Marsh said:
I want to give some container gardeing a try. What kinda of medium do you use to grow them in?? Potting soil, garden soil, outdoor soil, seedling soil???? Lastyear we used some gardening soil and manure in the pots and they did great but soon died off. Maybe dried out too fast, poorly draining? I don't want to run into that again this year if possible. Anyone have any tips for me?
I also will have a regular garden, I just like containers because it gives the little one her own thing and we keep them next to the barbque on the patio LOL
Thanks
Marsh
Hi Marsh!
Container gardening is a lot of fun, and they're easy to care for. The thing to remember is, each container is a separate little environment.
When I start with a clay pot, I always submerge it and soak it for a few hours or overnight, to start off with a moist enviro right off the bat.
Like Hank, I recommend the same mix of potting soil, and like PonderosaQ, the timed-release water-holding crystals. They're like little sponges that hold water.
Good stuff for kids to start in pots are lettuce, sunflowers, nasturtiums...anything easy to grow. Seed Saver's Exchange has a container variety of peas called "Tom Thumb," and Jung's has a variety of tomatoes specifically for pots: "Window Box Romas" (I have some started right now).
Like violets said, be careful with that manure - non-composted, it can burn the plants, and that's the end of that.
Don't worry about any failures - the nice thing about pots is, you can always start again next year, learning from year to year. You might consider taking notes/journal about what you've learned. Good luck, and have fun!
