How Does Your Container Garden Grow?
photo via thomas pix
I spent part of this past weekend waking up in my friend’s bed to a view of her balcony lined with potted plants and palm trees beyond. She had terracotta planters filled with succulents and feeders to attract hummingbirds. It was a wonderful way to greet the day, and I watched her tend to her plants the way I do to guests: keeping them watered, seeing if they need anything, making sure they’re comfortable.
I’ve never seemed to have much of a green thumb. My potted herbs always shrivel up and an orchid promised to live forever bummed out on me. The one thing I’ve managed to maintain are some mangy looking geraniums on my bedroom windowsill. Inspired by my friend, though, I re-potted these plants, and set them out in the hot air of our fire escape. It rained hard that day, and the leaves sucked the moisture out of the heavy air. They seemed to shoot up an inch. I felt encouraged.
So now I’m thinking of going hog wild with container gardens, possibly even window boxes (but how do you keep them from falling off the ledge? anyone?). There’s a big, leafy tree outside our apartment that puts us in a bit of shade. I’m thinking of staying tried and true with my red geraniums, a bit of ivy, and revisiting my failed herb endeavor. I’m feeling hopeful about the whole thing.
Do you keep plants in pots and containers? What do you apartment dwellers grow? Do you keep plants inside, and if so, what? Help me to make my garden grow. I’m all ears!
Danielle: I did container gardening last year, but graduated to three huge raised beds this year. So far so good…even if the food doesn’t feed my family, it feeds the neighborhood birds and squirrels as well as my four pet hens! Watching them forage in the rows is almost as much fun as the anticipation of that first tomato or pepper. Container gardening is a wonderful way to go though! It’s very fulfilling! Best wishes!1 year ago
Brie: This year we’ve got carrots, courgettes (zucchini), french beans, lettuce, tomatoes and peppers…oh and herbs! ikea has some great finds for containers – planting bags: cheap, easy to store after the season’s done, and in lovely bright colours!!! we’ve also got hanging pots – perhaps those can help with the windowsills? so lovely to grow our food and really know where it’s coming from, small spaces need not limit the possibilities!1 year ago
Laureen: Yay–I’m looking forward to responses from people with a greener thumb than myself! I managed to kill a few containers’ worth of herbs last year but really want to put some potted herbs and flowers on the back steps and in the bedroom windows.
I also recently moved into an apartment with backyard access that we share with the couple that lives in the other first-floor apartment. They’ve lived there for 10 years and have created a beautiful garden but the backyard of the building next door connects with ours and its residents don’t have access to the space. Needless to say it’s a high-grass mosquito pit but we’re allowed to do whatever we want with it
Which would be awesome, if I had any clue where to begin….
Anyone know of any good links/blogs for beginner gardeners/starting a garden?1 year ago
katie: I have a tiny terrace with lots of ivy covering it and so it is pretty shady, but I’m growing a small tomato plant, basil, cilantro, a hanging scarlet begonia, a hydrangea, peonies (which haven’t done anything yet), and a lily that was here when I moved in. It does make it so much nicer to sit out there with the green and the colors!1 year ago
Serita: It’s so interesting to experiment with city gardening! We have tons of indoor plants and also built a rooftop planter (8′x3′), and have been surprised time and again in what works and what doesn’t! Each space- a backyard, a window box, a rooftop, sunlit, shady- is a micro-environment, and things that we were certain would grow faltered while things that we gambled on thrived! Seems to me that successful gardening is a twofold approach- as much understanding the particular quirks of your environment and balancing it with the needs of what you’d like to grow as it is pure experimentation/patience/trial and error.
With the first, educating yourself (even minimally) is key… For food growing edible things, the book “Carrots love tomatoes- secrets of companion planting for successful gardening” is a great start (even has a section on container gardening). In the second, not being afraid to try even with the possibility of failure. You’ll find out what works and what doesn’t, learn from it, and do better next year armed with more info!
