by Jennifer Poindexter
Do you have a favorite gardening method acting ? Mine is container horticulture . I love the simplicity of it , but I also love how it can work for nearly anyone . Whether you have a large area to grow thing , or even if you do n’t , container horticulture can possibly work for you .
If you ’re concerned in learning a few secrets to help oneself you container garden successfully , you ’re in the right place . I ’m going to deal a few of the gratuity I postdate when growing my own container garden :
1. Pick the Right Plants
When acquire plants in a container garden , you must consider which plants will work best . Not everything develop well in this set - up .
For illustration , tomatoes , peppers , peas , lettuce , spinach , and a miscellanea of other plants mature well in a container garden . However , you should avoid mature enceinte crop such as pumpkin , watermelon , or full - grown yield trees using this method .
You should also consider if your container garden will be indoors or outside . This will exchange what you may grow as well .
2. Use the Right Soil
I love container horticulture because you may ensure most of the elements your plant grow in . You control the growing container , the amount of sunlight , where the plant grow , and the soil .
When in control condition of so many thing , be sure you get them good . Therefore , ensure you plant your harvest in territory that ’s gamy in nutrients , well - draining , and fluffy . This is a vital part of sic your plant up for success .
3. Water Properly
There are many slipway and sentence to irrigate your plants . In my experience , it ’s good to irrigate your plants deep and earlier in the day .
This avoid the plants becoming overwatered and also give the foliage metre to dry before the cool night air sets in .
However , when container gardening , your plants do n’t have as much soil to knead with . Therefore , you may need to water them more oft . It ’s also impudent to mulch around your plants to aid the soil retain moisture .
Before utilise any water to your crops , use the finger test . Insert your finger into the soil of the container . If it ’s juiceless to your first knuckle , lend more water . If not , hold off on applying water until more is absorbed .
4. Pick the Right Size
We ’ve already discussed you picking the correct sized plant for your container garden . Now , it ’s time to discuss pick the right size containers .
Look at your plant and consider how large they ’ll become in their mature country . The container should be able to accommodate the plant when it ’s full - grown .
If it ca n’t , the plant life will become root bound . This could think of that you ’ll need to transplant more often , or it could cause your container garden to die .
5. Stake Your Plants
There are many plants that grow in a container garden that should be staked . I ’m currently raising English peas , tomato plant , and peppers in my container garden .
All these harvest will require stake as they grow . If not , the pea will persist all over the storey of my grow infinite .
Staking is for more than esthetics . It ’s also full of life to guarantee your plants do n’t break and that right air flow is maintain around them .
6. Don’t Skip the Drainage
We ’ve discussed many of the thing you should do . Part of having a successful container garden is also learning what you should n’t do .
One of the main things you should n’t do is grow your plant in container that do n’t run out well . If piddle can not drain away from the plants quickly , you ’re dress them up for fungal disease .
Avoid disease , and suffocating your flora , by ensuring the planters you use have large enough drain holes to pull weewee away from the plants quickly .
7. Don’t Ignore Pests and Diseases
Most plants have gadfly and disease the gardener must stay brisk to . If left uncurbed , these things can ravage your garden blank .
Be cognisant of what might threaten each of your plant life , prior to establish them . control you check your plants daily for any sign of pests or diseases .
Finally , treat the pests and disease swiftly to stop over the number before it grows out of hand . By stay alarum , you may give your garden the gravid fortune at success .
8. Don’t Forget to Wash Your Containers
This is something many gardener bury . You grow flowers or crop in a container , you turn over harvest home time , and put the plantation owner aside .
When you go to expend it the next meter , you make full it back up with shite and start again . This should n’t materialize . By planting in soiled containers , you open up your plants up to disease .
If your other plant life , or soil , had a pathogen there ’s a estimable prospect it could be transfer to your raw plant life . Avoid this issue by lave all container prior to found in them .
9. Don’t Forget About Your Garden
This can happen with any gardening method . If your garden is n’t in front of you , it ’s easy to block about .
However , I ’ve found this can be even easier when raise in a container garden . Therefore , ensure you do whatever it exact to avoid forgetting your plants .
You could put a admonisher on your phone , forget a note on your electric refrigerator , or direct your garden in an surface area that you walk by oftentimes . By commend to worry for your garden , you ’re give it the opportunity to thrive .
10. Don’t Overplant
This is the biggest affair you should n’t do to ensure you ’re successful in bring up a container garden . Do n’t place too many plants in one container .
You also should n’t localize plants together which would compete for blank , light , or nutrient . Therefore , it ’s wise to only found one big plant per container .
However , if you ’d like to arise multiple industrial plant together , verify you invest the taller plant in the centre . Then surround it with shorter plant at its base . This should avoid overcrowding and competition .
11. Be Careful When Reusing Soil
Sometimes gardener will reuse soil to be frugal . We have a local nursery which sell used pot filth . It betray like hotcakes because it ’s inexpensive and hoi polloi have good experiences using it .
However , you must be careful when using older soil in your container garden . If the soil has any disease in it , this could be carry over to your plant life .
Therefore , be sure to heat your dirt thoroughly before planting in it . Place the soil on a piece of paper goat god and heat it in your oven to sterilise it before usage .
This conclude our tour of secrets to a successful container garden . There are many thing you may do , and things you should quash , to have a positive develop experience when using this gardening method .
As I mentioned earlier , container horticulture is my favorite growing method acting . you could use it indoors , outdoors , or in a nursery .
It does n’t matter if you subsist on acres of land , or if you only have a balcony for grow space . This way of gardening can grant you to grow a variety show of fruit , veggie , or peak without taking up a net ton of room .
More About Container Gardening
https://web.extension.illinois.edu/containergardening/
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/techniques/container-gardening-basics
http://chemung.cce.cornell.edu/resources/container-gardening
