones produce green olives? (don't like black ones!) I've read some threads on olive trees and they all mention the importance of drainage. I've never grown a tree before, so I'm afraid I have no idea how to go about 'drainage' with trees in pots! Any advice would be helpful!

I would also like some advice on the best type of pots to use - i.e. clay, plastic etc.

Sorry for the rather extensive thread but I'd like to start on the right foot instead of being discouraged when all my plants die! Any advice on any of the above or anything in general would be much appreciated! Thanks!

[sez]

I'm only 1 year old in growing-stuff terms myself, so can't offer a lot of advice, however last year 'gardeners delight' toms did well in pots on the patio. (They're cherry type toms, not big ones though). From experience the one bit of advice i would offer for them would be to weight the bottom of the pots... I use plastic and last year mine got very top heavy and collapsed twice in the wind

For drainage for pots I've found you can use polystyrene chips, which is useful if you want to keep the weight down (on non-top-heavy plants!). I got a huge amount of these off Freecycle for nothing.

Pot material wise, clay/terracotta is prettier, lasts longer, and (i think) insulates the plant roots a little. It does dry out a lot quicker than plastic though, so even more frequent watering.

You will need a good few big pots (the biggest you can get, Ive found). Things like lettuces which grow and are harvested quickly can be put in the same pot as say tomatoes which taker longer to grow, by the time the toms need the space the lettuces will be gone.

[beefy]

First of all Hippie Chick - Hello ,hows it going and welcome to the Vine.

Potatoes - no problem growing these in pots. If you are trying this to see if you like the whole idea of GYO dont go shelling out on big expensive terracotta pots etc .All you need is a 25 litre(5 gallon ) plasitic drum and cut the top off it and put a few small holes in the bottom to let the water drain out.Put about 6-8 inches of compost in the bottom and then one or two seed potatoes in each drum and another 3-4 inches of compost on top .As the potatoes grow keep adding compost to cover the top of the potatoes to keep the sun from getting at them.A couple of bricks in the bottom help to keep them from blowing over.

Tomatoes -get down your local florists and see if they have any spare 10 litre pots that the flowers are delivered to them in . Usually they cant get shot of them and are only to glad to give you as many as you want.Another place is your local supermarket.They all have to recycle all their plastic etc so if you get the right person you may get some there as there are probably heaps sitting round the back.Try your local B+Q, Homebase Focus etc.
As to varieties someone else can answer that one but put plenty of weight in the pots to keep them from blowing over.


Herbs -again the florist pots should hold the herbs happily and you can grow a single herb in each pot without worring about which likes water and which dont.

Olive trees- know nothing about them .


One last thing -anything grown in pots needs to be watered more often as they haven't as much area to hold water as plants sown in the ground so you will have to water them regularly. Potatoes need lots of water when they are growing and tomatoes need to be watered regularly to keep the fruit from splitting.

Dont spend any more than you have to untill you see that its something you want to do .Then when you realise it is for you you can join this lot
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ead.php?t=5826

[momol]

Hi Hippy Chick, Welcome to the Grapevine!

Relax, you will get plenty of knowledge/ advice from out experts here, there are many green fingers here...

Momol

[nick the grief]

Hi HC, welcome to the Vine.

FOr spuds it's getting a bit late so you'll have to have what you can I'm afraid but Swift are a good one for pots as the foiliage (haulm) is'nt too big. Also they are ready fairly quickly ( given optimum conditions they reckon on 6-8 weeks I guess it depends how big you want them

Another good two are Charlotte & Maris Peer these are the baby Dalad spuds that they sell in the super markets they'll take a bit longer to be ready so if you can get them and plant as well you'll have a succession.

If you are growing spuds thenyou have to grow Mint & Parsley to have with them (if you can grow your own butter som much the better ) if you look in th esupermarkets they sell common herbs in pots and that will be as cheap a way of getting some instantly.

Tomatoes - I will second Gardeners Delight - my favourite tom, and Ferline also Cedrico is another good one and it make superb soup so I'm told - the person didn't offer me any though

If you are growing Toms then you've got to grow Basil to go with them so thats 3 herbs.

If you go to your local pound shop you can get the biggest trough they sell & some big tubs ( or you can use the florist buckets) and mix up some compost with sharp sand and sow carrots try AMsterdam Forcing as they are a quick maturing type or Paris Market - they are a round carrot

ALso you can get some salad leaves and sow them and you just cut some of the leaves off and it will grow again so thats another thing.