Also, I think decorative plants are as nourishing to the soul as edible ones are to the belly!… You can easily do planter boxes and containers for both, making sure to plan for which need the most light and understanding how often they need to be watered (varies quite a bit plant by plant). A few sites that I’ve found both beneficial and inspiringin thinking about our own rooftop planter box:
http://greenupgrader.com/7556/diy-vertical-garden-with-reclaimed-gutters/
http://tipnut.com/grow-potatoes/
http://lifehacker.com/5190496/turn-storage-containers-into-self-watering-tomato-planters
http://gizmodo.com/5469881/the-ekokook-kitchen-actually-makes-me-want-to-cook (would love to modify so that the hanging containers grow, rahter than just hold, edible plants!)
Great luck and can’t wait to hear of your progress/see photos if you jump in to gardening. (And I sure hope you do!)
Do you keep plants in pots and containers? What do you apartment dwellers grow? Do you keep plants inside, and if so, what? Help me to make my garden grow. I’m all ears!1 year ago
Alicia Kachmar: Apartment Gardening!!!!! http://brooklynbased.net/everything/fire-escape-of-dreams/1 year ago
Samantha Angela @ Bikini Birthday: I like geraniums because the survive everything.1 year ago
Karen: I so wish I had a balcony! I have mostly indoor plants and just try to sit in them in spots along the windowsills that get a lot of light — we’re facing North though, so it’s tough. But, even with just a little light, they manage!1 year ago
Hillary: I have thyme, chives, rosemary and four tomato plants on my NNW facing balcony, although right now they’re in the kitchen because it got cold again in MN. How well they’ll do remains to be seen, this is my first summer with private outdoor space in a long time.
I got fairly large plants from the farmers market instead of starting my own. I also have plastic pots (not as green I know, but I reuse them) since I’m on the second floor and don’t want something that would create shards if it falls.1 year ago
Adrienne: GO! immediately! and find/borrow/steal (ok not really steal) a copy of The Bountiful Container. It has the worst cover design ever, but it’s so useful I refuse to lend it to anyone. I reference it all the time.
I’ve got marjoram, rosemary and cilantro inside; the marjoram survived the winter (I repotted it from a large pot last October) but the rosemary and cilantro are newish. Last year we did tomatoes and peppers in pots, as well as tons of herbs. We have a sunny back patio but no actual earth to put raised beds in. We’re on the first floor, and the landlord’s elderly mom lives upstairs, so they told us we could put use the back patio however we like since she doesn’t use it much. This year we did a lot more – radishes, carrots, peas (!), lettuce, basil, oregano, sage, thyme are all outside now, but the tomato, cucumber, zucchini, pepper and eggplant seedlings are indoors and havent gone out yet.
I find I get the biggest bang for my buck by growing herbs. Tomatoes and other nightshades are finicky, and greens such as lettuce attract slugs and bunnies. But I always feel so dang virtuous and thrifty when I go outside and snip the teaspoon of thyme I need from my $3 seedling, which will then grow back…. rather than fromt he $3.99 plastic container that will go bad in the fridge before I need more thyme. If I had to consolidate, I’d grow an herb garden and nothing else.
Oh, and some of my neighbors have window boxes that are not set actually on the window sill, but on metal braces that are sold near the boxes at hardware/home stores and are bolted to the window frame… might not be an option for a renter like us!1 year ago
CP: I have done tomatoes, basil, rosemary, lettuce, peppers in containers. This year I am trying cucumber for the first time in containers; last year I did them in a raised bed.
This fall you should try lettuce or some other sort of green. I did it in the spring and have had so much lettuce I don’t know what to do with it all! It is overwhelming. Anyway, it was easy as pie to do: just throw the mesculun seed over moist soil, then put about a quarter of an inch of soil over it, and in about 2 months you’ll have so much lettuce you won’t know what to do with it either! Just pick the lettuce leaf, leave stalk, and new lettuce will grow onto the place where you’ve picked it.
