What kind of dirt should I use for container gardening?
This is something that has differing views, but I will give you mine. There are a lot of products out there that seem to have a good purpose but that you can probably do without. Go to any garden section at a big box store and you will find 15 different kinds of soil for specific situations. Maybe these have merit, like I said I am not a pro container gardener. But some of the reasons I've read for using container specific soil don't make sense to me. I've read not to use garden soil because it gets compacted, however the soil in my garden gets compacted over time and it works fine for growing vegetables. I've read that you should buy specific soil because garden soil may be too acidic or basic, but again, the soil we use in our garden works just fine. Another reason I read was that garden soil may have weeds and pests in it. That is true, and buying soil will help you avoid that, but it seems like a bit of overkill to buy new soil every year just to avoid some weeds and bugs. So my suggestion is to use what we use in our garden: a 2 to 1 ratio of top soil and amendment. Amendment is basically a bag of organic matter (compost, peat moss, mushroom mix and a few other things) that adds nutrients and other good stuff to your soil. I would recommend checking out a local garden store or nursery, they usually have what you need as well as a lot of good advice!
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| we are using a variety of sizes - melons and cucumbers in the x-large, lettuce in the green large, basil in the terra cotta, and dill, cilantro and oregano in the small pots |
Anything can be grown in a container. We are doing smaller plants like lettuce and herbs, as well as larger plants like tomatoes and melons. What you really have to answer here is how big your container is (larger plants really benefit from large containers) and how much direct sunlight you get. I mentioned this in my other container post, but for those of you dealing with shade/indirect sunlight there are a few options. Plants that are grown for their fruit (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) really need full sun (6+ hours). Cherry tomatoes can handle a bit less light in some cases though (4-6 hours). Plants that are grown for their leaves (spinach, kale, lettuce) or roots (carrots, turnips, radishes) can handle less sunlight, and will likely do better if they get some shade throughout the day. It depends when it comes to herbs: chives and mint can handle shade however basil will benefit more from some sunlight. Here is a really great article on gardening in the shade. At the end of the day your best option is to get a pot, a bag of dirt and some seeds and give it a go. If you know you'll be dealing with shade try some spinach or other leafy green and see what happens. You might be surprised! And if it fails then you're not out a lot of money, but also not left wondering if it would have worked. Here is a link to the Baker Creek site (specifically the spinach category) if you're interested in perusing their seeds. Most seeds also have reviews so that might be worth checking out too, as many people mention what sort of growing conditions they have. One more thing to keep in mind: if you grow something but don't get a very high yield you can always try a different variety. There are a ton of different varieties out there and they may grow differently in the same conditions!
How often should I water my container garden?
Because the containers are above ground and do not have as much insulation they dry out quicker. Water levels are definitely something to keep an eye on as letting your plants dry out too much causes a lot of stress and of prolonged will kill them. You also want to make sure you are not over watering your plants. It really depends on the temperature, size of pot and what you are growing, but a good rule of thumb is to stick your finger in the dirt about an inch down. If this inch is dry, you need to water.
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| without pruning (which I don't really do) tomatoes turn into a viney jungle. you can see part of the cage hidden in the plant |
It depends on the plant. Some plants benefit from a trellis, think vines like cucumbers, melons or squash. Tomatoes will definitely need a cage and sometimes peppers do as well. We bought cages for our tomatoes last year, but for the peppers we just stuck a stick in the ground next to them and then took a scrap of fabric and loosely tied to main stalk to the stick.
I believe that should get you started! I've probably said this before but gardening involves some experimentation. You get to start over each year too, so you always get a good opportunity to try something new or different. I will be updating on how our various plants do in containers this year since this is new territory for me as well. This is the time of year to plant your leafy greens and cool weather veggies and in about a month (for Missouri at least) it will be time for tomatoes, peppers and everything else. I may be counting down the day until I can plant tomatoes (25!)...now if the weather will just cooperate. Speaking of, it's a beautiful 70 degrees outside so I believe I'll hop off here and go enjoy it. Have a great day and feel free to let me know if you have any questions!
-Kelly
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