Growing fruit & veg in tubs - where do I start?

Rummer

Maybe better going for plastic or metal pots so that if they are hit they are less likely to break.

alfred64

Kids will most likely use the tubs/pots as goalposts.

Mumtothree3

Thanks everyone - is there anything I can start planting now? Someone mentioned garlic, anything else?

valk_scot

Might be a better idea to partition off some of the garden, depending on size? It's your garden as well as the kids' after all. I don't see the point of spending a lot of cash on pots, compost and fertilizer when there's perfectly good soil availible and the football is more likely to hit your rows of pots than go over a fence.

jenster

if u have any £1 shops/ 99p shops or the like they do a great range of plastic tubs and pots and all around gardening stuff including some plants and seeds and cheap tools and bits for the sums of £1/ 99p

always worth going in there

Mupette

I'm another who can only use pots and raised beds.

Last year was the first time i tried anything.

I bought tomato plants, wanted to see if i could keep them alive more than anything.

I choose cherry tomato's and found a recipe that i could use so i was using what i was growing.

I found a tomato sauce recipe you can adapt and freeze, great for adding to pasta.

I also grew chilli plants from seeds and was very chuffed with myself that every since seed came to sprout, and gave me loads of chilli's but to me they never gave me much flavour, but i did use them in the cooking but picked most of them with mustard seeds and garlic.

I've just bought in a bucket of soil from the bag outside, given it a few days to reach room temperature, will be planting more chilli's this year, these need a heated propagator, so an old single electric blanket under a storage box is going to do the same thing, as my seeds needs germinating now in feb.

ladylouise62

A number of years ago I got a load of cheap flower buckets from Asda and have used them for all sorts of things. I had to buy some compost to start, but for then on have frequently just recycled it by adding extra goodness every year (and swapping which type of plant I grow). They may not always produce as much as in the ground, but that's only to be expected when restricted by a pot. I've done cherry tomatoes, peppers, Aubergines (not great, but they do need quite a lot of warmth so that could be the problem), peppers, chillies, even courgettes.

Maze

You can grow alot of things in pots so long as the soil is good and you water them often as they dry out quicker.

This... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Patio-Produce-Cultivate-Home-grown-Vegetables/dp/1905862288/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329042024&sr=1-6 is the ultimate book about growing in pots. Ive read a few and i always come back to this one

Cucumbers do well in pots as to squashes and pumpkins if you get the right variety. As with strawbs, herbs, salad and spuds etc

Furny

I have spent a few years now growing in pots, trugs, containers, flower buckets, anything I can put a hole in really all out on my decking. I've grown Strawberries, pots, carrots, onions, chillis, peppers, toms, herbs etc. The only thing that gets me down is at the end of the season the many, many pots I end up with with soil in & having to empty (& having to take the bags of soil through the house because of the design of my house!:eek:). My neighbour has suggested just turning them and putting new compost in but I haven't dared as I've always had brilliant results so far with new compost and thought surely a lot of the goodness will be washed out with the rain etc.
It isn't really cost effective with the price of compost but it's the satisfaction you get from nurturing and eating the results!.:)

weeclick

I have just planted a load of seeds this morning. bought a few packets from £land along with seed trays to start off. Im using old (Large) plastic storage boxes which I used to use for trade shows when running a business and will drill holes ready for plants to move into these once they are ready. We also got a potato planter in £land too and though it wont hold many spuds will do us as theres only 2 in the house.

We cant grow a veg patch as we rent and our garden is in no fit state for grass never mind anything else so this seems to be the best way overall. Fingers crossed it works!