Container Gardening

[craftgirljunkie]

Ok, so I'm working out a list of supplies I'll need to get when I get home and those that my boyfriend can get from his grandfather (who's grown his own produce forever). It's still pretty hot in Oklahoma, but by late September it should be comfortably warm going into the cooler climate by October. I did a search and I live in zone 6B. Anyone have

Comments

[plantyhamchuk]

Check with your county extension office for good local info - they'll let you know what will grow well in your area, what the planting times are, etc. I'm in 7B (ATL) and we're well into our warm growing season - the next planning for us to do around here is for cool-weather crops. Not everything is happy in containers, but the strawberries, tomatoes (look for a container variety), and sweet potatoes will do okay. The sweet potatoes look great in hanging baskets actually, they have great foliage.

[bailey36]

they all sound doable, I've seen just about everything grown in containers, they need to have potting soil, pretty much exclusively add a bit of compost on top- or the soil is too dense for containers, and they need daily watering and holes in the bottom. Some, like indeterminate tomatoes need at least a five gallon bucket. I'm not sure about potatoes except for maybe in big barrels. Cooler crops can be grown in Spring and fall.

[wholuvsya]

potatoes grow well in old tires as well.

[pie_nya]

Chard grows well in containers, for your cooler weather crops. Plus you can just harvest as you need it and it'll grow back.

[crystalyne]

I used a mix of miracle grow potting mix and Scott's potting soil, and I have to say I'm very disappointed in the Scotts. Although it holds the moisture better and longer than the miracle grow, something that could probably be remedied by placing some wood chips on top, it appears that the soil came with an abundance of mushroom spores which I am continually pulling out of my pots

[craftgirljunkie]

this is going to sound like an ID10T moment, but what is the eye of the potato?? (Is it painfully obvious I've never planted anything in my whole life?)

[crystalyne]

ok, you know when you leave potatoes sitting out too long and they start sprouting? That's one of the 'eyes'. The eye is also the slightly different colored part that runs through the middle of the potato. If you were to dissect a potato, you'd see that that middle 'eye' branches off and connects to the 'eyes' on the outside that sprout.

[craftgirljunkie]

Ah! Ok, I get what your saying. Thank you!