VEGETABLE GARDENING IN CONTAINERS

-


Why vegetable garden in containers?
  • Excellent for small/unique areas
  • Move as needed (frost, sun/shade, wind...)
  • Sprawling plants can be controlled (sweet potato)
  • Can be raised off ground to be accessible to all
  • Control soil conditions
  • Control root knot nematodes
  • Easy to provide drip irrigation
Ideas for containers
  • Bag of compost—one time use (cut hole in bag to plant and make drainage holes in bottom)
  • Self watering planters
  • Cinder blocks/concrete planters (be aware that concrete changes pH of soil to more alkaline)
  • Cloth bags such as grocery store cloth bags— limited life
  • Inverting a large storage container to raise up the container for easy accessibility
  • Not recommended: buckets (disintegrate), clay pots (heavy), wood (disintegrate), tires (code enforcement issue)
Crop Rotation
Leaf, Fruit, Root, Legume

Container How-to
  1. Bigger is better: the more soil, the more water and nutrients it holds
  2. If reusing a container, sterilize with a mix of 10% bleach and 90% water (while you are at it, sterilize your tools too!)
  3. If lacking drain holes, drill drain holes on the side of the container, 1/2 to 1 inch from the bottom
  4. Optional: add an inch or so of gravel for additional drainage (this adds WEIGHT so consider this if you plan on moving the container)
  5. Fill with a well-draining potting soil
  6. Optional: Implant a “funnel” for deep watering
  7. Sow seeds and/or transplant plant (peel off peat pots before planting, they never disintegrate)
  8. Mulch plant keeping it away from stem
  9. Water thoroughly (and keep seeds moist until they germinate)
  10. Set pot on top of a tray or stepping stone to prevent it from touching the soil (so root knot nematodes cannot enter the soil in the container)
  11. Water and fertilize regularly (most veggies benefit from a fertilizer with equal parts of N-P-K i.e. 10-10-10)