Growing mats and more on container gardening

[rainysparadigm]

Hi,

I am renting so I do not have the option of a full garden. I was wondering what fruits, vegies, herbs etc others have found successful in container gardening? This would mean ones that will actually grow and bear in the container, and not need transplanted to the ground. I have plenty of outdoor space however, so that is not a problem.

I should add I am not an overly experienced gardener.

I also just heard something about growing mats. I assume this is like seed mats, but I am not sure. Anyone know anything about these?

Any other rental friendly gardening tips appreciated

Thanks!

//R

[jdp]

Before you jump in I'd recommend thinking about what exactly you would *use*. I was container gardening sort of willy-nilly. Its wasteful. Yes you may have a lot of space but containers, dirt, soil ammendments and seeds or seedlings AND your time are not free. So now anytime someone asks me "How should I get started?" I say first reflect on what would be useful to you!

If you eat a lot of berries, there are many container varieties. If you eat a lot of vegetables, there are many container varieties. I haven't found an herb that doesn't grow well in a container. I like to take cut flowers to a friend so I only grow a little flowers just for her. The last summer of "willy nilly" container gardening I started to note what I wished we had. Why was I doing all this work and still buying strawberries at the store!

Then the next winter I sat down just like the regular gardeners do and planned from my 'wish list' I was making all summer (you tend to forget what you wished you'd had). You can use a regular garden plan guide. Then when you want to research varieties just look up whether or not others have grown them in containers.

Helpful websites:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=re...tHRl5NX2NvgHuQ

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=re...vXOQfV0pILL6lA

Nice books:

The Complete Container Garden (Paperback)
by David Joyce (Author)

McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: A Container Garden of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers
Authors: Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Maggie Stuckey, Michael A. Hill (Illustrator}

The websites list all the particulars special to container gardening like paying more attention to soil ammendments, watering and light.

Then you can go from there - suit the containers to you (we love to reuse/recycle other things - I even have lettuce growing in an old cracked casserole dish lol), the plants to you, etc.

I hope you have fun with it!

[kav122]

all good suggestions jdp!

I grow tomatoes, lettuce, onions, beans, and a bunch of different kinds of peppers in containers. I don't *think* strawberries would be good in a container (unless it was a big container) because they send out runners for the next season. I grow mine in a flower bed. My raspberries aren't in containers either, and they spread. Also I plant watermelon, honeydew, cucumber and squash in the ground. Squash does NOT like to be in a container.

[Jason830]

Great tips indeed JDP. I am going to start planting next year. Seems like it will save you so much money in the long run

[Mary Webber]

Because we live in a short-season area, we grow lots in containers in addition to our enormous gardens. No fancy or expensive containers, we use five-gallon and 2 gallon buckets for tomatoes, cukes, peppers, and so much more. What I like most is that we can easily move these to a sheltered and sunny location as the days shorten. We also have a small (5x8) portable greenhouse where we'll put the buckets before frost in September hoping to get another 4-6 weeks growing time.

The biggest challenge I've seen with our container growing is balancing the drying-out and the over-wet. We do have drainage holes in each bucket. I've written about this at length on my blog www.thefrugalfamilykitchen.blogspot.com and hope you'll check that out if you're going to give it a try.

[AFHWW]

These are good tips. I'm thinking about trying container gardening next year, so I will have to do some studying to see what would work.

[indieretailer]

Everyone has contributed some good tips.

Growing mats are not a necessity unless you live in a cold climate and want to start your seedling early in a cool room, like a basement. The mats are heated and placed under a tray of seedling to regulate the temperature of the soil to encourage germination.

No special containers are needed to start a container garden. For larger containers, I use galvanized steel tubs. I found them to be less expensive than containers of a comparable size at home/garden centers. I just used a hammer and nail to bang out drainage holes in the bottom and couple on the sides.

Good luck on your gardening!

[purplefdu]

The short growing season is definitely a huge issue. Every year no matter how I try I end up losing stuff to frost. They actually have containers just for strawberries I've heard work well. I've grown them in a hanging basket with no issues though. Depending on the size of the container most things can be grown in containers, minus maybe squash/pumpkins. And while you can grow only what you want/need growing something that you can trade with a neighbor who has a real garden space may be beneficial (heirloom tomatoes are great for this).

[Gypsypunk]

i am not also an expert but like you, i move and rent, and grow plants in containers. My husband's trying bonsai, but I try to plant what I had been envisioning for some period of time... or whatever I fancy. Right now, I have some tamarind seedlings less than feet tall and we're about 3 months in our apartment... previously, I already had grown shrub plants and a vegetable garden (where we stayed for about 2 years) that also supplied vegetable to some of my neighbors...

[Mary Webber]

Container growing WORKS! While we've got huge gardens, we've got some plants growing in buckets too so that we can hopefully extend our season (as I said earlier in an earlier post). We're using 5-gallon buckets that joint compound came in (free from a construction site..we asked first), and 2 1/2 gallon buckets that cement coloring pigment comes in stacked on the side of the road with a "free" sign), and the results are starting to come in on this experiment. EXCELLENT!

Harvested potatoes from two buckets yesterday and had gorgeous baking potatoes (4 of good eating size) and 15 small white new potatoes in the other bucket. More little potatoes growing so I re-set the plants to see what'll happen. Cukes have set on as have tomatoes and peppers are in blossom. I'm way wicked psyched!!