Attempted container growing......please please help!

[growingmyown]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this website and new to growing vegetables. I am very very keen and moved house in order to get the outdoor space I needed. Unfortunately Im only a tenant and cant dig up my lawn for a vegetable patch but I have plenty of patio space and sunlight for a container garden. Ive spent the wole winter researching both online and through books Ive bought, but the information to be honest is making me dizzy. There's so much to read and ive found the advice from one site to another differs dramatically. So I've decided I need the help from experienced growers instead. Ive purcased a 4 tier mini greenhouse for my seedlings when it gets warmer and two 42l flexi tubs that Im hoping to grow beans in. Im aware its probably too early to start them off but ive purcased runner bean seeds and a dwarf french bean. Im planning on doing a pot of each. Ive already bought the canes for the runners as im aware they will need support. My first question is how many plants I should put in the flexi tub of each variety? I was thinking of planting 3 for the runners and attaching each one to a cane and making a wigwam. But I have no idea if this is too many and I wouldn't even want to hazard a guess with the dwarf beans.

I also intend on growing lettuce that I've actually already started off in a trough pot on my windowsill. I only planted the seeds today so Im yet to see if I have green fingers. If anyone has experience growing beans in these flexi tubs and can help at all please please contact me. Any tips and advice will be extremely appreciated. Also if anyone could suggest other vegetables theyve grown successfully in containers please let me know.

[Paulottie]

Welcome to the vine..GYO...surprised that one wasn't taken!

Not really a container gardener myself but will do my best here.

Three runner beans sounds great But plant 6 incase....my problem with your flexy tubs is that there is no drainage.

French beans best in clumps five to a 3 litre pot is good...one cane and tie the lot together...pop a cork /old ball on cane end to keep your eyesight.

lettuce...little and often (6 -10 seeds a week) preferably in modules as they don't like root disturbance...probably do fine in grow bags .

Don't panic...it can be fun you know

Stick your location in you profile... it helps us get to know you and answer questions accurately.

[tamsin]

It's a little early for beans yet but it's good to have everything ready for when you can start.

I grew spring onions in seed trays last year, they did well and you can start them now if you are keen to get going. I germinated them inside and then put them straight out in my plastic greenhouse. Carrots in deep storage boxes or big pots. Tomatoes are another you could start now but they do need to stay in til after the last frost. Radish will grow in trays too, something a little deeper than a standard seed tray eg a cat litter tray or shallow box. Stawberries are good for containers.

What do you like to eat? A lot of things will grow in the right pot

[growingmyown]

Wow! I didnt realise people would help so quickly. I really do need to relax because I am doing it for enjoyment really but Im so eager to get going and will be so dissapointed when things dont go to plan.

The drainage issue with the flexi tubs...I was thinking of making some holes in it and having a thin layer of stones in the bottom. Do you think that would work? I dont quite understand what you suggested for the french beans paulottie? Do you mean I could put 5 plants in my flexi tub? And attach them all to a cane in the middle of the pot? It is a dwarf variety Ive got. Sorry to be a pain, Im a total novice.

As for my lettuce...now Im worried. I have sprinkled a load of seeds in a row of a trough style pot thats 20" X 8". I was thinking I'd wait till they sprouted and thin them out!?! I was planning on keeping them in this pot and maybe ending up with 3 or 4. Have I gone about this all wrong?

Does anyone know if I could grow beetroot in a trough this size? And if so how many?

[growingmyown]

Tamsin, do you mean you kept your spring onions in the seed trays througout? I have a big tray thats about 5" deep, do you think I could do radishes and spring onions in there?

As for what I like, anything and everything!

[solway cropper]

I successfully grow french beans and broad beans in containers. Don't skimp on the drain holes by just putting in 3 or 4. In a container that size you'd need maybe a dozen or more and a good layer of stones in the bottom. With dwarf french beans you could easily get six or even eight and they still might need a little support. I use twiggy branches pushed into the soil to give them something to hang on to. I sow spring onions every few weeks through the year into 8 inch pots and with a container that size you can bring them indoors when the weather gets bad.

