GYO Needs Your Help!

[Emma Ward]

Hello!

We've got a long weekend ahead which can only mean one thing...time to get some planting done. I have ambitious plans for my sun trap of a terrace - and I could use your advice...

Container growing is something I've always found very exciting, and this year I'm going to have a go. With so many container options available, it would be great to know how extensively you use these to grow your fruit and veg. Do you use them at all? If yes, how extensively? Are there any pitfalls to be wary of? What's been your biggest container success story? Do you use recycled containers? Which crops fair best in these environments?

Any advice you can give will be warmly received! Some of your answers may be edited and published in the June issue of Grow Your Own!

Thanks
Emma

[shirlthegirl43]

I use 10litre black flower buckets (available from many supermarkets - some free, some have to be bought) to grow spuds and fruit bushes as well as my tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. The only thing you really need to watch is that they get plenty of water. I have tried courgettes in the buckets but they are not so successful

[rustylady]

Container gardening is great, particularly for those who don't have any open ground. Main thing to consider is size of container - is it suitable for the plant(s). And also particular attention will have to be paid to watering and feeding.

[vegnut]

I have a nice tall stone pot, and each year i use last seasons spent compost and sow some early nantes carrots. I start this off at the end of February in the unheated greenhouse, for an extra early crop of carrots.

[Paulottie]

Container gardening is most successful if you invest a little time, money and ingenuity on a timer and watering system. Your plants will rely on you for everything and many vegetables are not very forgiving if you entrust them to a neighbour during holidays; are too busy on some evenings or worse, you continuously leave them in a puddle. For a more attractive natural look I like to inter-plant with herbs like parsley and basil; Introduce a few flowers like marigolds to attract pollinators and predators; whilst some tumbling toms and trailing flowers soften the container edges.

[BarleySugar]

I find the addition of water retaining granules to the compost helps a lot with the watering problem. I also use the watering spikes which you fix upturned empty plastic drinks bottles to. I usually cut the bottoms of the bottles off so they are like a funnel, but you can just attach the bottle and it acts as a reservoir, delivering the water more slowly. These make sure the water goes down to the roots where it is needed. Soluble plant foods can be delivered through these too, but as mine are plugged with cotton wool (you can use sand instead) to help slow the flow of water, any solids get filtered out, which can clog the watering system.

[Suky]

Turn growbags on their side and make holes in the edge to give beans and peas a deeper root run.
Cut the bottom off soft drinks bottles, remove cap and sink top down in the compost. Fill with water and it will go straight to the roots.
Grow strawberries, tumbling tomatoes, dwarf beans and peas in hanging baskets.
Look out for any suitable containers, I picked up a galvanised tub for pennies. It was designed as a beer cooler but it leaked! Now it houses a healthy crop of carrots.
If you see any of the supermarket flower buckets on offer snap them up. The round buckets are being replaced across all supermarkets by square ones that are not nearly as useful.

[andyh]

This year I have grown tomato plants in containers and have grown various Basil plants along side them, so hopefully they will grow up to be a match made in heaven.
I am also trying some peas and beans in containers this year.

[voddybabe]

I am big on recycling items and have just a few ground plots so most of my crop comes from tubs and things.
I have strawberries growing in an old arctic truck tyre, I made a couple of raised beds out of old pallets, I use empty bottles as cloches.
I use buckets, troughs anything i can get hold of.
Always had a good crop, but be water wary. Things seem to dry out so much quicker in pots.
They need to be placed right in the garden too, too much sun or not enough can kill them off very quickly.
Bonus of buckets though is you can move them if they are not doing too well in one spot.
Could ramble on for hours so will leave it there

[SueA]

I grow almost everything in containers & my tiny 4ftx4ft veg. bed. I use all kinds of containers, some bought, some recycled. I grow early potatoes in a large plastic potato tub which has slide up sides for easy access to the crop & it works very well, I grow others in large cheap plastic plant pots & sometimes old compost bags with compost from my compost bin to earth them up. I also grow apples, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries & rhubarb permanently in large pots & courgettes, tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, salad leaves, chillies & various other fruit, herbs & veg. in pots, grow bags, old baskets, galvanised troughs & containers. As I don't have a greenhouse they're all grown outside so the main problems are keeping an eye on watering & feeding, pests & diseases & getting things to ripen before the rain/frost/snow kills them off! My biggest successes are usually potatoes, tomatoes (if they manage to avoid blight!), courgettes, salad leaves & fruits, the others can be a bit hit & miss.

[Nykied]

For my containers and hanging baskets, I've got the compost with added water retention capabilities.

[Herbie]

Being a newbie to the allotment scene, I have grown veg in containers for some time whilst on the waiting list. My biggest sucess was mange tout which grew up some sturdy canes. I found that as long as you feed and water regularly the plants will thrive. Make sure you use the correct size container or pot for the crop you are growing. Mulch the top of the pot this helps retain moisture and add a good feed to the compost, this should get the plants off to a good start.

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

I grow my Blueberries in the 8 for 99p Morrisons flower buckets (with plenty of drainage holes) Then I place each bucket into 2 different sized saucers (to create a moat, the moat is always filled with water - I use this as a deterrant for Vine Weevils, I read somewhere the adult is hydrophobic) I seriously do not want to loose my blueberries to Vine Weevils. Each year I scrape off the top the layer of compost and fill with fresh. Each year I get a good crop of blueberries. My Honeyberries are in old veg planters (bought 3 for £4 in a sale). The other veg planters are used for onions and carrots. Tatties are grown in big plastic buckets about 36" or so high. I have canvas type potato planters that are useless for potatoes so grow carrots and rhubarb in them.

[gojiberry]

As suggested by most grapes the big issue with containers is watering and feeding. Which means either a lot of dedication or setting up some sort of automatic watering system. The cheapest is a pop bottle with a very small hole drilled (small enough so that water only drips out) in the cap and a large hole in the bottom ( large enough to fill the bottle with a hose).

Ian

[pigletwillie]

Pick the right substance to plant in, a tub full of multi purpose will be ideal for a single crop of say carrots but will not last or be suitable for a perennial plant such as a fruit bush or a herb. They will require a soil based product such as JI number 2 which holds onto nutrients and water better than compost.

One type of compost does not fit all plants.