Container tomatoes need to be generously watered and they need to have lots of nutrition and space. I The first time I tried a tomato in a container it died because I had it in too small a pot, and didn’t feed it enough. The next year I got roomier pots, lots of compost, and gave it a lot more water, and it flourished. I live in GA so I try to water every day unless it has rained that day or the night before. Nigh watering is better than day watering although I often forget to do it at night or can’t for whatever reason. The sun here is so hot that my tomatoes benefit from being planted in a place where it is shady in the morning and full sun in the afternoon, thanks to my neighbor’s tree. Try a grape or cherry tomato variety– to me they are easier to grow and, in the case that overwatering or underwatering spoils any fruit, you can just pick those off and await another crop. With regular-sized tomatoes, if you have a problem like blossom end rot you have to wait a long time for the tomato to produce new fruit and get back into the swing of things.
I use gardenweb for most of my questions– that site has a good mix of expert gardeners and pleasure gardeners, and there’s a lot of organic gardeners on there as well. I am in no way an organic gardener so I can’t give any advice on that.
Be careful about how you water herbs. Some seem to love lots of water (like cilantro), and others languish from overwatering (my basil plant). Rosemary is a good beginner plant because it can handle all temperatures and doesn’t need much water at all.
Not sure the repercussions for organic gardening, but I used a raised bed made out of repurposed cinder blocks and I use the holes in the cinder blocks as planters. Right now I have about six pepper plants in planters; when my lettuce in the bed bolts I will replant the peppers there so they will have more room.
Gardening is one big experiment; don’t be afraid to try new things, give it a lot of your attention, and you’ll be fine! Eventually you’ll be able to “read” your plants (I say this and next time I go outside mine will be all wilty, haha)1 year ago
KBG in DC: For the boxes, go with metal brackets that just hook onto the ledge; they are much safer than trying to balance your boxes up there. They’re available at any garden center. A lot of herbs, flowers and vegetables are specially bred fir container gardening, so it might be worth the research to find out which varieties will do best in limited spaces. I’ve found you do better with pre-started plants from the nursery rather than starting from seed.
Most important tips I can give: give them at least 6 or more hours of full sunlight a day and remember that container plants need a lot more water than those in the ground. The smaller the container, the more you’ll need to water. But 10 minutes of attention per day can yield the most amazingly delicious results! Good luck!1 year ago
JEN: I love gardening and finding interesting containers is great fun! Anything’s game. One of my favorite gardening sites is http://www.yougrowgirl.com. Gorgeous books, too.
I would say it’s worth a try (maybe 2 or 3) to grow anything in a container. You just start to get the feel for your climate, sun and water requirements, etc.
One of my favorite things to grow in a container is gladiolas. I plant 2 or 3 layers of bulbs at the beginning of the spring and in summer I get lots of blooms for cut flowers and hummingbirds love them.
And my best tip is for tomatoes. They don’t like to be watered from above for the most part. You can set up a simple soda bottle irrigation drip (see you grow girl site) that takes care of it on the cheap.
Happy Gardening!1 year ago
EB: Great tips! My roomie and I just started a container garden on our roofdeck and we’ve got all our fingers crossed!1 year ago
BB: I have a raised garden bed now, but I used to do lots of herbs in containers when I was in an apartment. Be careful about over-fertilizing basil – it tastes better if it’s had a rough life
Rosemary is very tough to kill, though if you keep it in a container for the long term you’ll want to make sure it’s well fertilized so it doesn’t start to look spindly and sad. And mint! Mint is invasive, so I always keep it in a container. It’s perfect for mojitos or a cup of tea, and it smells glorious in the summer sun. You could also try strawberries. tomatoes, or even green onions.1 year ago
Anna: There was a season when my husband lovingly banned me from container plantings.
I would always start off well, but then the really hot weather would come and my attention would shrivel and dry up right along with the plants.
