Container Vegetable Gardening
Healthy Harvests from Small Spaces
Adapted from Balto. Co. Presentation
Kent Phillips, Howard County MG
Kent.a.phillips@gmail.com
2
Resources
• Grow it! Eat it!- www.extension.umd.edu/growit
– Search for classes and events
– Links to
• Youtube video presentations
• Blog
• Facebook and Twitter
• Home and Garden Information Centerwww.extension.umd.edu/hgic
• Links to great fact sheets and publications
– Can answer your personal gardening questions…
– Call the “hotline” Mon-Fri, 8am-1pm. 1.800.342.2507
– Send an e-mail question 24/7 through the web site.
Container Vegetable Gardening
Introduction
Why Container Gardening?
•
•
•
•
•
No land
HOA hassles
Easy to get started
Close to the kitchen
Deer are not a problem
Growing Advantages
•
•
•
•
•
Perfect for everybody
No digging or tilling
Weed free
Inexpensive to start up
Overcomes some common garden
complaints
• Container location
• Plant protection
• Season extension
Getting Started
•
A little bit of room
•
Sunlight
•
Containers
•
Growing medium
•
Water
•
Nutrients
•
Tender loving care
Container Location
• 8-10 hrs. sun for fruiting crops
• 6 hrs. sun for cool season crops
• Access to water - smaller containers
will need water every day
• Placed on any level space
• Be careful of microclimates
• The water that drains from containers
can stain concrete and wood decking
• Large containers are heavy
• 20-inch container = 100 pounds
Container Types
• Plastic
• Wood
• Clay
• Free
• Recycled
• Practical
• Expensive
• Commercially produced
Self-Watering Containers
• “Self-watering” containers are a relatively new
gardening concept. Instead of drainage holes in the
bottom, these containers have an overflow hole on
one side. The growing medium sits on a perforated
platform directly above a water reservoir. In most
cases, water is wicked up from the reservoir into
the medium.
• Self-watering containers conserve water and
nutrients
• Commercial self-watering containers can be
expensive
• You can make your own. Search GIEI website for
containers
Self-Watering Containers
Self-Watering 5 Gallon Bucket
Homemade Salad Table™
• The Salad Table™ HGIC pub 601
• Great for growing shallow rooted
plants
• Legs of any length, set it on saw
horses or put wheels on it for
mobility
• Comfortable waist level gardening
• Three compartments for succession
gardening
• Build it deeper for plants like beans,
beets, kale
What’s the “Dirt” on Growing Media?
• Supports plant’s root
system
• Supplies nutrients
• Permits drainage
• Needs to be light and fluffy
Growing Media
Garden Soil
• Heavy
• Bring 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
•
•
•
•
•
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.
Compost
• Compost contains all the major and minor nutrients that plants
need for good growth. This makes it an excellent substitute for
sphagnum peat moss, which has very few nutrients (although it
does hold water better than compost).
• Composting effectively recycles the nutrients from gardens,
landscapes, and farms, thereby reducing nutrient pollution of
waterways. However, fertilizing is still necessary because the
nutrients in compost are released slowly and are usually not
sufficient for an entire season.
• Vegetables, herbs and flower plants can be successfully grown in
100% compost or leaf mold. They have particles of various sizes
which causes them to drain well.
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
• 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
Fertilizers
• Containers require regular fertilization
• Water soluble fertilizers
• 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
• Slow-release 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
• Just about any vegetable or
herb!
• Popular, easy container crops:
salad greens, peppers,
eggplant, tomatoes, beans,
chard, beets, radish, squash
and cucumbers.
• More challenging crops include
melons, corn, potatoes, and
sweet potatoes.
• Look for “bush” or “dwarf”
varieties , esp. tomatoes,
cucumbers, squash.
• The key is to experiment.
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: 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.
Make Attractive Containers
• Mix herbs and annual flowers in
with the vegetable plants.
• Herbs such as lavender, thyme,
oregano, marjoram, and chives
require a loose growing medium,
and dry conditions.
• Keep containers together to
increase humidity and water
retention
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 for
additional help in diagnosing vegetable
problems.
Season’s End
• Compost 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
Container Gardening Resources
Related MCE Fact Sheets
www.extension.umd.edu/hgic - Click on “Information Library” tab, click on
“Publications” tab and click on “Vegetables, Fruit and Herb Gardening”
HG #16- Planting Dates for Vegetable Crops in Maryland
HG #70- Recommended Vegetable Cultivars for Maryland Home Gardens
HG #42- Soil Amendments and Fertilizers Books
HG#600- Container Vegetable Gardening
HG#601- Grow Your Own Greens with Salad Tables™ & Salad Boxes™
Books
“The Edible Container Garden”- Michael Guerra; 2000; Fireside; 159 pp.
“The Bountiful Container”- Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey;
2002; Workman Publishing Co., Inc.; 432 pp.
“Container Gardening for Dummies”- Bill Marken; 1998; IDG Books; 334 pp.
“The Contained Garden”- Kenneth Beckett, David Carr, and David Stevens;
1992; Penguin Books; 168 pp.
“Movable Harvests”- Chuck Crandall & Barbara Crandall; 1995; Chapters
Publishing; 128 pp.
“Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers”, 2006; Edwin C. Smith;
Container Gardening Resources
Websites
Container Gardens: The City Dwellers Guide to Fresh and Healthy Home
Grown Food – www.arts4all.com/elca (interesting plans for wading pool
gardens)
The Growing Connection - www.thegrowingconnection.org
A world youth gardening program run by the Food and Agricultural
Organization of the UN that uses the EarthBox.
Supplies
Home Harvest Garden Supply Inc. - www.homeharvest.com
Windowbox.com - www.windowbox.com
Gardener’s Supply Company - www.gardeners.com
EarthBox™ - www.earthbox.com
Seeds for container gardening- www.containerseeds.com
DripWorks - www.dripworksusa.com
Resources
• Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC)
– 800-342-2507
– www.extension.umd.edu/hgic
• Grow It Eat It website
– www.extension.umd.edu/growit
• Master Gardener state website
– www.extension.umd.edu/mg
This program was developed Maryland
Master Gardener Program University of
Maryland Extension Baltimore County
and modified for this presentation by
Kent Phillips