Growing veg in bucket size pots?!

[mic]

Hi! New member first post. Not sure if this is the right section for this but I'm sure it'll be moved if needed

2 years ago I lived in a flat, no garden, but took over an allotment. Needed a lot of work and due to work etc I gave it up, just didn't have the time to get it into a fit state nevermind grow so much stuff.
Last year I moved into a house and now have a garden! In the summer I bought a square wooden planter and enjoyed growing cucumbers, beetroot and corn. At the end of the season I bought a plastic sheet style greenhouse ready for this year and started getting bits ready. Problem is, I don't want to start digging the garden up as the kids will use the garden space when the crops have finished.

Here's the plan what I would like to do this year but I'm not sure on root size etc so thought I'd explain my plan and see if you guys and girls think it'll work and take on any other advice.

I have a large supply of buckets 11 inch wide 14 inch deep which is hoped to use as planters.

Greenhouse - cucumbers and cucamelon. Planned to line the entire thing with netting to let the cucumbers climb and grow everywhere. Enjoyed them last year but the plants seem to die before the season ended, I assumed would last longer in the greenhouse. I understand it's best to grow 1 plant per container, plan is to grow 3 cucumber plants and 3 cucamelon.

Pumpkins. Of course the kids want one for Halloween haven't decided what type, but again plan to use a container per plant, if that's big enough?! Will grow up a wall with trellis.

Runnerbeans. Same container, not sure how many plants per container. 4 foot wide wall to grow up if climber.

Peas. Came container, 6 foot wide wall to grow across (outbuilding) with trellis support. Again not sure how many plants per container.

Carrots. No idea how many to grow per container.

Wooden planter will grow beetroot, onions and corn.
Spuds in a growbag.
Peppers on the shelf in greenhouse.

Will rig up some sort of irrigation system for when on holiday if I can't bribe anyone to water for me!

Any comments welcome

Michael

[Lumpy]

Hello Mic and welcome to the Vine.

There are many people on here who grow in pots - Potty will be along later I'm sure to share some of his vast bucket, pot and container knowledge with you.

[NickG]

Hi Michael

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure some more experienced members will post replies but I just wanted to comment regarding pumpkins.

Last year was our first year as a family and the one we had the best success with was pumpkins for the kids.

We simply planted pumpkin seeds that were free with magazines and after starting them we planted outside at the allotment. What we learned was how much space they actually needed along with how to help them to ensure you get actual pumpkins.

The plant spreads out along the floor in a vine like way and produces lots of flowers along the way. We learned that you get both male and female flowers (females have a ball shape behind the flower head) and are less in nunber than the male flowers.

We used a paint brush to pollinate the female flowers from the male ones and got quite a few pumpkins by Halloween.

Best of luck

[mic]

thanks for the replies so far

have finally read the stickies, the last one (i think) for square foot per garden actually answers most of my questions i think but still, always open to advice

cheers

[Lumpy]

If you are going to put Q's etc in the buckets you have it might be worth finding something you can use as water trays to stand them in. They are very thirsty plants that need feeding regularly so if you put the water and liquid feed in a water tray it helps save time.

I have grown pumpkins / squash in old tyres, 1 or 2 high. The black rubber helps hold the heat in and if you spot some compact varieties they don't spread too much and take over the garden.

Peas don't have to be just grown up something - they are happy growing down as well so if you have a shed roof etc buckets on top could be useful as long as the wind won't knock them scatty.

[mic]

water tray. maybe i could gig out a trench and line with plastic (pond style) to stand the buckets in for the Qs so can always keep wet?

[veggiechicken]

Hi Mic and welcome!
If you drill the drainage holes in the sides of the bucket, about an inch up from the bottom, they will hold water better than putting the holes in the base.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Welcome to the mad house.

Cuc's and tomatoes I per bucket but they will need watering at least once a day during high summer.

Pumpkins I would go for a larger container about 25ltrs minimum again you will have to keep an eye on the watering.

Runner beans I plant per container, so 4 across the wall, if you have room you could put another 3 in the recess's between the back 4.

Peas choose an early variety such as Kelvdon Wonder, I like to start mine in 3 inch pots and plant them out using the pots as spacers.

Carrots sprinkle thinly and thin out as they grow, don't do what a friend of mine did and forget to thin out, it took two of use using large screwdrivers to prise them out...... Oh and you can eat the thinning's.

The two main things to remember about growing in containers is to keep an eye on the watering, the bigger the plant the faster the pot will dry out. And feeding, what ever your growing medium it will run out of nutrients about week five so you will need to feed. I like to use a high nitrogen feed to start with such as Miracle Grow and change to a high potash feed when the plant starts to bear fruit, I use tomato feed purely because it is easy.

Just a couple of pics to give you ideas. Err no I won't they have all vanished from my account Bu--er..............

[Potstubsdustbins]

I found a couple 2 of peas showing spacing and result and one of beans early in the season they will end up 8ft tall and fill the space.

[mic]

thanks for that

have been looking at my space, now wondering if i need the pots or worth digging in ground. decisions decisions.

just done planting 20 broad bean seeds 'masterpiece green longpod' from homebase. stuck em in the greenhouse, not on my original list but i do like em

[Penellype]

Hi Mic and welcome to the vine.

Your buckets sound a similar size to my 30 litre pots, which I grow almost everything in. Last year I grew 3 runner bean plants to a pot, started off in 9cm pots indoors. Peas I grew 12 in a pot, started off indoors in rootrainers.

Carrots need to be sown more thinly than you can imagine - they need to end up about an inch apart in every direction. I put a few seeds on my hand then pick up small pinches and sow them as thinly as possible. You will need to net your carrots to keep carrot fly off.

I'm not sure what you mean by a growbag for your potatoes, but if you mean one of those like a flat bag of compost you will need more depth than that. Potatoes grow very well in the buckets - I plant 3 to a bucket.

[mic]

Thanks Pen

12 pea plants in that same size pot?

For the spuds I said growbag but I really mean a big tub but I was referring to the big canvas type sacks that bags of sand come in. I should be able to get a drum (220 litre size) and plant/fill as they grow. Not sure how many to plant in there either.

[Penellype]

Thanks Pen

12 pea plants in that same size pot?

Yes, that's what I did. They are at the front of this photo:

For the spuds I said growbag but I really mean a big tub but I was referring to the big canvas type sacks that bags of sand come in. I should be able to get a drum (220 litre size) and plant/fill as they grow. Not sure how many to plant in there either.

I work along the lines of 1 seed potato per 10 litres of compost, although I'm not sure how that would work in much deeper containers. It would depend a bit on the surface area, as if it was a taller but narrow container the plants could be rather crowded.

[Bigmallly]

Hello Mic & welcome to the Jungle. In the builders bags you could layer your spuds so plant about 6 in the bottom then a foot higher plant another six & so on.

[Bex2012]

If you grow in buckets, its worth looking out for dwarf varieties. I grew tom thumb peas, and hestia runner beans, both of which did well in pots. As for the cucamelon, id grow it outside rather than in a greenhouse. They take forever to get going & need all the insect fertilisation they can get.