growing own veggies in bags and pots (Merged)

RAS

Mrs.Metallica wrote: »

i should have plenty of sunlight, as in the morning til about 5pm i have sunlight on my balcony, i wanna grow carrots and potatoes ect.. ur standard veg ect.. mibby some strawberries.. but only simple stuff at first, plus some herbs but there easily done indoors..

Ok

You face south-east, which means you will need to water things very carefully. You can get potatoes out of any large container. For your purposes and given the time of year, either go to Wilko for one of their £1 bags for 5 of earlies or get a few small Charlotte from the shops.

A decent sized dark tub about 50/60 cms high and 35cms accros will take 2 or three potatoes. Fill the tub one third full with soil, put the potatoes on top and 4 inches of soil. Everytime you see the shoots, add more soil. Wait until, the plants flower, and then work you hand down side and see if there are any decent sized tats, harvest those and keep cropping as they grow. that will maximise your cropping period.

Some people use the florists buckets that Morrison's throw away.

carrots could be grown in one of the polystrene boxes I mentioned. Use a stump rooted variety and pick young.

I would recommend a tomato plant - your aspect would suit them and the building will keep them warm at night. Pick a cordon variety like Gardeners Delight which is trained as a single stem on a cane.

also think about a few climbing beans - four plants will give two people one or two portions a week. Try Lidl for seeds.

RAS

Naomim wrote: »

am a complete novice and want to grow some veg in containers. I was thinking carrotts and potatoes and I have no idea where to start.

I usually get some sun in the mornings until about 2pm.

Naomi

You balcony faces east, so it will not get a hot as metalica and you may need less watering.

Follow the advice in my last post to her.

Think about growing beans in the spot that get most sun and also about some salad leaves or oriental greens. A couple of swiss chard plants would give you a lot of greens for your money. right through next winter. Lidl are selling Lucellus which is the best in my opinion, for 29p per packet. I bought two but have passed on one to a friend.

Cat72

Hi. I just came across this great thread and am delighted at the idea tht I can finally grow my own veg as I have a huge garden but the previous owners covered it in chips.
I get the sun in the garden- I think it comes from the west and it stays until about 3pm.
So can anyone advise maybe any veg to grow- I have read the posts above and think definately potatoes and carrots.
Would onions be good and anything else? And how long to they take to grow ?
Also do I put the pots in the direct sunlight ( hope I dont sound too stupid here ).
Unfortunatley dont have a wilkos near me, however aldi sell compost- would that be ok, or what is the best compost to buy .
Many thanks :T

morganb

Cat72, your post really made me laugh, I had visions of fish and chip papers being strewn all over the lawn until I realised you meant bark chips ...

Davesnave

Cat72 wrote: »

Hi. I just came across this great thread and am delighted at the idea tht I can finally grow my own veg as I have a huge garden but the previous owners covered it in chips.

Why on earth would you let chips stop you from using your garden? Under the chips there's bound to be something, and if you improve small areas of that something, it will be far superior in the long run to using containers. You don't need to do it all at once.

If you need to improve soil, a 1m2 bag delivered of the council's green waste compost is the cheapest way to go. On its own, this stuff is no good for containers though.

This is one of my local suppliers for that:
http://www.hills-group.co.uk/compost.php

You'll have your own somewhere nearby.

RAS

Yes

Find the sunniest part of your garden (probably where the sun shines at 12 noon) and shovel the chips over onto the other part of the garden.

You will probably find a membrane underneath, so either remove one strip or cut it to size and dig over the soil underneath. Ideally you want a long bed about 4 foot wide with access from both sides. The reason for the size is basic - how far can you stretch comfortably with your arms?

if you can get a load of municipal compost, go for it.

Borrow
Jeavons book how to grow more food than you possibly thought in less space....
MEl Bartholomew - Square Foot gardening
Joy larkcom - growing Vegetables

Plasticman

Evening all. I am planning to grow some Little Gem lettuce in pots this year. I've got a 'trough' type container which seems to fit the bill for length / width, but wondered if it would be deep enough? Any idea what depth of pot I will need?

Many thanks.

JupObs

RAS wrote: »

Yes
if you can get a load of municipal compost, go for it.

Do you know anything about what sort of quality control they use to produce this? I've always imagined that this is produced by householders green waste, if that's the case, then there could be any amount of pesticides etc in it; I'd use if for flowers and lawns, but I'm not sure I'd be comfortable using it for food.

Davesnave

JupObs wrote: »

Do you know anything about what sort of quality control they use to produce this? I've always imagined that this is produced by householders green waste, if that's the case, then there could be any amount of pesticides etc in it; I'd use if for flowers and lawns, but I'm not sure I'd be comfortable using it for food.

If you look at my link above, you'll see that, in Wiltshire at least, the compost produced is Soil Association certified. I agree with you that there isn't a huge amount of control over what goes into the mix, but bearing in mind the amount of stuff that goes in, and the effects of the composting process itself, I would imagine that potentially 'harmful' content has been judged as negligible.

I'm not organic, so I would argue that this is not much different from the situation where thousands of people who think they are, use dung without knowing with absolute certainty what substances have been absorbed by the animals which produced it.

We all like to feel we are in control though....;)

lynzpower

OK thats me started, I got my leaves on the go yesterday alo ng with beans and mange tout. and they are up n the roof. Also I have a great little lean to that I think will be fantastic for growing in. Im going to see if I can get some photos going, im sure some of you will be able to suggest some good ways of making the most of my roof terrace.

Ive got some containers with old weeds in , Illtake some photos to get some advice from you