Which Container To Use In Container Gardening

Container gardening these days is very common. Gone are those days when a strip of land was necessary for practicing the wonderful habit called Gardening. Now anybody can start their own garden if he/she has the interest to start. When we talk about container gardening, the most important word is container. Many people have asked me in the past about the containers. What material is good for the plants? is it necessary to plant in earthy pots only? Can we plant in metal containers? So I have decided to write an article on the very basics: About the various containers which you can use for planting.

Following are some of the various materials used for making the containers which we use in container gardening.

Terra cotta: These are good value for money. Usually in reddish orange in color, these can be in found in many color and texture. Their earthy looks make them suitable for almost any garden. The porosity of the material helps the excess moisture to evaporate and allow plant roots to breathe.  To make their water retention capacity better, the unglazed side of the pots is sometime fired with glass like coating. These are waterproof and can hold moisture better than the normal unglazed one.

Plastic pots:Plastic pots are very common these days. They can be found in many shapes and sizes. You can also use your old bottles to plant. They are clean and non-porous and easy to move from one place to another.

Wooden pots: Pots made up from rot resistant red wood or cedar can be useful for planting. They provide very good insulation from weather outside. To prevent the pots form rotting you can also add some sand (at least an inch deep) at the bottom of the container and then put the soil.

Fabric pots: These are ultimate portable containers. These are made up of fabric these are rot proof as they are usually made up of polypropylene. They look much more like terra cotta or wooden containers.

Concrete pots:  You can prepare concrete pots of your own or you can buy it from outside. These are weather resistant and durable. On the other side, these can be heavier than the other pots.

Metal pots:  Pots made up of brass, copper iron etc can look aesthetically very superior.  Many planters use them to enhance the beauty of their gardens. If you are using metal containers it is advisable to keep your containers far from the direct sun light. These containers can get very hot in the sun and can harm the plant. It is also not easy to make drainage hole in the metal containers.

Biodegradable pots: these pots are made up from bio degradable materials like peat moss or coconut coir.  These biodegradable pots are very useful for sensitive plants like Lupins. These pots are designed as such that you can put them into a larger pot. The roots grow through the material and after some time the pot decomposes and thus it minimize the root disturbance.

If you are doing container planting it is a good idea to use self watering containers. We have discussed the basics of seal watering container in our last article. You can find it here. 

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Self-watering Containers: Know the Basics

I have discussed about the watering techniques in the past. Today’s topic will be an extension to that. It is called “Self Watering Containers”. This topic has been requested by one on our reader. I hope this will clear some doubt in this topic.

Self watering containers are great for gardeners especially in the warmer climate. As the name suggests the pot is made in such a way that you don’t need to keep an eye on the watering of the plant. Rather it takes the water by itself when required.

Self watering containers are little bit different from your regular container pots. They are generally consists of two containers. One is the container where the plant is planted the other one is the water reservoir. The planting container has minimum two holes, one for the overflowing of water and the other one is for placing a wick. The wick connects the planting container with the water reservoir, so it keeps the soil moist.

Once your pot has been prepared, put the soil into the planting pot and water it. The excess water will go out from the pot through the hole. If you want to know more about watering techniques, check out our earlier article on watering techniques.  After planting your seed or transplant in the pot, you add water to the reservoir. Now when the soil of the container will be dry, the water will go from the reservoir to the planting container. It is much more natural way for the plants to soak up the water from the soil rather than to receive it from the top.

You can easily cultivate many perennials, and annual plants in this method. Though many gardeners cannot think about growing vegetables in self watering containers, it can be very easy and beneficial to the crop. Plant such as tomato, cabbage, garlic, carrots, cilantro and other leafy vegetables can be grown easily by this method.

This will enable you to make sure that you don’t need to test the soil for dryness you just need to make sure your reservoir is never goes dry.nects with the water reservoir, so it keeps the soil moist.uots with the water reservoir.

The best plants that thrive in this are those which grow well in moist soil. So it is not a good idea to try this method on plants which are happier to grow in dryer soil.

I am very happy to realize that many of you people have liked my articles and are sending me valuable inputs. I hope this blog will continue to delight you in the future also. If you have any topics which you want to know more about, mentioned them in the comment box below.

Indoor Gardening: Part I

All most all of the topics we have discussed earlier is on Outdoor gardening. This is our first initiative towards indoor gardening.  We are hopeful that you will like this as well. If you have any suggestions please put them in the comment box.

Now a day’s most of us live in apartments where there is no extra space or even balconies to practice gardening outdoor. So the only choice we are left with to do it indoor. Even if you have outdoor gardens, adding some plants indoor will definitely add a sense of life to your house. Though it is true you can not grow all the plants indoor, but there are so many of them which you can try your hands on.

But before planting indoors, you really need to understand the light condition in your room. Most of the plants requires direct sunlight (check out our earlier article about sunlight and its impact on plantation: SUN OR NO SUN) but the amount of can vary tremendously from plant to plant. Some plants even can thrive in absence of direct sunlight. But how much light is the least requirement for growing a plant? There is a saying that if you cannot read a book due to darkness the place is also not suitable for growing a plant.

So before start planting indoors, you need to first understand about some geography. If your room is south facing; you will receive the maximum amount of direct sunlight. Whereas if your room is north facing you will receive bright light but the chances are that there will be lack of direct sunlight. East and west facing rooms receives morning and evening sunlight respectively. Now according to your room position choose the plant which is best for the location.

You also need to select the variety of the plant carefully, unlike outdoor gardening; the growing space inside a house can be limited. Some plants can be toxic if ingested. So in case you have pets or toddlers it is sensible to avoid those plants. Some plants have sharp edged leaves which can hurt so if you have already decide to plant those pick a spot where there will be very less traffic.

