Top Tips for Container Gardening

Container gardening is becoming more and more popular because people appreciate the flexibility it offers.

Before starting work on your container garden, consider that most vegetables flourish when they have access to six or more hours of direct sunlight.

You’re not limited to planting flowers either, you can grow your own herbs and vegetables right on your balcony, patio or in your backyard.

Container gardening does come with its own set of challenges though, fortunately, you can plan for success with these helpful tips…

1. Choose the best possible location

Before starting work on your container garden, consider that most vegetables flourish when they have access to six or more hours of direct sunlight.

They also do well when they’re sheltered against cold, drying winds so choose a spot near a wall, fence or hedge that will help screen your greens.

If you’re gardening on your balcony or on a window ledge, make sure that you properly secure your pots so they don’t get blown away.

To get going, you’ll need a potting soil mix. You can then add rock dust or worm castings to add nutrients.

2. Get the appropriate soil mixture

Digging up soil from your backyard in the hope to use it in your containers is not a good idea as it may contain weeds. To get going, you’ll need a potting soil mix. You can then add rock dust or worm castings to add nutrients.

You can also mix in some compost tea to give your soil that extra boost.

3. Water appropriately

Because container plants don’t have access to moisture underground, they need to be watered accordingly. 

If left unattended, vegetables can dry up within a short period of time. As such, on hot days, you want to water your plants in the early morning.

The biggest challenge here, is that most people tend to overwater their plants. To avoid this, provide proper drainage by drilling holes in the bottom of your containers. You can also add a shallow layer of stones at the bottom of your container to help with the drainage. The stones will cover the drainage holes so that the soil doesn’t clog up the holes.

Tomatoes can be grown in different types of containers. What they need is plenty of soil. Varieties like Tumbling Tom can be grown in hanging baskets while others can be grown in soil bags.

Did you know?

Terracotta pots tend to breathe more than clay or cement pots. As such, the soil in the pots tends to dry up a little faster and needs to be watered more often.

4. What to grow

Salad leaves are easy to grow as they only need a shallow container. Because of our hot summer weather, you want to plant your salad leaves in a spot that gets morning sunshine and afternoon shade. This will keep them from producing seeds prematurely.

Tomatoes can be grown in different types of containers. What they need is plenty of soil. Varieties like Tumbling Tom can be grown in hanging baskets while others can be grown in soil bags. They also need to be watered at least twice a day in hot weather.

You can also grow bell peppers, egg plants, spinach, celery, lavender, chives, mint basil and a number of herbs in containers.

Good tip

To keep birds away from your pots, place some skewers, sharp edges in the soil, into your pots, round your veggies. – Katlego Sekano

Article courtesy of Property24