Need Suggestions............

FiddleKat · #1 05/06/08, 02:30 PM

I really would love to have a garden. Last year I did the container one, but with the drought and heat, I didn't grow anything. Maybe I had pots too small. About 3 gallon size I say.

Anyway, I am going in for surgery May 23rd and will not be able to pick up DD for three weeks. Fortunatly, DH will be home to help out during the summer. But money also will be tight.

We don't have a rotatiller, and our neighbor let us borrow theirs two summers ago. But we didn't till the ground enough, so where we had the garden is all grown in. One of the local rental places rent them for $25 a day.

Im thinking of finding out how much it would cost a local farmer to come with a tractor and pay them to dig a garden spot up.
I use to dig a garden spot myself with a pitchfork, but since I've been having some medical issues I can't be pushing myself.

If I decide to do the container garden again this year, should I go for bigger size containers? Any suggestions?? Thanks!!

Ninn · #2 05/06/08, 03:03 PM

Try 5 gallon buckets. Most of my neighbors seem to have great success with them. You can pretty much grow anything in them. My front neighbor is growing carrots, radishes and parsnips in window boxes! Anything, as long as it's deep enough.

And since you're in a drought afflicted area, maybe adding some of those water retention crystals to the soil will help protect your plants. Moving a shade tent or tarp over them during the worst of the day might help. I've seen that done down the road quite a bit.

AngieM2 · #3 05/06/08, 03:13 PM

Or maybe some of those preformed small children's swimming pools aabout 12" deep. Somewhere recently I saw that as an inexpensive, effective container garden.

Angie

FiddleKat · #4 05/06/08, 04:32 PM

Angie, the pool idea is EXCELLENT! I have to go to Wallyworld tomorrow to get a new filter for the vacuum, I'll see how much they are. I know they sell top soil really cheap, like $1.25 a 40 pound bag.

Do you think a pool 12 inches deep would be deep enough for tomato plants. That is what I would like to plant, at least one or two squash, some cukes and beans too.

YoYoDog · #5 05/06/08, 04:46 PM

FYI,

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8105.html

Good Luck,
Dan

peacebaker · #6 05/06/08, 04:57 PM

Just a thought, in our local craigslist garden section there have been a LOT of ads for tilling gardens. You might check there if you have one in your area.

AngieM2 · #7 05/06/08, 06:30 PM

http://www.arts4all.com/elca/page2.html

this is what I was thinking of... I think it has instructions. Hope it helps you FiddleKat. I'm thinking of getting a small pool and trying it.

Angie

holleegee · #8 05/06/08, 06:55 PM

Get a bag of potting soil...cut a X in it and plant the tomato plant in the bag. My grandma has done this for years. When the season is over she uses the dirt for repotting houseplants.

foaly · #9 05/07/08, 08:42 AM

If you can afford them, they work wonderfully. www.earthbox.com

If you want to make your own earthbox
http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm

I posted these two links in another container gardening question too. I like being repetitive.

FiddleKat · #10 05/07/08, 02:43 PM

Well I looked everywhere for those kiddie wading pools, nowhere to be found!! A few years back you could always find them!!
Someone told me Toys R Us has them, but the closest one is about 45 minutes away.

mpillow · #11 05/07/08, 03:26 PM

Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening book is a good place to start....salvaged lumber, concrete blocks, mulch hay bales etc could all make the outside of beds...
Plain topsoil isn't rich enough for a lot of plants...cut in some composted manure (sold in bags as well) and you'll get more....
Tires also work but in the south you'll need to cover them with hay(or other light colored material) so the tires dont get so scorching hot.
Disposable diaper innards also will retain water for you....place under the soil and water (almost flood) deeply.

ChristyACB · #12 05/10/08, 08:54 PM

FiddleKat - I'm a novice Square Foot Gardener but I have done the container system you're talking about and that is what all my neighbors still do.

Yes, the 12" deep ones are super fine all the things you wrote about. I've seen several of those in the last couple of years around here because we live in a tidal area that floods a few inches a couple of times a year. (It keeps the salt out.)

Beans in particular have really shallow root systems, so they don't need a really deep soil. BUT they do dry out really fast, being shallow. Be sure to mulch well with those, especially in a planter.

Tomatoes grow great in the 5 gallon bucket, especially the roma or other determinate kinds. Really tall varieties have a risk of getting blown over in storms.

Good Luck!
Christy
Growing Human
http://growinghuman.blogspot.com

Lilandra · #13 05/10/08, 10:43 PM

we suspend the 5 gal buckets from a swing set and let the tomatoes spill down the sides. the sides of the old swing set are trellises for pole beans and peas
the glider holds buckets of green peppers and under the swing set we grow cucumbers

its a small enough area that you can work it with a pitch fork and mulch with old newspapers and grass clippings

stickinthemud · #14 05/10/08, 10:52 PM

I see kiddie pools on the curb for trash pretty often. Any reason not to use them?
I do use 5-gallon buckets

hotzcatz · #15 05/11/08, 12:00 AM

We've taken up static hydroponics. No need for pumps and things. No need for expensive potting soil. Get a five gallon bucket, get a piece of flat styrofoam and cut it to fit inside the bucket. Cut up to five holes in the styrofoam to fit some plastic or styrofoam drinking cups into it so the bottom of the cup extends 1/8" to 1/4" past the styrofoam. Poke a few holes in the bottom of the cups. Fill the bucket with water, add in two tablespoon fulls of 20-20-20 with trace minerals fertililzer per gallon of water and a teaspoon full of Epsom salts per gallon of water. Float the styrofoam in the bucket and put an Oasis cube, a bit of sphagnum moss or growing medium of your choice in each cup. Put in a lettuce seed. Wait a month and then eat the lettuce. Lettuce rafts are really easy! Also with no dirt, there's not as many bugs. If you are growing something that doesn't need to be pollinated, then you can build a screen enclosure around it and not any bugs, ever!

MedicalUser · #16 05/11/08, 06:02 AM

Google wick system, (hydroponics) Also stay away from than cheap soil at Wal-mart. I think u are talking about HYPONEX brand soil. That stuff is the absolute worse ever. Its like treated city sewer sludge, nasty stuff...if u used this last year in your container then thats what your problem was. Spend an extra $1-$2 on a decent bag of soil.

I'd use 5 gallon buckets myself, but there ae loads of great stuff to use for containers, i like to recycle and scrounge so im always comming up with new things to plant in. #1 rule in container gardening DRAINAGE! Good drainage is crucial. Having a nice light mix is also important.
HAPPY GROWING!
PeAcE