growing own veggies in bags and pots (Merged)

JWF

they grow massive. I grew two plants in the ground last year, watered them occasionally with tomorite, and they grew massive, betwen the two plants they covered roughly 8ft by 20ft which will take up roughly a quarter of your garden!

I guess you can prune them but I am not sure if this affects growth of fruit if you keep them too small.

Filey

I have decided to grow vegetables and fruit, but in containers. I am getting a bit carried away I think, having started with cherry toms in hanging baskets and moving on to squashes on wires up the wall of the house. I have a blueberry bush in a pot. I want to grow strawberries, but all the commercially available towers are very pricey. Has anyone any suggestions for DIY strawberry towers, and any helpful suggestions about container grown vegetables in general?

Jack's_mummy

Strawberrys are ok in hanging baskets so if you could fit a few more in that would work.

tardigrades

Thanks again Davesnave. I've sown some more in case!

competitionscafe

Have been reading about pea shoots and decided to give them a go on my windowsill (currently live in a flat with no garden) Ordered some seeds from Tamar Organic and some vermiculite from ebay, looking forward to some unusual and tasty additions to my summer salads in a few weeks time
Found this article with pics very helpful as well as the 2 articles from the Torygraph and Guardian it links to.
http://teach77.wordpress.com/2008/04/20/micro-leaves/

Was thinking of trying these if the pea shoots are a success

purple stemmed radish
fennel
broccolli
mizuna
snow pea/chinese pea
oregon sugar pod pea
coriander
red mustard
swiss chard:bright lights

arkonite_babe

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Kaz2904

I have put some cherry tomato plants in wall baskets. One has been eaten by the slugs )grr!) but I'm wondering how to keep them watered well enough without losing all of the water all the time?
Would it be plausible (although ugly) to get a bottle and drill holes in the bottom, stand it in the basket and then just fill it up with water so that the water just soaks into the compost?
I figure that if I use a 1L or 500ml bottle then it would be more hidden but how much water should I be aiming for or do I just need to stick my hand in the soil to see if it's wet enough?
I planted my Aldi fruit trees in big pots and put 4 beetroots around the peach tree- they seem to be doing quite well at the moment. I have also put beetroots and lettuces out the front mixed in with violas and pansies. I stuck some garlic cloves out there yesterday as they were sprouting in the fridge. I'm hoping the cats won't like the smell of them. Is there anything I could plant now to keep the slugs away or do I really need to go for slug repellant pellets or such like?
I've been feeding everything with tomato feed. I started doing it twice weekly to encourage them back to life as they were cheap and looking really sorry for themselves. They are looking better now they've been in for 3 weeks and I think I need to just feed them once a week. I'm still watering daily with a can when it doesn't rain.

Also I have got lots of seeds still such as melons, kiwis, strawberries, beans, bettroots, radishes, lettuces, tomatoes. Is it too late to sow seeds or will I just get a later crop? I only have one windowsill that I can use really so space is limited. Is there anything I can shove straight into the ground or pots of compost?
Would a smashed up growbag provide a good compost for starting off seedlings?
I'm quite excited as my potatoes have just peeped above the soil in my old kitchen bin. So I guess I just wait for them to get a little bit higher and then earth them up a bit and keep doing this until the bin's full? Then they flower and fall over and I can tip it out- am I right?
Sorry for such a long post!

womblin3

I've seen pumpkins grown over shed and garage roofs before, JackieO, if you have one or the other. It's a great way to ensure the plant has lots of sunshine while not taking anymore ground space than you can afford. You might have to net the fruits up, come the summer, just to ensure they don't pull the plant back down.

It's a great talking point, too!

katskorner

If you have a compost heap then grow one plant on the top of it - constant food supply and all the room it needs!

bella165

i grow mine in grow bags and ive never had a problem before with them growning so pots wont be aproblem