Vegetable Gardening in Containers Part 1 If you don’t have space for a vegetable garden or if your present site is too small, consider raising fresh, nutritious, homegrown vegetables in containers. A window sill, patio, balcony, or doorstep can provide sufficient space for a productive container garden. Problems with soil-borne diseases, nematodes, or poor soil can also be overcome by switching to container gardening. Grow vegetables that take up little space, such as carrots, radishes and lettuce, or crops that bear fruits over a period of time, such as tomatoes and peppers, for best use of space and containers. Dwarf or miniature varieties often mature and bear fruit early, but most do not produce as well overall as standard varieties. With increasing interest in container gardening, plant breeders and seed companies are working on vegetables specifically bred for container culture. These varieties are not necessarily miniature or dwarf and may produce as well as standard types if properly maintained. The amount of sunlight that your container garden spot receives may determine what crops can be grown. Generally, root crops and leaf crops can tolerate partial shade, but vegetables grown for their fruits generally need at least six hours of full, direct sunlight each day and perform better with eight to ten hours. Available light can be increased somewhat by providing reflective materials around the plants (e.g., aluminum foil, white-painted surfaces, marble chips). Container gardening lends itself to attractive plantscaping. A dull patio area can be brightened by the addition of barrels of cherry tomatoes or a colorful herb mix. Planter boxes with trellises can be used to create a cool, shady place on an apartment balcony. Container gardening presents opportunities for many innovative ideas. Containers There are many possible containers for gardening. Clay, wood, plastic, and metal are some of the suitable materials. Containers for vegetable plants must (1) be big enough to support plants when they are fully grown, (2) hold soil without spilling, (3) have adequate drainage, and (4) never have held products that would be toxic to plants or people. Consider using barrels, cut-off milk and bleach jugs, window boxes, clothes baskets lined with plastic (with drainage holes punched in it), even pieces of drainage pipe or cement block. If you are building a planting box out of wood, you will find redwood and cedar to be the most rot-resistant, but bear in mind that cedar trees are much more plentiful than redwoods. Wood for use around plants should never be treated with creosote or pentachlorophenol (Penta) wood preservatives. Penta and creosote may be toxic to plants as well as harmful to people. Likewise, wood that has been pressure-treated with a chromated copper arsenic compound (CCA) is no longer available for home use. For safer alternatives, look for wood treated with waterborne compounds, alkaline copper quat (ACQ) or copper azole (CBA), which are sold under trade names such as Preserve, NatureWood, or Natural Select. Some gardeners have built vertical planters out of wood lattice lined with black plastic, then filled with a lightweight medium; or out of welded wire, shaped into cylinders, lined with sphagnum moss, and filled with soil mix. Depending on the size of your vertical planter, 2 inch diameter perforated, plastic pipes may be needed inside to aid watering. Whatever type of container you use, be sure that there are holes in the bottom for drainage so plant roots do not stand in water. Most plants need containers at least 6 to 8 inches deep for adequate root growth. As long as the container meets the basic requirements described above it can be used. The imaginative use of discarded items or construction of attractive patio planters is a very enjoyable aspect of container gardening. For ease of care, dollies or platforms with wheels or casters can be used to move the containers from place to place. This is especially useful for apartment or balcony gardening so that plants can be moved to get maximum use of available space and sunlight and to avoid destruction from particularly nasty weather.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 17:25:22 +0000
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