Use the soil mix which can drain easily. Watering your indoor plants can be very tricky. As there are lack of direct sunlight in most of the cases the last thing you can do is to drown them in water. There is no hard and fast rule for this. But the plants which stay in direct sunlight will require frequent watering than those which are not. You have to experiment a bit to find a proper watering schedule.

Some indoor plants require much more humidity than others; these plants are a good choice to place in the bathrooms.

One of the important parts of practicing good indoor gardening is to prune regularly to keep it in proper shape. We have discussed a bit of pruning in our article about Bonsai. If you want to know more click hereto check the article.

We will discuss more in our following articles about indoor gardening and other gardening related activities. Please let us know what you think about this article. Your constant feedback keeps us going.

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Container Gardening: A great Motivator

As the name suggests, Container Gardening refers to growing plants in different containers rather than planting them directly into the ground. In today's world when the limitation of time and space has been felt like never before, container gardening seems to make more and more sense. It allows you to grow any plant in anywhere in the world which earlier was never thought of. Poor soil, lack of space are no longer an excuse for abandoning the excellent hobby of Gardening.

As I am writing this article, the popularity of container gardening has exploded through out the world. Plants in different pots and containers can be seen from lawns of bungalows to the rooftops of urban apartments in every country. Those have given an entire different color and texture to the landscaping.

But before going any further let me first give you some reasons for starting your own container gardening:

Container Gardening can be the best gardening option for the beginners. Even a rookie can start gardening in very little time.

It can be very economical. No need to waste much more time and money with starting with normal garden. Where most of the initial costs involved preparation of soil bed, weeding, fertilizing, suitable area for gardening etc. you can start with a single pot, little bit of soil or soil-lessmix, and some seeds or just one or two sidling.

You don’t need big space to do container gardening. You can use your terrace, stoop etc. Just make sure you are getting ample sunlight there. When you are having space constrains the container gardening is the best available solution to your problem.

Container gardening can liberate you from the geographical problem you faced while gardening in your traditional garden. It is said that “you can grow Cactus in Alaska” by using container gardening method.

Portability is another big advantage of doing container gardening. While teaching your child Botany, you can definitely give some live example by bringing your container to the study room, make your child associate with the plants without leaving the study room.

You don’t need to worry about critters which may have destroyed your garden earlier.

Here are some nice looking containers available on Amazon

There is almost no plant that you cannot grow in a container. Vegetables, herbs, flowers plants, even trees can be grown through container gardening. You just need the container of appropriate size.

So if you found yourself  interested in pursuing container gardening, I request you to please read on. Container gardening process is very similar to that of  traditional gardening with little fine tuning.

The first thing you need to start a container garden is to find an suitable Container. You can use almost anything in the world as a container as long as it is big enough to sustain the root growth of the fully mature plant and it has proper drainage. As they say in case of container gardening “size does matter”.  Try not to use a container smaller than 12’’. Even a five gallon plastic bag can be used as a container to start gardening.

Drainage is very essential in container gardening. Make sure your container has sufficient drainage facility like some holes at the bottom.

Try to use quality potting soil or make your own by using different soil-less media which I have discussed earlier. You can use your garden soil also but make sure that drainage of the soil is maintained. Using your garden soil also restricts your vegetables or other plants choices as per you local geographic.

As the source of nutrition is limited inside the container, you need to add fertilizers from time to time. Try to use organic fertilizers(like compost), as it will benefit you in the longer run.

You can start from seeds or by transplanting seedlings. Both of them have their advantages and disadvantages. Choose the option that better suits you.

If you are growing vegetables it is almost necessary to put your container where there is ample sunlight. Plants which are only cultivated for leaves or stems can grow without direct sunlight. You can check the effect of sunlight on the growth of different plants in my earlier article Sun or no Sun.

Unlike traditional gardening you need to take proper care in case of watering plant. As there are no source of water which the roots can reach you need to put water at regular interval. The details of watering techniques can be found here.

As I am a strong believer of “slow but steady” style of growth I will always suggest you to start with small and then achieve the bigger goal with continuous growth. Try to start your container gardening with plants which are easy to grow such as tomato, pea, eggplants  etc than move up to the higher difficulty level such as squash or melons.

Thanks for reading. Like to receive your feedback on this.

Window Box Gardening

Window box is a planting box which is used to grow plants usually placed near the windows.You can also

click here if you want to know about roof top gardening. If you live in apartments and do not have the access of roof top or the backyard, this form of gardening is a very good option for you.

It is an interesting and decorative form of container gardening. The material of the box (the container) can be different. Terra-cotta, fiber, wood, plastic, or stone are some of the example of the container materials. While choosing the size of the pot please consider carrying capacity of your windows. If the carrying capacity is pretty low use smaller pots. You can also reduce the total weight of the container by using lighter material and using a potting mix which is lighter than conventional soil. Click here to know more about different media which you can add with your soil to reduce the total weight.

The best way is to put the boxes outside the window so they will get more lights. You can put them on the windowsills or you can hang them with the help of chains or straps. You can also add brackets with your
window to make space for the window box. If you have problems with the opening of the window you can also place them indoors near the sunny window.

While preparing the pot soil, you need to mix compost with the soil. You can also add organic fertilizers in the later stages.  Windows generally get a lot of sunlight. So you need to water them frequently (almost everyday). Make sure your container have drainage hole at the bottom. Add some media like coconut coir which can retain some water.

In most cases window box is used to grow flowers. But you can grow a few of the vegetables also. Some of the best options for growing vegetables are Lettuce, peas, beans, parsley etc. You can add much more glamor to your building by choosing the color schemes or combination of plants which compliment your building.

Remove any parts of the plant which are dead. They can infect the plant with fungal growth so it is always better to get rid off them.


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