Growing Veg etc in planters

nanamags

I grow Tumbler tomatoes in hanging baskets and chives, thyme etc. I also planted some salad greens rocket etc in a hanging basket last year and the grow really quickly.

BBC Gardeners World TV programme has a container garden using old tyres for potatoes in fact any container can be used. Potatoes can also be grown in an empty compost bag roll it down until it is about a foot high as they start growing put in more soil and roll the bag up.

happy planting

dobs

we got our first allotment last year but i still grew things at home in tubs, our garden is v small. I had tomatoes out the front and back, also the small tumbling ones in hanging baskets. I grew courgettes, cucumber, radishes beetroot, spring onion chillies lettuces and lettuce mixed leaves, celery and runner beans. I tries peas and mange tout and mini corn but i didn't really have enough room to grow enough to feed us. We were inundated with snails and slugs too and the only humane way i could think of was to put some lettuce in a tub, pick them up and put them in it and on our dog walk empty them into the hedgerows! I did want to try the beer trap, where you put a jar in the ground, bury it and the slugs fall in it and drown (put a stick in it for other insects to crawl out) - my husband couldn't bear to waste his beer on it though!

katyk_2

recovering_spendaholic wrote: »

I would love to grow veg and have looked at getting a raised bed but my garden (and house sometimes) has loads and loads of slugs and every time I have tried with pots of herbs and toms they have all been eaten away. Can anyone tell me how to deal with them?

Hi there

We have similar problem but the idea of a path of crushed eggshells all round the plants is a very good onw as they hate crawling over it - can also buy some type of 'sharp' sand in DIY stores to do same. Another way is to protect the young plant with an empty cola bottle (top and bottom cut off and still thrown in 'recycling plastics' bin). If the slugs are persistent enough to try going over the top, smear the outside of the bottle with vaseline (just need a strip of 2-3" all the way round) and they cannot get a grip. Also leave an old plank of wood lying as it the type of thing slugs will hide under in daylight - just wait till day then turn it the right way up and put it well away from the veg so that the birds can help themselves to 'breakfast'. Last one would need to be the slug traps, either bought and sunk or just sink small jam jars at an angle into the soil then half fill with old beer. Slugs then enter, attracted by the smell of the beer, and drown.
Hope this helps
Katyk

jcr16

i am growing leeks and peppers in ceramic planters at mo. i also have my herbs in planters. i am planning on putting my strawberries in my hanging baskets. i have also got some beetroot. my parents are growing veg as well this year and i am growing diff things to them , so i can do some swapping. i plan to also put some lettuce in pot's.

we got so much going on in garden it hard to think about the veg. so i haven't got as much going as i would like. but i have asked hubby for a green house. we while were planning garden we are going to add a spot for green house. and get it all sorted so i can use it for next year.

V.Lucky

I am hoping to grow our first veg this year. My 5 year old is so excited, and started picking seeds up today in the supermarket.

We will grow in tubs and/or hanging baskets. Does anyone know if seeds or plug plants are best to use? The seeds looked really expensive for the few we would need. Would they keep for a few years to use the whole packet? Sorry if silly questions.

We too have a huge slug problem and they seem to thrive on the blue slug pellets you can buy. Will start saving my eggshells I think.

We are on holiday towards the end of August. What would we do in respect of watering the plants then? I don't want all my good work to be in vain. I don't feel I can ask anyone to come around daily to water them. Would tomatoes, strawberries and runner beans be finished by then?

Thanks

MrsTinks

Check the packets - they should have a use by date on them, but in reality then yes they last longer You might just not get as high a rate of germination

Best way to get rid of slugs is to pay the boys to go out with a bucket and pick them up and pay them per slug then take the offending slugs to a nearby field and let them go - more environmentally friendly than the blue slug pellets

Herbaholic

lil_me wrote: »

Wow, that is great, thanks for the quick response I am feeling even more inspired and just been having a look for when the garden centres are open after New Year. I've only ever been in one to buy a pond kit but someone said there are other shops which do the planters etc cheap. I did get seed trays for little DSs flowers in Somerfields. Bin idea is a good one, sure we could paint it to make it look good. DS said he's going to water them, he loves gardening and getting his hands mucky so my back won't suffer too much hopefully especially if doing them in planters.

Hi Lil_me et al,

Poundland is great for containers and Wilkinson's is as well I got an absolutely huge one for £5 the same one in the garden centre was £12! I have a fig tree in it and another one with a star jasmine in but I've underplanted with strawberries, lollo rosso lettuce, chives and parsley. We used two old beer making buckets (after we'd drilled holes in them) to sow carrots and I have various tubs with rocket, sorrel and endive in. I just picked some of the salad greens to go with a homemade pasta dish this weekend it tasted amazing, hubby and stepson kept laughing because I kept saying ohhh I gre this lol!

Sowing your own rather than buying the plants for the garden centre is the best and cheapest method if you have the time and patience. My advice if you're buying plants then got for somewhere like Wilkinsons, or a local plant nursery or one of those fruit and veg shops that sell flowers, and garden plants as well, if you have one near you, they'll be cheaper than the garden centres by £1 or more in my experience. Good luck with your new project, let us know what you decide to plant and how it goes

Herbaholic

Tip on slugs, the pellets make them become dehydrated and that's how they die, if it rains or you water the garden they become rehydrated and hey presto they survive. I don't use the pellets because they posion the frogs, hedgehogs etc that visit the garden so I use garlic granules and spray, has the benefit of boosting your plants immune system as well

Cracked egg shells work but they go mushy in the rain and the slugs can slide across them then. I've been experimenting with copper tape from the garden centre you put it round your pot and when the slug slides up it, the slug gets his doodahs zapped. Seen no slug damage on the copper taped pots so far after 3 weeks! We get snails and slugs in our garden, this year we're trying the nemotoids as they're supposed to work on the slugs and some snails without harming anything else. Tried beer traps but a) hubby moaned at wasting good beer and b) I didn't like having to remove the yucky slimy mess afterwards. Hope it helps someone

squeaky

Hi all )

This would be a good thread for the Green Fingered board, so I've moved you across.

Good luck.

Yategirl

Not sure if it has been said already... go to your local Asda and ask at the florist if they have any florist-buckets they don't want. They give them away free. I got 33 today and could have had more! They are just plain black large buckets (no handle) but perfect for tomatoes or courgettes or peppers or chard etc etc etc!

hth