I have just aquired several 2 x 4 by 12" deep fiberglass containers that I am going to use for raised garden beds. My intent is to put in draining holes and fill them with sterilized composted mixed with peat and vermiculite. I have a large (unused) parking lot in full sun in which to put them and intend to fill them with vegetables. Anybody have any tips for me so that my venture is a successful venture. Sure would appreciate advice. Thanks all, Madi
Hi there! I was wondering if you knew what types of plants you will be growing in your container garden. If you like lettuce, mesclun would be really fun and very easy to grow in a container... so would radishes and parsley. If you got some bigger containers, you could grow tomatoes, pole beans, and eggplant, too. Make sure that that the containers have good drainage! If the containers don't have good drainage, the plants will die. I guess advice for container growing varies depending on what you're growing in a container. Please tell me what plants you might grow! I think i might grow some plants in containers this year, too... I hope this helps!
Hi. Thanks for responding. I want to plant pretty much everything in them. In my home garden I have fruit trees that shade parts of my garden and have raised beds where I plant stuff that does not require 6-8 hours of sun beating down on them, so lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, broccolli, peas, herbs. In my parking lot I just have full sun. The planters (80 in all) are 2' x 4' and 1' deep so I think big enough to plant lots of stuff. I want to plant strawberries, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, onions, pole beans, probably more peas with the pole beans to shade them a bit? Also would like to put some of my excess raspberries in some? I also have to 2 fish totes which are 4' x 4' x 30" in which I intend to plant root vegetables such as carrots, beets and was hoping, but don't know if they would be successful here, yams or sweet potato. Oh yes, I will also use some of my planters to plant squash and pumkin. I will lay them out in a kind of spiral shape so the tailer ones can provide some afternoon sun protection to the others. I will lay straw out around them as on the ground as is pavement and I am hoping the straw will cool the area a little bit. My dear husband will be drilling lots of drainage for me and I will line them with rocks and then a barrier (likely some of the mountain of newspaper I get) between the rocks and soil. I just am hoping I am doing this right.
Madi, Sounds like fun! I'm sure that you will have an awesome garden. I grew pole beans in my garden last year, and they grew really well! Make sure to keep picking the beans as they grow, or else new beans won't grow. Good luck! ~tgplp
Wow, I would love to get my hands on some container like that. They should be adequate to grow most things. Good luck with your garden.
Madi, how are the containers looking? Where'd you get so many?! It sounds like they would be perfect for what you have planned, though feeding said veggies might be your biggest issue (1' deep doesn't leave much room for plants' late season appetites). If you can, consider breaking up the parking lot's asphalt, it'll help if you're concerned about excessive heat and will help drainage. That might be a bit of an issue as well. I'm imagining rows of these containers with newspaper/straw laid between to form pathways, but the paths being soggy wet all the time from the run off. Maybe raise the containers off the asphalt with 2x4" boards? Sounds like a great project though, and what an awesome way to get food out of an unused space! :D
