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Growing a garden in containers is rapidly becoming more and more popular. Also, it is very simple and sometimes easier. For
years we have seen people growing flowers in containers and hanging
baskets. Now the growing trend is to have a vegetable garden grown in
containers. This is especially helpful for people who have no yard or a
limited yard available to plant vegetables. Favorite container garden plants are: tomato, pepper, herbs, strawberries. You
can purchase special tomato plants called deck tomatoes that do
especially well in pots. You will need to stake them in the pot but
they do not grow especially tall or large and produce tomatoes
throughout the summer. Plants not very well tolerated for
container growing are the vine variety that need to crawl along the
ground. These would be pumpkin, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and
cucumber. Of course, corn and potatoes also fall into this category. With
herbs the easiest way to start them is early in the spring with seed
packets. You can go to your local dollar store and purchase seed
packets and a plastic starter seed growing flat for a couple of
dollars. Once you have started your seeds and have seedlings about 2 to
3 inches tall you can transplant them into larger containers. Most
vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and fruits like strawberries are
easiest when you purchase the small seedling plants already started
from a nursery or garden center. Make sure to get a container
large enough for the plant to expand. One of the most detrimental
things to container plants is when they grow too big for the container
and become root bound. Also make sure the pot has enough drainage
so the vegetable or fruit plants do not have wet feet. They need to be
kept watered according to the needs of the plant variety but most
plants do not like to soak in water because it cannot drain from the
pot. Keep in mind where you place your containers. You need adequate sunlight and also shade. Tomatoes
do well in full sunlight but some plants like to have a little shade,
especially during the very hot summer afternoon sun. If keeping these indoors make sure they are by a window. Watch the fruits of your labor when you enjoy eating some of your container grown vegetables. |
