Tag Archive | "Container Gardening"

Grow your own organic vegetables in a container

Tags: , , ,


If you want to grow your own vegetables and flowers but you don’t have enough space outside your house or in your backyard then you don’t have to worry. You can grow your own vegetables and flowers in a container. This art of growing organic vegetables and flowers in a container is called organic container gardening. You can place the container anywhere according to your liking. A container can be moved easily from one place to another.

organic vegetables  in a container

You can choose any type of container according to your liking. You can select plastic carton, bucket or even a wheelbarrow. At the time of the selection of a container, make sure the selected container can drain the water properly because some plants doesn’t likes to be over watered. If the container doesn’t have holes in it, you can make some with the help of a drilling needle.

When it comes to organic container gardening, the organic soil plays a vital role. You can add organic matters to the soil if you have the garden outside your house, but when you plan to use a container, make sure that you use organic soil. Your soil must have the ability to hold water. If your soil doesn’t have the ability to hold water then you can add peat moss to your organic soil. You can even directly grow your products in peat moss.

Considering the size of your selected container, you can grow anything in it. Depending upon the size you can select from lettuce, tomatoes, herbs and many other vegetables. Make sure that you use organic plants and seeds for organic gardening. Organic seeds and plants will help in producing organic products.

One major advantage of organic container gardening which I must discuss here is that pest control is much easier in this type of gardening comparing to the traditional forms of gardening. You can sight bugs easily as your container will be in front of your eyes. In order to get rid of harmful insects such as hookworms, cutworms and others you can sprinkle diatomaceous earth with in your container.

There is a threat that most of the container plants are affected by aphids. In order to get rid of aphids, simply buy a packet of ladybugs and spread them on your container plants. Ladybugs will get rid of the aphids without harming your plant.

Organic container gardening is relatively easy comparing to the other forms of gardening. This procedure is easy to perform and can be very satisfying. The grown organic food in your container will taste good. If you can take proper care of your container then it will produce organic food for a long time.

7 basic tips for Container Gardening

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,


garden-in-containerYou are probably reading this article because you have a passion for gardening. The only reason you don’t have your own garden because you live in an apartment, or you have a home with no yard. Well fortunately, you have container gardening as a solution to this problem. These small little beautiful things offer you great adaptability as they can be moved practically anywhere to suit the needs of the place, and the containers themselves, if picked out carefully, add a lot of color to your outdoor décor. I am listing down 7 basic tips that would get even your grandmother started on container gardening, and I hope they will really help you make the most out of your container gardens.

  1. The foremost important thing is choosing the container itself. You could really have a lot of complications with the wrong choice, as the plastic ones have a tendency to deteriorate in sunlight and the wooden ones conveniently rot over time. If you ask me, a good choice would be clay or ceramic, but beware, clay ones can absorb a lot of water, so be sure to check your soil if you choose that. You should also make sure that the containers you choose have wide openings.
  2. Another key point is your drainage. If you have standing water in your pot, it will rot your roots. Make sure your containers have some ½ inch holes at the bottom, and make sure to line the bottom of your container with newspaper so only water seeps out.
  3. The third point you should keep in mind is that you need good quality soil that would provide your plants with all the necessary growth nutrients.
  4. Sunlight is also important when considering container gardening. Most container plants require somewhere around five hours of sunlight each day, and they may also need to be watered each day. You have to check yourself about the watering requirements of the plants, if the soil is dry all the way down to the bottom, you might want to water it.
  5. The size of the container mainly depends on the type of plants you want to grow. Big deep pots will be required for vegetable plants. There is a wide range of sizes available, ranging anywhere from 15 to 120 quarts. It’s up to you to decide what size you would need, because it is you who are growing the plants.
  6. You might also want to consider hanging baskets for plant containers, but you have to keep a close watch, as they tend to dry out real quick.
  7. Placing your containers is also something you might want to plan before buying out stuff. Grouping them effectively to match the place you are putting them in, is an important factor to think about. Make sure you have some space on the bottom, or a soft surface for drainage.

In addition to those tips, here are some plants suitable for container gardening:

Alyssum, Begonia, Geranium, Marigold, Pansies, Petunias, Zinnias