Container Veggies thread

[solway cropper]

I'm growing Swiss Chard (Rainbow mix) in pots this year and it's doing fine. I sow it directly into the pots and thin out to a few inches between plants and use it as cut and come again. The last lot I sowed a fortnight or so ago now their heads above the soil and i'll get another couple of pots sown over the next couple of weeks. By the time the first cukes and toms have been cleared from the greenhouse I'll have space to bring it inside.

[susiewoosie]

I'm growing dwarf curly kale in pots and it looks great so far. Very big and healthy.

[New_Bud]

I've grown potted veggies for two years now, not that long but I've still learned lots of things.

In general potted veggies get a great start (and finish) by making sure they have lots of nutrients in the soil and are fed frequently (although not bulbs, which tend to bolt if fed excessively before shoots have sprouted, I think...).

Depending on the fruit/ veg in question, I mix in lots of dry all purpose plant feed by miracle grow, then I tailor the feeding to the veggies needs. For example I'm growing onions in a trough this year, after shoot development and when the weather is dry WATER, WATER AND MORE WATER with some tomato feed mixed in, I also use a good liquid seaweed as a root drench and very surprisingly I can see the bulbs protruding at the top of the soil. Peas are great for children as well, especially if you start them off in a see-through container with paper towels - they love watching them root and shoot (which starts after roughly two days) then you can stick them in pots and watch them shoot up.

Also raspberries like shallowish, well drained soil, so mix some sand in your compost for drainage. Then get a trough, put it near a wall and plant some rasp canes. Makeshift cages can be made to support using simple bamboo canes. I used a circular pot this year, stuck them in the sun and they've grown like crazy - they're hard to check on though because they're spiny. Strawbs are also fun to grow. I didn't use straw to cover them with so some of my developing strawbs fell off but apart from that they do well with lots of tomato feed, which is high in phosphates and helps fruit rather than leaf and root growth.

Chilli pepper bushes, tumbling toms, dwarf peas, mini eggplant, strawberries, and others can all be grown in hanging baskets, thus take up little space.

[westwiltspatio]

Susie, Solway

What size pots do you have your kale/chard in? I was figuring that I'd need 4-8 plants each to give me enough to last over the winter (for two adults), so was planning on using Morrison's flower buckets.

[solway cropper]

I have 4-6 chard growing in Morrisons flower buckets and more in larger tubs and harvest on a cut and come again basis rather than lifting the entire plant. It really depends on how much chard you want to eat

[21again]

Question re potatoes in pots

I am growing potatoes in compost bags and some Morrisons flower buckets.

Once I have harvested my spuds can I reuse the compost to plant some more spuds in or will it not be any good because of the nutrients taken out by the last batch of spuds?

Ta.

[Storming Norman]

Hi West Wilts patio,

I left my Kale from the lettuce mix in a small pot to September last year - it was the only thing left alive by then; and then only just.

After that I stuck it willy nilly in the garden.

Not only did it recover it was over 4 foot high by spring and I had trouble keeping up with picking and eating it.

Kale can be treated dreadfully but it seems to bounce back.

[westwiltspatio]

Cheers Storming Norman, that's handy to know. I like plants that can handle a bit of abuse and then bounce back.

Mind you, I think whatever's munching my kale seedlings at the moment is going beyond the point where they'll recover - must sow some more.

[fleegle]

Hi fellow germinator,

I know exactly how you feel, infact I am 'younger' than you so to speak having only just joined today!

Like you I have a postage stamp for a garden, mines somewhat more developed after giving up the dreaded 'weed' (smoking) last year got myself a hobby growing me own veggies in all manner of containers.

By no means an expert, but have had a good run at it so to speak.Got very brave at the beginning of the year and built my very own polytunnel from scrap materials - well its more a polydome than a true tunnel if you go off the dictionary meaning.

best stop talking, I'm just excited about being on here, never done this kind of thing before.

[nicnac]

Hi all havent been on here some time but its been great catching up with everyone's progress. I, as like many of us, have been growing in containers and have had mixed results!