Last year I had about 40 containers full of stuff. After a good winter of scrounging I should have double that number this year...and a irate OH when she finds them all over the lawn

[Paulottie]

No, I mean a pot 200mm diameter by 250mm deep. you could probably fit fifteen in a flexitub 3 groups of five...but that's quite expensive on compost.

Your holes and gravel sound an ideal solution. ....yet I'd be inclined to use pots or old flower buckets etc. for most things....except perhaps the runners as you will need the weight to stop the whole lot going over.

Beetroot should be fine...again look at growbags...sow them thinly as each 'seed' is infact a cluster of seeds

Happy thinning with the lettuce!...sprouted seed ever so trendy in posh restaurants you know.

[growingmyown]

So a flexi tub will be ok for the runners but probabaly a bit over the top for the dwarf french beans. Im afraid I dont have many spare pots lying around as im a total beginner but I'll purchase some smaller ones for my french beans. I'll keep my fingers crossed with the lettuces and may attempt the beetroot next week.

I'll save the other flexi tub for a second batch of runners later on in the summer if my first batch are a success.

I'll keep everyone updated with my progress.

[piskieinboots]

and welcome to the Vine

[Jax]

I am also fairly new to growing but I grow most things in pots, I think bugger it Ill try it lol. As long as you allow adequate space for the roots to spread and if it looks as though its getting to big for the pot then move it up to a larger pot. Doesnt always work and my advice maybe completely wrong but its what I do. I find it all a case of experimentation. Welcome to the vine and good luck x

[Shadylane]

As for my lettuce...now Im worried. I have sprinkled a load of seeds in a row of a trough style pot thats 20" X 8". I was thinking I'd wait till they sprouted and thin them out!?! I was planning on keeping them in this pot and maybe ending up with 3 or 4. Have I gone about this all wrong?

We grew lettuce in our first year in one of those long troughs and sowed loads of seeds in two rows. Rather than thinning out and growing full lettuces we just let them grow and harvested a few leaves off each one as and when we needed. Kept us going ages. Up to you though - depends if you want to harvest mature lettuces or just the leaves when you need them. Oh yeah and welcome This forum is fab - I'd say about 80% of all I know growing wise I've learned on here

[tamsin]

A big flexitub might house a squash, I did one in a really big flower pot last year. Or courgette if you like those better. Some of my 'tubs' are the old draws out of pour freezer that packed in last year so try asking around or on freecycle and see what you can pick up if you are short on containers.

Yes, my spring onions stayed in the trays all year, 5" deep would do radish and spring onion. I sowed my spring onions about 1.5" apart in a grid by hand so no thinning needed and they fattened up nicely.

[piskieinboots]

When growing in pots be sure to check on watering.

The plants will rely on you much more than they would when in the ground, as in the ground their roots can go off searching for water, in a pot they ain't going anywhere much.

[beaufontboy]

Welcome to the vine growing my own, I grow most of my stuff in pots as we have a small backgarden, like Piskiein mentioned you will have to keep on top of the watering in the summer, assuming we get one ! I managed carrots,
beets, toms and courgette (big pot!) last year and a couple of peppers that did okay, sounds like your on the right track , good luck !

[perkin]

Firstly, welcome to the Vine and I hope you enjoy your first year of GYO!

Do you like courgettes? Last year I put a courgette plant in a flexi tub - first germinating and growing it on in a small plant pot - and gave it to my mum for her patio. Did as you mentioned: made drainage holes in the base and instead of stones, used polystyrene pieces in the bottom (but stones would be a better bet for your runner beans to aid stablity).
My mum, who has no veg growing experience, harvested from it continually for 4 months by keeping up the watering and regularly feeding with tomato feed once it started flowering.
Suffice to say she gave me the flexi tub back at Christmas and asked when her next one would be ready!