growing own veggies in bags and pots (Merged)

Plum_Pie

Farway wrote: »

If only a small garden, as you have, then the things to grow are what are always expensive & what you like

I third this! As I live by myself, I grow rocket, french mix salad leaves and herbs as they are all quite pricey, taste much better fresh and need strict meal planning if I'm to finish a whole pack that I've bought.

arkonite_babe

We have a thread similar to this already, I'll add your query to it so all the replies are together. Posts are listed in date order so you'll need to read from the beginning to catch up

Horace

I live in a flat so my garden is limited to my balcony - I have put up a small greenhouse although it has yet to have any seeds grown in it and so far two boxes have been tied to my railings with cableties (they rest on a wide sill), I have room for another but not put that up yet. One contains flowers (I can't do without them) and one contains two cherry tomato plants and some salad leaves. I have got some alpine strawberry seeds, leeks, beetroot, and some herbs to grow but haven't gotten around to planting them yet.

Poor plants have to compete with my washing lines as well. I am getting all sorts of times from this forum about grown stuff in pots/windowboxes - thanks all:D

genieuk

Hi Everyone,

We are lucky enough to be moving next month and to Cyprus. As we move every couple of years or so I was wanting to start my new little veggie/fruit garden as soon as possible.

As the climate is very different from England would I be able to start sowing in July or would the heat kill things off before they have chance to grow, obviously water is an issue but hope to collect that through the winter months and use the things to help retain the water in pots and bags etc

Was looking at planting to start with strawberries, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, lettuce. Have 4 kids and this kind of stuff goes down a treat and would like to get them all involved with the whole process.

Thank you for any and all help/advice

nodwah

genie - good luck to you in Cypress!

I can't say i know much about gardening in the heat - I'm in Scotland! But I would suggest that you buy local seeds once you're there, they will probably do much better than any you take over from Britain.
You can def keep sowing salad leaves continuously thru the summer and prob right thru the winter over there.

Let us all know how you get on!

Davesnave

genieuk wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

We are lucky enough to be moving next month and to Cyprus. As we move every couple of years or so I was wanting to start my new little veggie/fruit garden as soon as possible.

As the climate is very different from England would I be able to start sowing in July or would the heat kill things off before they have chance to grow, obviously water is an issue but hope to collect that through the winter months and use the things to help retain the water in pots and bags etc

Was looking at planting to start with strawberries, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, lettuce. Have 4 kids and this kind of stuff goes down a treat and would like to get them all involved with the whole process.

Thank you for any and all help/advice

Well, tomatoes crop through the winter in Spain, so I'd see no problem with them. Likewise cucumber. Lettuce do not germinate well at high temperatures, so you may have to find somewhere cool to get them going or wait till autumn.

I'm not sure about strawberries, but there may be local varieties that can stand the heat better.

mirry

Today we visited 4 garden centers to buy some potato seeds , but they said they had none left , so Im really dissapointed because my dustbins are empty. Any ideas what I could grow in them ? Its very shady in them .

Zazen999

Why not use potatoes that you sprout yourself; if you put them in now you will have spuds for christmas; esp if you cover them once the cold sets in. I put in potato peelings that have sprouted and they grow fine.

Some do say that using non-seed potatoes can bring diseases in; but I've never had that problem. During the war, when more people grew their own; they would never waste a whole potato on a plant, they would always chuck the peelings in hoping that some would sprout and continue to grow.

Plus, as they are growing, you can grow beans and peas in the same soil, as you earth the potatoes up the bottom peas and beans will have been harvested so its ok to bury this part of the plant - and when the plant is done - just chop it off at the level of the soil leaving the roots in with the potatoes; they contain nitrogen in their roots which is excellent for the spuds.

loulou88

what fab ideas think ill be sprouting my spuds under the sink this week then planting in a container thanks

Zazen999

No problem; I'm the queen of getting more than one crop out of tiny spaces...just don't forget to fertilise regularly! slow release fertiliser balls mixed in with your compost usually does the trick.