Hi all, I plan to purchase some vegetable plants and grow them in containers outdoors. This is a first for me so I'm hoping I can get some basic questions answered. 1) How do I know how many plants to sow, such as tomatoes, to feed the people in my household? 2) How do I know when it's the right time to plant my veggies? 3) When the annual veggies finish growing, do I dig out all of the plant matter and then sow new seeds/plants? Do I have to replace the soil too? 4) If it's going to rain, do I need to cover my plants? 5) What tips do you have on making sure I water the plants enough, but not too much? Do you use any special tools to help with this? I have a couple of vegetable gardening books and I was surprised to see that these questions are not addressed. Thanks so much!
some of these answers will be similar to regular gardening practices. some different. some, will have 100 answers all pretty decent, but all distinct. 1. look into bio intensive, or square foot gardening techniques to help you figure out plant spacing. plants to family ratio is hard to judge. how many people? and how much do you actually like a certain crop? my brother and his wife only grow 4-5 tomato plants, where as my gf and i grow 12-15. most we eat fresh, some we will dry, some we will can. i have a friend who grows 50 tomatoe plants just for himself, he makes a lot of sauce haha. 2. same rules apply. frost sensitive plants need to go out after all signs of the last spring frost have passed. this depends on your local climate. look for a garden calendar for someone in a similar region to help you plan that out. it's too late to start seeds for some plants like tomatoes and peppers so you can pick up transplants from a garden center, but others can still be direct seeded. the benefit you have with containers is you can move the plants around in the sunlight and also bring them in at nights or when it gets too cold. 3. yes, and if your season is long enough yes. look into succession planting for your area and try to maximize what you've got. soil does not need to be replaced but likely will need to be repleneshed. look into a good quality fertilizer. i have heard from a few people that they prefer water soluable fertilizers for containers, and slow release for in ground plants. 4.no need, don't baby your plants but don't force them to be in conditions outside what they can handle. 5. you could look into one of those water meters, or terra cotta worms to gauge your water. hope that starts your efforts. i'm currently doing some container gardening at my townhome. we have cut barrels with lettuce, spinach, and kale, a few window sill boxes with all your usual herbs, a hanging cherry tomato, a whole bunch of beans, two blueberries, and a haskap. bottom line is don't be afraid to try it. get lots of different things and try whatever varieties peak your interest. and remember you can create container gardens using just about anything! -Luke
Wow, thank you so much for answering my questions! You've really cleared up a lot of confusion. Sounds like you are growing some delicious crops. By the way, where did you find the cut barrels? I love that look. Thanks again!
Happy to help. I'm just an ameteur gardener. The cut barrels were actually from our local grocery store. they are not the halved wine barrels, they are much smaller, probably only about 8" tall by about 20" wide. They work well because of the wide surface area on top, which lets us cram in more haha. Does your intended area get a decent amount of sun? I've found that to be a trouble with ours since our patio is covered. Moving the containers around during the day helps but is a little hassle, the others we just try to leave around the edges etc so they can get as much sun as they can. -Luke
Thanks for the info... I'll have to check with my local store. I get some sun, but not a lot. I've been watching the shade patterns and have a few designated spots that I think will work. We get the best sun in the front yard, but I don't trust wandering animals and even some people not to disturb the plants. Oh well, it will all work out. I wish you an amazing, bountiful harvest! =)
