Growing in pots

[Rosee]

Hi all,

I'm after abit of your knowledge if possible, I started posting on here last year, I'd just moved into a new rented house, great garden, but I was very limited, I grew some tomatoes, chillies, spring onions & salad leaves, there was the room for so much more but we couldn't 'modify' the existing garden if you know what I mean

Well since then an opportunity came up for me to buy a house, everything about the house was perfect but the garden wasn't what I'd have gone for in any other circumstance, but as I say it was probably the only chance I'd have gotten at getting on the property ladder and with my mortgage been 25% cheaper than my rent it was a no brainer

I can post some pics later (if anyone's interested) but the garden is currently mostly taken up by the conservatory & outbuilding, leaving some death decking and abit of concrete down the sides. I want to transform the garden into a place me and the little un can enjoy and be as food productive as I can in the space I have.

I've been scouring this site and Pinterest for inspiration and I can see how id like it to look in my mind, just the plants to plan...can I ask,

What have you had the most success with in pots? Fruit and veg wise (I'm hoping to fit in a couple of small fruit trees in pots too, I need to do more research into them but any recommendations would be welcomed)

I also want plenty of fragrance around the seating area the other half is going to build me, again it will all be in pots/baskets....any favourites?

Thanks in advance and well done for making it to the end of the rather long post lol x


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[Nannysally99]

We grew tomatoes, potatoes, salad stuff, carrots, onions and a few Calibrese. Runner beans on a frame. It was either a great year for veg or we had beginners luck, who knows.


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[Bren In Pots]

Before we filled in the pond and dug up half the lawn I only grew in pots and with plenty of watering and the right size container most veg does fine. I grew runner and french beans, carrots, and parsnips all in large pots, then lettuce in window boxes with potatoes and courgettes in recycling/storage boxes.

[Potstubsdustbins]

What can you grow in containers? Well anything if the container is the right size and you give the plant what it needs with regards to food and water.

I grow all my veg if containers of one sort or another from dustbins for main crop spuds to 6" pots for single herb plants. Even had small apple trees at one time, I gave up on them and my son had them to try. Result he gets loads of apples, I get the red face.

If you consider what you really like to eat then more specific advice will follow.

Potty

[Mumbles]

I only had pots to grow in last year. My and my little girl (who was 3 at the time and very stroppy if I done anything without her!) grew all sorts of salad things - radish lettuce spring onions etc. also had leeks, turnips, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, sugar snap peas, cauliflowers, cape gooseberries, cucamelons (very nice in a salad or just as a snack as an alternative to grapes), electric Daisy's (these are edible but not the nicest thing!) various herbs, strawberry and chilli plants. Few didn't realise I'd grown that many things! All done very well in pots.

Oh and sweet peas smell nice and attract bees too so that's an added bonus


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[Rosee]

Great, thanks all

Potty, I think I'm mostly going to concentrate on, tomatoes, peas, chillies, strawberries, some sort of cucumber (good for pickling and eating?) and I'd love to give sweet corn a try if poss

Mumbles that sounds awesome, really hope my lad shows an interest but he might be abit young this year (although he's very nosey) I saw cucamelon seeds, might give them a go, do they take up much room? x


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[Mumbles]

My daughter was only 2 when she first started bossing me around in the garden! I grew my cucamelons in 5 inch pots and they grew to the top of my greenhouse climbing up anything they could attach to! Got loads of fruits of them too xx


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[out in the cold]

Last year in pots or bags we grew

Tomatoes
Strawberries
Carrots
Potatoes
Walking Onions
Blueberries
Blackcurrants
Gooseberries
Loads of salad
Onions
Japanese Quince
Garlic
Loads of herbs

[TrialAndError]

Lots of good ideas above and don't forget the herbs. Rosemary is excellent for pots, evergreen, beautiful flowers and it flavours so many dishes. Oregano does well and flavours pasta and meat dishes. Lettuce is also good for containers and small spaces. Pick the leaves and let more grow or harvest the entire lettuce and sow again. Many pick and grow lettuce come in vibrant colours with frilled leaves.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I don't know how many or what type of containers you have but a good source for cheap containers is the Morrison Black flower bucket the ones cut flowers come in. Last year they were 99p for 8 and all you need to do is put a few drainage holes in the bottom.