Successful:-
Pots - in morrisons re-useable bags
onions, red and white - in our old recycling boxes
beetroot - in only piece of ground we have!
peas - in small pots. Will do peas again next year but in bigger pots
strawberries - again in small pots and will again put in bigger pots next year
Carrots - in our old recycling box

Not so great!
toms - in small pot
runners - small pots
broad beans - small pots and too much sun i think!
courgette - small pot
cuecumber - too hot in greenhouse

Still waiting for!
Sweet peppers
Chilli peppers

I think some of my crops were in too smaller pots and couldnt keep up with the watering that they needed! I also went away for 2 weeks during the hot spell and was not the best move unfortunately. I think next year I'll cancel the hols and put that white 'paint' stuff on the greenhouse as its in full sun! I have only been growing for 2 years but I really love it. The feeling of going out to pick veggies for sunday lunch, cook them and then sit down and eat them is GREAT and very satisfying!!!
I'm looking to plant more crops now can anyone suggest what and when? Could I sow some more beetroot, or is it too late? Could anyone advise me please??!!

Thanks in advance and sorry for rabbitting on!
Nicnac

[daffydill]

Thanks for the sunflower tip.



Does anyone have any links to veg images grown in containers. Might pick up a few ideas on containers?

why dont you bring up the Google home page go into images and search for growing veg in containers there seems to be quite a bit there
good luck

[annacruachan]

I am growing potatoes in compost bags and some Morrisons flower buckets.

Once I have harvested my spuds can I reuse the compost to plant some more spuds in or will it not be any good because of the nutrients taken out by the last batch of spuds?

Ta.

I'm afraid not, 21again. The old potato compost may well harbour disease spores - blight etc - which would attack your new crop. You can use it again for many other crops, just avoid spuds and tomatoes which belong to the same family.
Sorry to be so late with this - haven't looked at this thread for some time. Too busy.

[geebee]

Hi,
I've just joined today and was intersted in this thread as I have no garden and this year have grown all my veg in pots.
I grew carrots, parsnips, radish, spring onion and lettuce in plastic storage boxes and had great success with them all, except the parsnips which are still growing but seem to be coming on all right. I grew runner beans (3 plants) in buckets with wooden trellis for them to grow up and had more than we could eat so family and friends benefitted, onions, red and white, in troughs, very good crop which will see me through the winter, tomatoes, (plum and cherry), cucumbers and chillies in buckets, all prolific especially the toms, potatoes in sacks, not as many as I thought we'd get but enough for about four boilings, marrow in pots again very prolific, rhubarb in a bucket which is still in it's first year so although doing well we haven't harvested and strawberries in a hanging basket, only got three strawbs off that but as it's a first year crop I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. We used ordinary compost but put chicken manure pellets in it before planting and fed everything about once a month with tomato feed. I enlisted friends to water everything while we were on holiday, promising some of the crop as payment so everything kept going and, as my friends commented, made the garden look like the Day of the Triffids, lol.
I've been more than happy with it all and I'm going to get some fruit bushes and trees for next year, raspberries, gooseberries, apple and pear, and give them a go. There is nothing like going to the garden and pulling up fresh veg for your dinner and the taste far surpasses anything you buy in the shops.
I've also bought a compost bin which is almost full and hopefully next year we will have some lovely, crumbly, homemade brown stuff!

[Snadger]

My job for the weekend is to take out all the compost from the florists buckets I had the toms in..............get rid of stalks and roots of toms................mix it up in wheelbarrow with a bit of BFB added and repack the pots with the mixture.
Into each pot I will plant either one Spring cabbage plant (both pointy and round headed) which were sown in a seed tray earlier in the year and are about 4 inches tall...........or........three japanese onion plants, also sown in a seedtray.

When all are planted they will be overwintered in a cold greenhouse, to give a sucession of indoor/oudoor cabbage and onions!

[northepaul]

Morrisons flower bucket??

Hi
What are these Morrison's flower buckets everyone raves about? We dont have very many Morrisons down here, and when I have been in them, I have not seen any buckets at all?