Now? He rigged up an automated drip system. Shazaam! I’m back on the potting wagon!1 year ago
Angie: Here’s a couple of posts I did on what I grow (I live in an apartment):
http://thesconegunman.blogspot.com/2010/05/it-jungle-in-here.html
http://thesconegunman.blogspot.com/2010/04/in-bloom.html
Different plants have different needs. Some of mine stay inside all day (by a window if they need bright light, or away if they’re a shade lover). Most of mine go outside during the day and come in at night or sooner if the sun is hot and beating down. I’ve got everything from hibiscus to tomatoes to vines of various type to…well, just about everything.1 year ago
Charone: Remind me to tell you guys my pumpkin story. Or maybe I already did.1 year ago
beth: So glad you’ve posted about this and, in effect, gathered your readers’ helpful notes together in one spot. I’ve been wanting to plant some basic herbs — mint, basil, cilantro — and I keep hearing that right NOW is the time to get them growing.1 year ago
Sasa: I’m rather proud to have started my first verandah garden in pots too…I have basil, mint, thyme, rosemary and parsley as well as 3 tomatoes. One of the basils died though, sob, and I don’t know why…1 year ago
lq: I have a brown thumb, but couldn’t resist buying a very small spider plant at a church bazaar just before Christmas. I set it on my kitchen table and watered whenever it looked dumpy. It is now in dire need of transplanting, it’s a nice feeling to have had it flourish.1 year ago
Katie @ cakes, tea and dreams: Last summer I grew basil, rosemary, a red geranium and a huge fern. The latter two have survived the winter and are slowly growing in the spring sunlight…and I just bought a basil plant to start again.
It’s so satisfying to grow something yourself…I wish you the best of luck!1 year ago
Katherine: I’ve been container gardening in Houston for the last couple of years. Granted, the conditions are different here than in NYC, but some of the same rules apply. I agree with other comments that attention to watering is very important. That’s not to say that the plants always need water (I’ve killed a few herbs by overwatering), but just be aware of the plants. One day the basil looks great, the next day it’s totally wilted. Luckily, it’s a plant that bounces back if you water it soon enough.
That said, we’ve had the most success with parsley, rosemary, sage, chives, basil, and dill. Our thyme is so-so (I think I over-watered it), and I can’t manage to keep cilantro alive. We also have a few large tubs that we set up in the driveway (we live in a garage apartment, so we don’t really have a yard), and we’ve had success with carrots, beets, chard, and fennel. A lot of our fruiting plants (e.g. tomatoes, green beans, zucchini) did not do well last summer, so we decided to switch to vegetables so we wouldn’t have to depend on pollination. Surprisingly, our jalapenos did great, and we had a little bit of trouble trying to eat them as fast as they were growing.
All in all, I would highly recommend herbs. And if you’ve got some space to experiment with, vegetables can be fun. And tomatoes should do a lot better up there than they do in hot and humid Houston.1 year ago
Katie: If you have much shade that could be tricky, but don’t give up. For decorative plants I’ve had great luck with impatiens and colius.Many houseplants do even better outside during the summer, and many herbs that are labeled full sun do alright in part-shade, as well (most of the ones others have mentioned), and last year I had my first success with a tomato plant.: )
Good luck!1 year ago
Halle G: I have had good success with herbs, tomatoes and peppers in pots. This year my husband built a large planter box so I’ll be planting my tomatoes and peppers in that instead.
http://halleshobbies.blogspot.com/2010/04/garden-update.html
I’m also trying lettuce in a container this year.1 year ago
Lily: My greatest success has been with lemons. I do dwarf meyers; one of my trees produced thirty lemons last February. The pests don’t like them, their blossoms smell amazing, and they are evergreen. I wheel them in for the winter and out to full sun for the rest of the seasons. Feed them often as they are big eaters.1 year ago
Kate (Bread & Chocolate): Just planted my first container garden – featuring an all-star lineup of veggies: broccoli, tomatoes, mesclun greens, spinach and for a sweet treat – strawberries. It’s just starting to (finally) warm up in the northeast. Here’s hoping it works!
http://bread-n-chocolate.blogspot.com/2011/04/straight-from-crate-how-does-your.html42 weeks ago