Pronto beetroot will so OK in your trough as well grown as a baby beet ( harvest when they are ping pong ball size)

If after all this you still aren't sure you're not destined to be a veggie gardener

[kermit]

Hi! I'm a newby too so can't really give you much advice in practice, but in theory:

You can use tyres or very strong, big bin sacks to grow potatoes on the patio. You do the same as advised above with the drum but you fold down the bag to start and the unfold it as you add more soil when the potatoes are growing. Just make sure you put some drainage holes in the bottom of the bag or it'll get water logged.

Things with shallow roots like lettuces can be grown in grow bags (either purpose bought or make your own using general perpose compost and strong sacks)

Florist buckets are great (as mentioned already!) I got 12 for 99p from Morrisons!

Good luck! I hope you enjoy it!

[Snadger]

Hello and welcome to the vine hippy chick!

The main tip I would pass on about growing in pots is to use a John Innes type soil based compost.
This is heavier than the others so should make your pots more stable and it also doesn't need watering as often and holds on to it's fertiliser content longer than peat/coir based composts!

I hope you enjoy your gardening experience and that your crops flourish!

[Alice]

Hello Hippie Chick, you can grow lots in containers. All of the things which others have mentioned and garlic - too late for this year but plant in November, they're perfectly hardy; shallots, spring onions - you could plant now, strawberries, carrots - plant now in deep rose pots. I grew Early Nantes. Thake the time to plant the seeds 1" apart each way and you'll have pots full to bursting. Runner beans will do well in a decent container. 8 planted about the end of this month in a container 2' x 2' x 2' will give you loads of beans. Squash did well for me in 12" pots, could be planted now. And outdoor cucumber - I'm trying cucumber lemon this year , they do small round yellow cucumbers.
For big containers maybe you could find some crates abandoned around supermarkets and line them with a porous membrane. If you decide the game's for you then you could make some nice wooden fenders to go round your unsightly containers.
Anyway, you're sspoiled for choice as to what you can grow - forgot about the Pak Choi. I'm growing some in a raised bed, but put some in a container to see how it would get on - it's romping away, germinates quickly and grows fast.
Good luck with the project and let's know how you get on.

[Hippie_chick]

Oooooooh, I'm spoilt for choice indeed! Thanks everyone for some fab ideas. My Mum's getting a bit worried I might fill up her patio with tyres and whatnot now! I'm sure she'll change her tune once it's all on her plate though!(with a bit of luck). Thanks again!

[Snadger]

Hello Hippie Chick, you can grow lots in containers. All of the things which others have mentioned and garlic - too late for this year...........

I hope you're wrong on this one Alice as I have just planted 40 cloves of a supposed spring planting variety in my lottie today!!!!!!!!
Had to leave my autumn planted garlic on my old plot and although the new tennant agreed to going halfies, somehow I don't trust them!

[Alice]

Oh Snadger, I could be wrong, but I think mid April is a bit late. They need a bit of frost and cold weather to split into cloves. You will get some garlic, but probably as one round head (not split into cloves) and I don't know how big it will be. Interesting to see how it goes - do report on it.
Have faith - the new tennant WILL go halfies with you.

[Nicos]

Hello and welcome Hippy Chick!!
I like to sow a few nasturtium seeds in the pots too- esp with pototoes- for a bit of extra colour to tumble down the side of the pots ( dwarf variety).
When you crop the spuds, you carefully seperate the two plants, then you replace the nasturtium plants and soil back into the pot, and you'll still have colour ( and edible flowers) until the first frosts.
That should please your mum!!

[heebiejeebie]

Alice - I'm going to try some garlic now too just to see what happens! Mr Heebs is fascinated by the possibility of a whole unsplit garlic bulb.

[Flummery]

Hello and welcome Hippy Chick!!
I like to sow a few nasturtium seeds in the pots too- esp with pototoes- for a bit of extra colour to tumble down the side of the pots ( dwarf variety).
When you crop the spuds, you carefully seperate the two plants, then you replace the nasturtium plants and soil back into the pot, and you'll still have colour ( and edible flowers) until the first frosts.
That should please your mum!!

Nicos you are a genius! I've got a tray of nasturtiums almost ready to plant out. My grand daughter's spuds in a huge pot are being gradually earthed up. When we get to the top I shall let her put a few nasturtiums in - I love this idea. Thanks for the inspiration!

Flum

[buttercup]

yep thanks for that nasturtium tip its fantastic!
also was going to leave the left over garlic bulbs,
but will stick em in a pot a wait for the giant mutant bulbs to grow! hoooray!
saves pealing the buggers!

cheers everyone!
buttercup