Gardening with pots

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journey137

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We live in an apartment but there is plenty of concrete porch out front that gets morning sun and afternoon shade. There are also full sun and full shade areas I could probably use unless someone moves into the apartment next to ours (unlikely because the owner is trying to sell the building). Anyway, I want to garden to try and save some money, but I have little experience gardening and no experience gardening with pots. I would like to plant some tomatoes, bell peppers, banana peppers, sugar snap peas, and maybe cucumbers. Any advice on pot size (I was thinking 5 gallon buckets), soil, fertilizer, plant varieties (or maybe something I didn’t mention but grows well in pots), watering, staking, or anything else that might be helpful would be great.

I need some experienced gardeners to tutor me please!!!
 
Two important things to remember about container gardening are:
  1. Make sure your containers drain properly, because most garden plants will not grow well if their roots are in soil that is supersaturated with water, and
  2. Water frequently, because containers that drain properly also tend to dry out quickly.
The key is moist soil, not mud or hardpan.
 
Since you’re planting in pots, you don’t need to allow the roots to grow to gargantuan lengths to draw water for themselves. The bigger the pot the more energy will be used by the plant to develop a root system instead of above-soil growth. No matter what I’m planting in a pot, I always follow the graduating pot size rule. Start out small and transplant to larger pots. It’s a pain but you get more growth above the soil where you want it that way. Also, I always plant in Miracle Gro and then fertilize as recommended for whatever it is I’ve planted.

I haven’t tried this so I can’t vouch for it, but I’ve been told that working coffee grounds, crushed eggshells and crushed banana peel into the soil is great for potted herbs and food-producing plants.
 
FickleFreckled said:
Since you’re planting in pots, you don’t need to allow the roots to grow to gargantuan lengths to draw water for themselves. The bigger the pot the more energy will be used by the plant to develop a root system instead of above-soil growth. No matter what I’m planting in a pot, I always follow the graduating pot size rule. Start out small and transplant to larger pots. It’s a pain but you get more growth above the soil where you want it that way. Also, I always plant in Miracle Gro and then fertilize as recommended for whatever it is I’ve planted.

I haven’t tried this so I can’t vouch for it, but I’ve been told that working coffee grounds, crushed eggshells and crushed banana peel into the soil is great for potted herbs and food-producing plants.
Click to expand...
That’s great to know about the pot size! I have been planting flowers from seeds for a few years and always like to make a few pots. I’ll remember your trick, as I usually have to wait quite awhile between seed starting and taking the plants outside (we live in PA, last frost date is end of May!). Thanks!
 
HouseArrest,
You’re welcome and I love your handle! It’s so creative!
 
Thanks for the replies so far. Keep them coming please 👍
Leopard said:
Two important things to remember about container gardening are:
  1. Make sure your containers drain properly, because most garden plants will not grow well if their roots are in soil that is supersaturated with water, and
  2. Water frequently, because containers that drain properly also tend to dry out quickly.
The key is moist soil, not mud or hardpan.
Click to expand...
My dh’s family used to own a greenhouse when he was growing up so he’s going to show me how to water properly. It’s going to be mainly my project, even though he could probably do a better job, because he works and I don’t.
FickleFreckled said:
Since you’re planting in pots, you don’t need to allow the roots to grow to gargantuan lengths to draw water for themselves. The bigger the pot the more energy will be used by the plant to develop a root system instead of above-soil growth. No matter what I’m planting in a pot, I always follow the graduating pot size rule. Start out small and transplant to larger pots. It’s a pain but you get more growth above the soil where you want it that way. Also, I always plant in Miracle Gro and then fertilize as recommended for whatever it is I’ve planted.

