Building A Salad Table and
Making a 5 Gallon SelfWatering Container
Presented by: Kent Phillips
kent.a.phillips@gmail.com
2
Maryland
Master Gardeners’
Mission
To educate Maryland residents about
safe, effective and sustainable
horticultural practices that build
healthy gardens, landscapes, and
communities.
www.extension.umd.edu/growit
Grow Your Own Food
We Can Show You How
Click on Classes Tab
And Scroll down to
Howard County
Getting Started
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A little bit of room
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Sunlight
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Salad table or 5 gallon self-watering bucket
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Growing medium
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Water
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Nutrients
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Tender loving care
Instructions
• Salad Table™ instructions can be found on
the GIEI website
• www.extension.umd.edu/growit
• Click on the “Information Library” tab,
“Publications” and “Vegetables, Fruit and
Herb Gardening”
• HG 601- Grow Your Own Greens with
Salad Tables™ & Salad Boxes™
Components
• Lumber
• 2 – 2 by 4s 10 feet long
• 2 – 2 by 4s 12 feet long
• 2 – 1 by 4s 8 feet long
• 2½ inch galvanized deck screws
• 1 lb. of 1 inch aluminum or galvanized roofing nails
• 3ft. by 5 ft. section of fiberglass or aluminum screen
• 3 ft. by 5 ft. section of ¼ or ½ inch (cheaper)
hardware cloth
• 3/8 staples for staple gun
Tools
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Handsaw or circular saw
Hammer
Drill, 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch bits
# 2 Phillips bits and 8 - ¼ by 4 inch galvanized
carriage bolts
Tape measure
Square
Tin snips
Staple gun
Leather gloves
Safety goggles and hearing protection
Assembly Demonstration
• Lumber has been precut and drilled
• You can have your lumber cut to length at
the store where you purchase it. Just take
the dimensions.
Container Location
• Minimum 6 hrs. sun for salad greens
• Access to water - water every day
• Placed on any level space
• Be careful of microclimates
• The water that drains from
containers can stain concrete and
wood decking
• Can put wheels on salad table to roll
it around
What’s the “Dirt” on Growing Media?
• Supports plant’s root
system
• Holds & supplies nutrients
• Permits drainage
• Needs to be light and fluffy
Growing Media
Garden Soil
• Heavy
• Brings in weed seeds and soil diseases
• Doesn’t drain well in containers
Commercial Soil-Less Mixes
• Excellent
• Lightweight
• Drains well
• Holds water and nutrients
• Proper pH
• Examples of soil-less mixes are: ProMix™,
ReddiEarth™, Jiffy Mix™, and Sunshine Mix™
Stay Away From
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Top soil
Planting soil
Planting mix
Potting soil
Mixes
• containing sedge peat, wood mulch or bark
fines
• that are heavy or gritty
• have very fine particles
Adding Compost to Media
• Highly recommended
• Adds additional slow release nutrients
• Increases water and nutrient holding
capacity of media
• May have to add perlite to lighten mix
• If you don’t have compost, LeafGro™
is the next best commercially
available product.
Media Mixtures
Some good media mixtures for container vegetables are:
• 90% compost or LeafGro + 10% perlite
• 100% soil-less mix
• 50% soil-less mix + 50% compost
Happy Roots
• Watering needs vary depending on
• container size and depth
• ambient temperature
• wind
• sunlight
• humidity
• type of plant and its size
• Media in container should be kept moist at all times but not
soggy
• Most containers will need to be watered daily in the summer
• Use a water breaker or watering can for soft flow
• Use your finger to test container moisture
Fertilizers
• Containers require regular fertilization
• Using water soluble fertilizers
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Good rule of thumb is every two weeks for
water soluble fertilizers
Immediately available to plants
Organic varieties are ready available
How much and how often depends
• Using slow-release (granular) fertilizer
• Inorganic such as Osmocote
• Organic – blood meal, worm castings,
etc.
• Always follow label instructions
• Excess fertilizer can harm and stunt plants
What Can I Grow In A Salad Table
• Depends on the depth of the growing media
• 4 inch sides – salad greens
• 8 - 12inch sides – snap beans, beets, short carrots , onions,
scallions, large herbs (basil, thyme, parsley, etc.)
• Remember that deeper salad tables will get
very heavy when wet
5 Gallon Self-Watering Bucket
• Instructions can be found on the GIEI website
• www.extension.umd.edu/growit
• Click on the “Information Library” tab,
“Publications” and “Vegetables, Fruit and
Herb Gardening”
• HG 600 - Container Vegetable
Gardening: Healthy Harvests from
Small Spaces
Components
5- gallon plastic bucket and lid (food grade, most
often
). Bakeries, delis, and restaurants will
often give them away.
7.5-inch section of 4-inch diameter perforated
drain tile or used 4-inch pots
6-inch section of ½ O.D. plastic tubing
1 ½ inch wood or decking screw
electrical tape
empty 1-gallon milk jug
Tools
• Saber saw or tin snips
• Drill, 5/16 inch and 1/2 inch drill bits, utility
knife, hacksaw
• Safety goggles and hearing protection
Assembly Demonstration
• Top has been cut down and holes drilled
in lid and bucket
Examples
Snow Crown Cauliflower
Gypsy Pepper
Container Depth Matters
• Match container depth to plant
size
• 4-6 inches: greens, small herbs
• 8-12 inches: beans, beets, large
herbs
• 1-3 gallons: green onions, chard
• 4-5 gallons: bush cucumber,
eggplant, beans, broccoli, patio
tomato, pepper
• 15 gallon full size tomato
Planting Time
• No pebbles, gravel, or rocks unless you need the weight
to prevent tipping.
• Cover drainage holes with fiberglass screen or other
material
• Thoroughly work water into the growing medium
• Fill container to inch or so of top of container.
• Don’t compact media
• Follow seed packet directions for planting, spacing, and
care.
• Plant seedlings (except tomatoes) at same level as they
were growing in pot or six-pack.
• Tomatoes can be planted deeper, for stronger root
growth.
Keep those plants growing!
• Succession plant – spring - lettuce or
spinach, summer - pepper , beans
or cucumbers fall -kale, lettuce or
broccoli raab to finish out the
season. Don’t forget to continue to
fertilize each crop!
• Trellis tall or climbing plants
• indeterminate tomatoes
• pole beans
• cucumbers
• Move plants around if containers are
portable to maximize sunlight (for
heat-loving crops) and shade (for
summer-grown salad greens).
Planting & Care
Diagnosing Plant Problems
• Container grown plants are subject to the
same insect and disease problems as garden
grown plants, but container gardeners tend
to have fewer soil related problems.
• The biggest causes of plant problems are
lack of water and nutrients, and
overcrowding. Plants can also suffer root
rot from too much water, especially if the
growing mix does not drain well.
• Go to plantdiagnostics.umd.edu and click on
vegetables.
Season’s End
• Discard the plant and soil from the pot.
• Do not reuse the same soil for a second season
– Infected soil or mix will spread disease into the second
season unless it is properly composted
– Properly composted planting media can be reused.
• Store pots to prevent freeze damage
This program was brought to you by
Maryland Master Gardener Program
Howard County
University of Maryland Extension