Growing veg in a bath.

[peanut]

Hello everyone,

I have been offered a bath and thought I could grow, lettuce, beetroots, carrots, parsnips and anything else I can squeeze in.
My question is what would be the best medium to fill it with? Would bog standard multi purpose be ok?

Many thanks.

[ameno]

I'd use a soil-based mix.
When Gardening Which were trialling the best things to fill a raised bed with (which isn't too different to this), they found the best to be 50% composted manure, 25% garden soil, and 25% sand. The same but with multi-purpose compost instead of manure came a close second.

[peanut]

Thanks Ameno.

[burnie]

I used garden compost from the local council tip, it was free, so if yours are open, maybe see if they have any, this was mixed with soil, remember no manure if you plan to grow roots like carrots though.

[peanut]

Thanks Burnie, good reminder.

[ameno]

remember no manure if you plan to grow roots like carrots though.

I think that's a bit of a myth, to be honest. I've grown carrots in large tubs filled with some 50% manure and never had any forking or anything like that.
I guess it might apply if you have otherwise poor soil and the manure is not properly incorporated, as then you would have pockets of rich manure that the carrot roots might try to grow towards. But as long as you mix it thoroughly so that the manure is evenly distributed throughout, I can't see it being an actual problem. And it's not like the odd forked carrot is the end of the world, anyway. They're still perfectly edible.

[burnie]

When I lived in Leicestershire the local lottie group did trials and the conclusion was that carrots grown in manure were bizarrely a smaller crop than those grown in composted soil. Now this of course will vary from plot to plot as the soil can be different . Cold wet clay is less likely to produce as well as lighter better drained soil, irrespective of whether you manure or not.

[Contadino]

At my previous house I had two old baths in the greenhouse, filled with 50/50 soil and compost. I grew good tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergine, peppers and chillies in there. Bear in mind that there's usually quite a slope at the non-plughole end, so keep things like lettuce there and carrots at the other end.

[Penellype]

I think that's a bit of a myth, to be honest. I've grown carrots in large tubs filled with some 50% manure and never had any forking or anything like that.
I guess it might apply if you have otherwise poor soil and the manure is not properly incorporated, as then you would have pockets of rich manure that the carrot roots might try to grow towards. But as long as you mix it thoroughly so that the manure is evenly distributed throughout, I can't see it being an actual problem. And it's not like the odd forked carrot is the end of the world, anyway. They're still perfectly edible.

I'm growing early carrots in a hotbed, which is basically 100% horse manure topped with a couple of inches of compost. Last year I had no forked carrots from this experiment so I am trying it again. The crops are small, but I suspect that is because i'm using up out of date seeds (4-5 years old) so germination isn't great.

[peanut]

At my previous house I had two old baths in the greenhouse, filled with 50/50 soil and compost. I grew good tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergine, peppers and chillies in there. Bear in mind that there's usually quite a slope at the non-plughole end, so keep things like lettuce there and carrots at the other end.

Did you drill extra holes in your baths or was the plug hole sufficient for drainage?

[Contadino]

Did you drill extra holes in your baths or was the plug hole sufficient for drainage?

The plughole was sufficient. Plenty of rocks below the soil...