I haven’t tried this so I can’t vouch for it, but I’ve been told that working coffee grounds, crushed eggshells and crushed banana peel into the soil is great for potted herbs and food-producing plants.
Click to expand...
I’ve heard that about the foods too. living.oneindia.in/home-n-garden/beautiful-gardens/homemade-fertilizers.html
 
journey137 said:
We live in an apartment but there is plenty of concrete porch out front that gets morning sun and afternoon shade. There are also full sun and full shade areas I could probably use unless someone moves into the apartment next to ours (unlikely because the owner is trying to sell the building). Anyway, I want to garden to try and save some money, but I have little experience gardening and no experience gardening with pots. I would like to plant some tomatoes, bell peppers, banana peppers, sugar snap peas, and maybe cucumbers. Any advice on pot size (I was thinking 5 gallon buckets), soil, fertilizer, plant varieties (or maybe something I didn’t mention but grows well in pots), watering, staking, or anything else that might be helpful would be great.

I need some experienced gardeners to tutor me please!!!
Click to expand...
Tomatoes should grow well, given enough water and sunlight, but I recommend putting the tomato cage in the pot when the tomato plant is only a seeding (it’s very hard to put it on afterward).

Peppers will grow well, too, but they will cross-pollinate with each other if they’re too close (e.g., if you plant a green bell pepper near a jalopeno, you’ll have mild jalopenos and spicy bell peppers).

Peas are a snap (ha!) to grow, but you’ll need something for them to grow onto (they’re climbers); try putting a trellis into the pot when you plant them.

I don’t recommend cucumbers for pot growing; their vines will spread all over the place.

And plant some herbs, too: basil goes well with tomatoes.

Good luck!
 
I live in an apatment too, and I recently found out that there are varieties of tomatoes just for small spaces. Cherry tomatoes will also grow in a hanging basket and are very pretty that way.

This is a technique (I heard it was French, but I don’t know) for growing all year: You can mix certain seeds and plant them together because they mature at different times. You can mix beet and radish seeds this way, or carrots and spinach. You can also plant peas over and over because they mature so fast.

Also, does your patio have a fence? If so, plant some pole beans. They’ll grow up the fence and won’t take up much space in the containers.

Are you going to compost? If not, you should. There are several compost boxes available that don’t take up a lot of space and will keep your patio neat. Compost is an easy way to fertilize the garden while saving money on soil enrichers and being greener at home. Just keep a little bucket under your sink and put vegetable matter only in it (meat and animal products will attract critters, but eggshells are OK), then empty it into your composter as you would empty the garbage. Also, don’t put potato peels in the compost unless you want little potato plants growing all over.

We “rent” space in my husband’s parents’ garden (exchanging labor for a share of the veggies). This may also be something you want to consider.

Have fun and good luck!
-S-
 
My godson’s wife’s uncle got in big trouble for that.

Oh, that’s gardening in pots, not pot gardening.
:p:D
 
mystified said:
My godson’s wife’s uncle got in big trouble for that.

Oh, that’s gardening in pots, not pot gardening.
:p:D
Click to expand...
LOL, I’m surprised I did not put “pot gardening” on the subject line… I tend to do silly things like that and not even realize it.

Good reminder to put the tomato cage on before the tomato needs it. I remember once helping my family try and get cages on after the tomatoes were way too big and we mutilated those poor things.

We have a small strip of trellis right in front of our living room window and I don’t think the landlord will mind if I put a couple plants up it. I’ll offer him some of the produce if he says anything 🙂

My husband said we absolutely HAVE to have a hanging basket with tomatoes in it. He loves that idea 👍

Composting inside… not so sure about that. See, we’ve got this dog that eats anything (including rocks if they happen to be in the kitchen floor) and I could see her tearing into a big bucket of compost and then puking it all up later on the carpet. Do you cover compost? I could put a bucket outside but it would have to cover and lock or the wildlife would get into it. We have a skunk and some opossums (probably raccoons too but I’ve never seen them) as well as neighbor pets that might find a bucket like that interesting.

Assuming I’m feeling well this weekend, I’ll be playing in the dirt with some seedlings 👍 Here’s to good weather :crossrc:
 
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