Grow Your Own Magazine

OK, so I've got the spuds in and a few onions in buckets. Anyone got any tips for other veg that can be grown in containers? I really fancy some parsnips but not sure how deep I need the pot to be.

Cheers!

Hi Doggler
You can grow just about anything you want in pots.
Carrots are a good bet as the height of the pot can help you to avoid problems with carrot fly as these little bugg*rs are low flying.
Any salad crop, especially CCA salad leaves (see this months GYO 20 minute allotment section for suggested varieties)
Runner Beans / Climbing French Beans - I'm growing these in half whisky barrels (Glenmorangie Distillery only a stones throw from me), and this year will try them up inverted cane wigwams, so I can plant some Little Gem lettuce around the edge of the barrels
Parsnips - don't need to be too deep - just choose a variety that doesn't grow too long - a container about 12" deep would be enough. Just remember how long they take to mature.
Spring Onions & Pickling Onions
Huge variety of Herbs
Really, the list is only confined by your imagination, the size and the number of pots you have- if you have specific veg in mind, post a question and we shall endeavour to answer you

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Doggler, go with Sewer Rat (would you not lke to change that name) on this one. I'm growing all of the above in containers and all going great. Also potatoes looking wonderful.Loads on this site about how to do it - just search the site. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

I like the idea of an inverted wigwam! Never thought of that! Is it just the sides of the pot that keep the wigwam from collapsing with the weight of the plants?

Squirrel it was an idea given to us by Geordie. You can read how he does it in the thread Help! Newbie Looking For A Little Advice Please in Vegging Out. It is on page 5 and it is reply #13.

Hi Doggler,
I did all of my veg in pots last year - had great success with potatoes, tomatoes (did most of those in hangng baskets), courgettes, salad leaves and peppers. I've done carrots in big pots this year too. It makes weeding almost non-existent which must be a plus, and if slugs are a problem, copper tape around the pot usually does the trick.
good luck

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Great. I just popped into the garden centre at lunch and stood gazing thoughtfully at carrots and the huge range of other veg seeds but then got overwhelmed and left merely with a seed tray! Think I'll have to write a list.

carrots are great. The taller the pot the longer the carrot

I grow nearly everything in pots, swiss chard, toms, courgettes, runner beans, cucumbers, salad leaves, potatoes, carrots, broad beans, strawberries & am trying asparagus peas & butternut squash this year. Most things are O.K. in pots as long as you keep on top of watering them.

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Wow, I am impressed. I thought Asparagus was well out of my league pot-wise. I'd be interested to hear how it goes, I might give it a go next year.

Popped into B&Q on my way home and grabbed a couple of 98p buckets that should be ideal. OK, they're orange but on the brightside will add a bit of colour to the garden! Just need to drill some holes in the bottom. I'm really getting into this gardening lark, think the OH is getting a bit worried about me!

Asparagus PEAS.

I've got some tomatillos this year, they're in pots in the greenhouse at the moment and about a foot high. I'm going to put three in the raised bed and two in bigger pots and see what happens. They're already getting buds so hopefully I'll get some fruit. Has anyone else grown these?

What are tomatillos?

And never thought of using buckets!!! I seem to use everything else and then moan at the price of pots!

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Asparagus PEAS! Makes much more sense now!

Tomatillos are a Mexican vegetable (I think), they're supposedly good for salsas and chutney. They grow in little paper lantern like physallis. The ones I've got are violet so should look very striking if nothing else.

For cheap pots you can't go wrong at Wilko's - they did have 3 for price of 2 but think that may have finished. They have got some great gardening stuff in store and very good prices too. Vericulite £1 for a 5ltr bag, growmore £1 a box etc

Doggler, I don't think you'd get very far with asparagus in pots unless you had a giant pot as they need quite a lot of room & need to be left undisturbed. I wonder if anyone has ever tried it though? Asparagus peas are supposed to taste a bit like asparagus, I asked about them in an earlier thread & have been advised to pick them very small as you eat the pod & they can become stringy & tough if you leave them. Chillies work well in pots also.

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£Land good sorce for pots and troughs at this time of year. They also sell quite a bit of gardening stuff as well.SueA,i tried butternut squash in pot last year but not very successful. They grow like mad in the ground. Other people on our allotments tried various squashes in pots,but only with very limited success.

A good source of bucket-size pots are florists and other places that sell bunches of cut flowers. Our local greengrocer sells on the buckets at 10 for a pound and I have acquired stacks of them in the past from a nearby florist who just gives them away. I cut off the bottoms and use them for ring culture in the greenhuse, drill holes in others for planting or add a bit of wire for a handle and turn them into "real" buckets.

Its worth asking around!

Happy gardening!
Carole

I have a load of them too, they're very handy. Got mine from Morrisson's 10 for 99p so it might be worth looking out there or asking.

Thanks for the tips about where to get cheap buckets from.
Lyndap, I'm only trying a couple of butternut squashes because I had the free seeds from GYO mag. & have nowhere to put them in the ground.I thought they would probably need a lot of room but figured maybe if I try training them up some kind of support I might get somewhere, but am not expecting much!

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I am also trying the same with butternut squash in large pots Sue. Will report back on how I get on over the course of the year. I'm doing heaps of stuff in tubs - tomatoes, peppers, spuds, carrots, broccoli, herbs, squash, courgette.

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I cut off the bottoms and use them for ring culture in the greenhuse, drill holes in others for planting or add a bit of wire for a handle and turn them into "real" buckets.

Its worth asking around!

Happy gardening!
Carole[/quote]

whats a ring culture if I may ask?

Clare x

Try Wilkinsons too. Poundland actually expensive for pots which are pence everywhere else.

Think I've gone a bit mad! Aside from the onions and six varieties of potatoes I started out with, I've now got parsnips, spring onions, basil, rosemary, parsley, mint, tarragon, thyme, oregano, cucumber, dwarf french beans, chillies, tomatoes, radishes, dwarf cabbage, dwarf cauliflower, carrots, butternut squash, lavender, peas, and sweet peas - all growing in pots! Our little garden is becoming quite an obstacle course.

I've definitely made mistakes with some of them but thanks to the advice on this site I've been able to start again in some cases. Really looking forward to seeing what works and what doesn't.

Oh, did I mention the melon that I'm growing too!