These would be more than adequate for your cumbers, toms and chillies. One plant per pot.

As to peas to get a decent crop you need at least a square metre that will accommodate between 40 and 50 plants

For my strawbs I use long planters 6" wide x 6" deep and about 2ft long good for 3 to 4 plants.

The cumber I grow is Baribal its all female so requires no pinching out and produces loads of fruits about 6" long.

Blockie is a nice sweet pepper and has the advantage of producing red, yellow and orange fruits all on one plant.

Sungold toms are a good performer and are really sweet if they are inside you should get about 100 cherry sized toms from each plant. Another good one is the original Tumbler the main advantage of this one is you can grow it in hanging baskets again loads of sweet toms.

Peas Kelvedon Wonder are hard to beat in containers, they will grow about 2ft high, 3ft in a good year and produce a nice sweet early pea.

I attach a couple of pics for info.

Potty

[Rosee]

I don't know how many or what type of containers you have but a good source for cheap containers is the Morrison Black flower bucket the ones cut flowers come in. Last year they were 99p for 8 and all you need to do is put a few drainage holes in the bottom.

These would be more than adequate for your cumbers, toms and chillies. One plant per pot.

As to peas to get a decent crop you need at least a square metre that will accommodate between 40 and 50 plants

For my strawbs I use long planters 6" wide x 6" deep and about 2ft long good for 3 to 4 plants.

The cumber I grow is Baribal its all female so requires no pinching out and produces loads of fruits about 6" long.

Blockie is a nice sweet pepper and has the advantage of producing red, yellow and orange fruits all on one plant.

Sungold toms are a good performer and are really sweet if they are inside you should get about 100 cherry sized toms from each plant. Another good one is the original Tumbler the main advantage of this one is you can grow it in hanging baskets again loads of sweet toms.

Peas Kelvedon Wonder are hard to beat in containers, they will grow about 2ft high, 3ft in a good year and produce a nice sweet early pea.

I attach a couple of pics for info.

Potty

Brilliant! thanks potty, how do you get hold of the morrisons flower bucket?

I recon I've easy got a square meter to put peas in, could get OH to build me something similar to that in the picture, what would you recommend for depth?x


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[Potstubsdustbins]

Tesco, Morrison sell them. Some members manage to scrounge them for free from cut flower shops.

My pea troughs are about 9" deep plenty for peas. When the peas have finished I follow with spring cabbage about 8 to the container.

Potty

[out in the cold]

We got about 20 or so "free" last year. Went in to local Co-op branch and asked the lad at the till "what do you guts do with the extra flower buckets you get in for mothers day?"

We were told to make a small charitable donation to one of the tubs on the counter and take a load

[vegboi]

I only had pots to grow in last year. My and my little girl (who was 3 at the time and very stroppy if I done anything without her!) grew all sorts of salad things - radish lettuce spring onions etc. also had leeks, turnips, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, sugar snap peas, cauliflowers, cape gooseberries, cucamelons (very nice in a salad or just as a snack as an alternative to grapes), electric Daisy's (these are edible but not the nicest thing!) various herbs, strawberry and chilli plants. Few didn't realise I'd grown that many things! All done very well in pots.

Oh and sweet peas smell nice and attract bees too so that's an added bonus


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I've brought the cuecamelons and electric Daisy's too from the J Wong range, I thought they were meant to taste like lemon sherbet, why didn't they taste nice?


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[Mumbles]

I was really excited about the electric Daisy's and thought the kids were exaggerating with the faces they pulled and spitting them out but they really were awful, and the taste was really difficult to get rid of after! Was funny watching other people try them though


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