growing own veggies in bags and pots (Merged)

mandy_moo_1

thanks for that.....another question now....do i plant the seeds in compost in the containers, or a mixture of soil and compost ?

Primrose

I would plant the seeds in pure compost. They are at their most vulnerable at this stage of growth so a good fine growing medium is needed to get them off to a good start. They will probably germinate in a mixture of compost and soil if that is all you have but compost probably has a higher nutritional content and if you're mixing soil from your garden and it has a high clay content the growing medium in which your seeds are sown could get too wet or hard and prevent the seeds from germinating properly. If you're going to grow the vegetables in containers, many of them need quite rich soil and mixing in some well rotted compost will improve their growth. Containers also dry out quickly so mixing in some water retention crystals (which you can buy in packets from garden centres) will help keep the compost moist in hot weather (especially if you are away for a few days and can't water them). Some of the growing experts might frown on the following practice but in the past I've mixed in raw vegetable peelings, apple cores, etc. in with the compost in my containers in which I grow salads to increase the level of humous in the soil. Really it should have been completed rotted first, but doing it this way has always worked for me. Good luck. Hope you enjoy the results of your efforts.

sunset_gold

How interesting? Does that mean I could put some of the semi-composted contents from my compost bin in the bottom of my containers? Is that the same thing ish? I plan to plant as much as possible in containers this year, as my friend has been able to get hold of large black buckets from work for me to recycle, so I planned to use them, I've drilled holes in the bottom already. If I put some stones in the bottom and then put a layer from the compost bin, then the seed compost and then seeds, does that sound ok? SG ps. was going to put in some potatoes in the buckets too, will it work for them also?

arkonite_babe

Mandy we have an older thread on this sublect so I'll add your query to it so all the replies are all together.
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nanamags

Check out this site http://www.gardenersworld.com. If you search for growing veg in containers it gives links to Monty Don videos. They have grown vegs in all different kinds of containers [cooking oil tins, old tyres] for the last few years on Gardeners World.
HTH

alyth

I have a very large garden but unfortunately no ideal spot in which to have a veg patch! So, I'm going to try and grow as much as I can in grow-bags. I'm figuring that things that grow downwards won't work, but could I grow things like melons/pumpkins/sprouts/cabbages in growbags? I've got the space to have as many as I need, but I stood in the garden centre today and confused myself as to what I would be able to grow? Any advice gratefully received - thanks.

cjb02

Ive grown salad stuff in growbags before now. Lettuce/spinach beat and stuff like that aswell as the obvious toms/peppers/cucumbers.

the only thing I have problems with growbags is that they are very hard to stop from drying out, especially in a greenhouses.

I would have thought sprouts might be difficult in a grow bags as they can get very large and have a long growing season.

Have you thought about large pots/containers instead?

arkonite_babe

alyth we have a similar thread to this already, so I'll add yours to it to keep all the replies together

A._Badger

May I just put in a plea for careful watering and feeding? I lived in a flat for some years, despite being a fanatical gardener, and managed to grow many different crops - so many, in fact, that I became convinced there's more or less nothing you can't grow in a container, as long you go about it the right way.

But there are some key elements. The first is volume. Growbags are all well and good, but they simply don't hold sufficient growing medium for many plants. I've used them in the past, use them now and will again, but for many plants, I believe large pots are better. They don't dry out as quickly, they offer far more room for a proper root system and they buffer nutrients better.

That said, for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, salad crops and the like, providing you are careful about watering, they are very useful.

If you can persuade yourself to go to large pots, though, a whole range of further possibilities opens up. For example, soft fruit bushes can be happily accommodated in an 18" pot. Just use good compost, water carefully and feed appropriately.

That last bit's important. It will repay you a hundredfold to get a good book and learn the basics about fertilisers - what the NPK ratios mean and which types suit which crops.

Good luck!

Zazen999

alyth wrote: »

I have a very large garden but unfortunately no ideal spot in which to have a veg patch! So, I'm going to try and grow as much as I can in grow-bags. I'm figuring that things that grow downwards won't work, but could I grow things like melons/pumpkins/sprouts/cabbages in growbags? I've got the space to have as many as I need, but I stood in the garden centre today and confused myself as to what I would be able to grow? Any advice gratefully received - thanks.

Melons and pumpkins yes

sprouts and cabbage no

mainly because brassicas need a very solid base and growbags just don't have that.

The main thing to remember about growbags is yes, they are lacking in volume but the reason that toms, peppers and courgettes etc grow well is that they are short season veg; and the growbag has alot of manure in it. Compost doesn't. Another reason why root veg won't grow in growbags is that they don't need as much goodness in the soil [as they are roots and directly in contact and so can extract more out of it].

personally, I don't use growbags. I buy or get hold of well rotted manure and mix it into beds. But, if that is your option then:
growbags for toms, peppers, courgettes/melson etc
mix growbag innerds and some compost for spuds,cabbage, sprouts and grow in big pots [although sprouts are quite difficult to grow anyway - alot of work for not much reward in my book].
use just compost if you want onions, beetroot, salads and grow in wide pots.
use compost and sand mixed if you want carrots and parsnips in deep pots.

And as a badger once said...always remember to keep them fed and watered; this means a weekly feed that suits the veg you are growing! Absolutely crucial.

Enjoy