Container Gardening, Free Shipping Extended, and More!

Hi Folks! Happy Spring! I know it’s not really Spring yet, but it sure feels like it today, with the sun shining and the temperature up to the mid-teens.

I have been getting a lot of questions about planting crops in containers these days. This is “Seedy Saturday” season, and I have been attending at least one every weekend since mid-January and will keep on until early April.

The quick and easy, highly simplified answer as to what you can plant in a pot is… anything! As long as the pot is big enough, you can plant anything in it. That being said, there are some garden plants that can easily be grown in a pot (I will list these in a minute), and some that are more difficult. Notice I didn’t say impossible, just difficult. I have met people who have very impressive gardens and everything from squash to carrots to tomatoes are container grown.

First the cons of container planting: It requires an investment in pots (obviously!), and some kind of soil medium to grow the plants in. And this can get expensive if you are growing in a lot of pots, or very large pots. Nevertheless, this is a more or less one time investment because in the following years the soil medium usually just needs topping up with compost. The other issue can be watering the pots. In the heat of the summer, you may need to water every day, and this can take a lot of time if you have a large container garden. A drip system on a timer might be in order then.

The positives of container gardening are several: If you live in a building with no access to land and just a balcony, or you live on a rock, you can still grow some food. This is huge! And you can grow a lot of food in a small space if you are organized. For example, if you have just six medium sized pots and a seed starting flat that you can put in a windowsill, you can be growing leafy greens outside while starting seeds inside to replace them right away once they are eaten. It will take time to work out the timing, but that is half the fun. Remember to add a good compost every few months when growing this intensively to add nutrients.

What I like about growing in containers is that they can be moved to a better location if you need to ripen off some tomatoes, or bring them inside to avoid frost, etc. Also, I really enjoy companion planting in pots. If like to fill a pot with a mish-mash of different plants and eat them as they crowd each other out. For example, I will fill a 12” pot with a few lettuces, some green onions, and some cilantro, and eat what is crowding out the others. Yum!

Here is a short list of what can be easily grown in pots: all leafy greens— lettuces, mustards, etc., herbs like dill and cilantro, green onions, and many smaller flowers. These next plants require bigger pots but can still be grown relatively easily. Peppers, Kale, beans (climbers will need support), and smaller, determinate tomatoes. Grow these tomatoes with a cage around them to catch the sprawling habit of them.

Lastly, your biggest pots should be reserved for the really big garden plants. Remember that these take up a lot of room above ground too! Squashes including zucchini and melons, the large indeterminate tomatoes that grow really tall, and sunflowers.

I hope this inspires a few of you to try some container growing this year— even if is growing some herbs on your deck. Our free shipping sale has been extended through March because, well, it’s going great! Happy planting to all. Shop Seeds at Sweet Rock Farm!