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  • Container advice

    Hi all,
    I'm new to the forum and don't have much gardening experience! I started gardening a few years ago but have had to move from house to house for a number of reasons, never getting to grips with each gardening space before having to move on. We are now lucky enough to have a lovely housing association house with a small garden. It was an absolute wreck when we took it over, filled with building rubble and layers of rubbish. I spent our first summer digging the rubbish out of the patch of "grass", putting new soil down and planting grass from seed. It took and this is probably the most success I have ever had with growing anything! Now I want to use the small patio and path spaces to grow fruit and veg in containers. I got a few beans this year and a handful of tomatoes and kept some rosemary alive, and that's about it. I'm a bit of a sucker for novelty so have ordered some cucamelon and tomatillo seeds on the recommendation in January's edition of GYO that they do well in containers, but have never tried them before. I think the issue I tend to have is that the plants are too dry over the summer, as its hard to get out enough to water them (I'm a student midwife with 3 children so time is squeezed), then they are too wet during the winter and drown. I currently have some round ball type carrots growing on the top shelf of a mini greenhouse, but everything on the bottom has died. I have covered the greenhouse with fleece but have no idea what I'm doing really so not sure if it is cutting out the light. I have a blueberry bush that I bought in the autumn and have put bubble wrap round it for the winter, so hoping that it is still alive in the spring, but it seems to be filling up with water despite sitting on gravel. I have some garlic and broad beans in containers that are covered with fleece over a frame I made from trellis, but they again seem to be struggling with out much light.
    I think you can see that I'm trying but could do with more practice and good advice! Any contribution would be much appreciated.

  • #2
    Firstly welcome, secondly we need to know a bit about your environment you are trying to grow in. Is it exposed to the wind? Does it get plenty of sunshine/natural light? Are you in town or rural? These things can dictate what you can grow, even in containers under some cover, it could be you might have to start with some easier to grow stuff. This will give you confidence and experience as well as something to eat, get your kids involved to by growing fast growing stuff like radish in a pot, cress is another. My grandsons have taken to growing this year peas went well and tomatoes too, but get a variety that will perform well rather than trying something more difficult. Chillies and Peppers can be grown in the house on a bright windowsill if you want something a bit more exotic.

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    • #3
      I'm in a town, small garden with high fencing all around. Half gets sun in the morning, the other half in the afternoon. We have grown radishes and cress but as no one in the family likes them it seems a bit of a waste. I have tried peas but am not sure about the size of the container. I have only managed to grow a few plants in a container so a handful of peas is the result. Tomatoes are ok, I have grown them a few times, but I have never understood what pinching out the side shoots means and haven't found a photograph, so I'm probably doing something wrong. I am growing some things in pots inside, including peppers (both sweet and chilli) but they tend to get leggy and not do anything. Plus, how do they get pollinated inside? I am attempting some herbs in kitchen (mint and lemonbalm) but they haven't germinated as yet. I don't have much success, it seems a fine balance between too much or too little water, I can't seem to get it right. They either rot or go dry! Plus I'm not sure how/when to feed them, or if I need to, for any plant, in or out. The most success I have had is with plant sprouts for salads. I have grown pea shoots a few times in the kitchen which are nice, and have a few packets of other shoots to try. I must be able to do more than that though!

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      • #4
        Ok, I've done myself a flavour and bought a couple of books on container gardening. I have read plenty of books on the subject and never really understood the terminology, having to google things and wishing I had someone to give me advice, but I have chosen month by month ones this time that can hopefully really break things down for me into simple tasks. I think I will invest in some raised beds as well that won't dry out/drown as quickly as the smaller pots seems to do. Fingers crossed, I haven't given up yet! In the meantime I'll keep eating the pea shoots.

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        • #5
          It is something that can take time to get right, even after over 60 years of growing stuff, I make mistakes or things just don't work out, we are trying to bend nature a bit when we try to do things that doesn't happen naturally. Some good reading will back up your efforts and we are a friendly bunch who can offer some advice. Some trial and error is involved in growing, and especially with container growing some limitations will be evident, this time of year it is very difficult to grow anything without additional heat or light, your leggy chilles are an example that your plants are not getting enough light, plants naturally grow taller looking for more light. The RHS website is a great source for information, make a list of what you would like to grow and then research it and see what the requirements are. Use the search function on this site for a given crop and see what folk have been doing, that will also help you gain some more knowledge on a given food you would like to grow.

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          • #6
            The blueberry bush will grow well in a container.
            Depending on your location you will most likely need to collect rain water for it.
            It will need lime free compost and this will block the holes on the bottom of the pot as you have found.
            It will need to be repotted with a good hand full of pebbles in the bottom of the pot. A half barrel is a good pot size.
            I grew blueberries in an inside-out car tire. Making one of these into a pot is physically demanding.
            Fleece will damage the flower buds and do more harm than good as they are fully frost proof.
            I moved mine into a brick and concrete raised bed several years ago.
            They need pruning each year for best fruit once mature.
            Have a go at doing some cuttings from your rosemary as they make a nice perfumed hedge and the clippings are good on top of blurberry bush soil. Rosemary is drought proof and I have seen it self seed into the top of a crumbly brick wall where it went on to flower.
            Near Worksop on heavy clay soil

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            • #7
              Thanks Plot70, that's really, really useful! I'll get on to repotting the blueberry when I get a moment.

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              • #8
                Where are you based? You don't have to give a detailed answer, but there's quite a difference between gardening in Cornwall and gardening in Scotland. Some places struggle with frost, but others don't.

                I'd say your broad beans and garlic won't need fleecing, as they're quite hardy. The broad beans will benefit from protection against wind, though. Either shelter them against prevailing winds by putting the pot by a wall or putting in some stakes around the inside edge of the pot and run some string or twine around repeatedly so that if the plants do get a bit battered, the string will stop them from collapsing over to one side.

                It sounds a bit like you're trying to get plants to do something they wouldn't naturally do. You're unlikely to get fruit off chilli plants at this time of year, even indoors, because the days are so short. But if you can keep them alive indoors till next year, you'll be off to a flying start in the spring and will get an early harvest.

                Watering is always a problem with pots in summer or in windy conditions, especially if you've got pretty terracotta ones, as they dry out quickly. Watering in the evening might help next year or, if you have the finances for it, you might consider a drip system that you can turn on and off at a tap rather than having to go round each pot.

                Congrats on the grass, by the way. That's not an easy thing to start from seed and succeed.

                And lastly, hello and welcome to the Vine.

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                • #9
                  Hiya, I'm in Hampshire in the south of England. Thanks for the broad bean and garlic advice. The fleecing I did of the containers comes from the general advice you tend to get in books and magazines, e.g. "This month protect your container plants with fleece". I tend to take advice quite literally (I have ASD) so should probably look up each plant individually to see whether its necessary, but often the advice is conflicting and I just don't know what to do!

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                  • #10
                    Hello & welcome Cucamelon tomato sideshoots grow in the area of the plant we call armpits,as it grows out of that point & not anywhere on the branches,I"™ll try & find a good picture,there"™s a thread here with some pictures that hopefully help -
                    https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...de-shoots-help
                    Location : Essex

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                    • #11
                      Lots of people here happy to give advice, Cucamelon. Plus there are some growing guides here on individual plants that you might find useful.

                      How To Grow Vegetables & Fruit | Growing Guides & Tips | Grow Your Own Magazine (growfruitandveg.co.uk)

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