2 years ago
tedln
I have had good success with container gardens for many years. This year, all my vegetables are planted in raised beds, but we are growing many flowers in containers. Next year, I plan to add a number of containers to my vegetable garden in addition to my raised beds. I will add the containers simply because I enjoy them. I will not be attempting to compare results between the two methods. Both methods have limitations and benefits.
It seems to me most discussions about container gardening seem to begin with the proper growing medium. My personal preference is a blend of natural soil and organics. Others prefer a sterile premix or sterile mix of their own design. I've been on container forums where most folks were adamant that the only correct medium is a sterile mix of their own design. I happen to disagree. I believe you should use the medium that works best for the type of container you use, the plants you wish to grow, and quite a few other variables. In other words, right or wrong ways to garden in containers don't exist, just different ways.
I would like to know how you grow in containers. I will tell you some of the things I do.
Ted
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2 years ago
Hammock Girl
That's good info. Do you have any recommendations for recycling old container soil? I've always heard that it's not a good idea but then there's the problem of how to get rid of it and guilt of just throwing it away.
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2 years ago
Albin
Hi Ted, I would have to agree with you, I have gardened in containers for many years, and sometimes have just used the soil that was on hand at the time and the plants have all done quite well. That's not to say that they wouldn't have done better if better conditions i.e. the correct soil. I once grew Chilean Gunnera a bog plant, in a 1/2 wine barrel and didn't provide any drainage in an attempt to create bog type conditions... the plant thrived, but it also required 5 gal. of water each day during the summer :\
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2 years ago
tedln
I can't give you expert advice because I'm not an expert. I consider container gardening more of an art than a science.
In my twenty plus years of container gardening, I don't believe I've ever disposed of soil. I simply reuse it. I always considered the soil remaining in the pots at the end of a growing season as new soil the next spring. I look at it, feel it, smell it; and determine what it needs in additional organics, dirt, or nutrients to be a viable medium for the new season. Some years, I would dump all the soil from all the containers into one big pile and start amemding it in the spring for the new season. I always had to add additional medium to last years medium because it simply seemed to be a lot less than I started with the year before. I guess the organics simply decomposed, the nutrients and minerals were consumed,
or it simply washed away through the drain holes in the containers.
Ted
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2 years ago
tedln
Hi Albin,
Like everything else, I try to approach gardening as simply as possible. I don't believe it is complicated, but you can make it complicated. I always try to remember that people have been growing in containers for thousands of years. It isn't a recent innovation.
I was reading a thread on a different web gardening forum last night. A lady explained that she simply couldn't afford all the special components required to make a mix to the "experts" recommendations. The "expert" politely suggested that she wait until she could afford it before attempting container gardening. She asked if she couldn't simply use some soil with amendments added. She was told she could, but she was doomed to failure.
With that kind of advice, she will probably not try at all. It bugs me to have gardening gods.
Ted
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2 years ago
webmaster
hi
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