We can all appreciate the beauty of colorful containers of plants and flowers to dress up any space. As simple as potting up a few plants can be, the best arrangements are achieved through techniques professional designers use to create stunning combinations. From selecting the most appropriate container, to choosing the right soil, to creating that magical plant combination, we’ll show you recipes for successful container gardening no matter how small or large the space.
This episode originally aired as Episode 505.
Read the full show notes for additional information from this episode at: https://www.growingagreenerworld.com/edible-container-gardening/
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I’m Joe lample when I created Growing a Greener World I had one goal to tell stories of Everyday People innovators entrepreneurs forward-thinking leaders who are all in ways both big and small dedicated to organic gardening and farming lightening our footprint conserving vital resources prot protecting natural habitats making a tangible difference for us all they’re real they’re passionate they’re all around us they’re the game changers who are literally Growing a Greener World and inspiring the rest of us to do the same Growing a Greener World it’s more than a movement it’s our [Music] mission so there are a lot of reasons to grow food in containers the most obvious of course is if you have little to no room maybe it’s just a driveway or a tiny patio well the container provides that soil in which to plant so it’s perfect for that but you know even here at the ggw Farm and Gardens where we have lots of room well there are a lot of other advantages that even people with full-size yard should take into consideration first even if you have a large backyard containers are a great way to fill design holes or give a different look to your garden space let’s say a crop is harvested and you’re left with a large empty space in the middle of your vegetable garden or flower bed well you can place one of your containers there and quickly give your garden a lush full look again or if you have an unused corner of your property a grouping of containers can fill that spot without committing to anything permanent another Advantage is that you have a lot less soilborne disease and fewer pest by using potting mix you’re less likely to introduce problems and since the soil is protected on most sides pest have a lot less chance of finding the roots and finally container gardening gives you more control over things like the pH of the soil and the light conditions if you want to grow something like blueberries for example but your soil has a pH of around six then you can grow them in a container and adjust the soil PH to between four and five which is exactly what they need and it’s much easier to keep it at that pH when you only have to amend the small amount of soil within the pot and if something you want to grow needs more light you simply pick up your container and move it to a new spot now while it’s true you can use just about any type of container for your plantings it’s a great opportunity to take your time and really make an awesome design statement but you don’t have to spend a lot of money on a container either you could recycle something unusual like a wooden crate or even an old dress or drawer of course this would give you an eclectic look but if that’s what you’re looking for well then it’s all about thinking outside the box or in this case the pot but if money is No Object you have a lot of options there too like these imported handmade terracotta pots some of them are local but they’re all handmade a little more money for that but they’re certainly worth it now you and I probably grew up with these terra cotta pots very inexpensive maybe a buck or two and they come in all different sizes now the downside of this is they have a tendency to crack so over a year or two that’ll happen but you can make it last a little bit longer if you would just bring them in over winter or don’t plant into them over the winter time probably get an extra year or two that way the other downside about Terracotta clay is that they really Wick away the moisture so you have to be extra vigilant to keep these hydrated otherwise your plants will get very dry very quickly now I love this terracotta look and I love a big pot but with that extra size you get a lot more weight so unless that pot is going to be parked in one place these don’t become all that practical but if you like that look for a fraction of the weight hello plastic now plastic has come a long way in recent years to give you any type of shape and any kind of look at a fraction of the cost and for under $30 you get that right here with a terracotta design and look also with plastic you can get like a handspun clay look this is about $20 but I really like this and you can’t tell that it’s plastic that’s the best part about it now to Plastics credit besides its cost very low there this does a good job of actually holding in the moisture so although it’s always important to check the moisture in a container this doesn’t Wick away water like the Terracotta would if you really like that ceramic look like I do well then these are the ones you want to go with now there’s no way to know from a distance that this is not ceramic in fact once again plastic so super light and yet you can get a huge pot in awesome colors these are under $30 and of course there’s smaller options as well and they’re going to cost you less if you like the look of metal well there’s options for that and again this is plastic but you have a different shape here lots of different sizes and again very inexpensive now one of my favorite options in recent years these ecopots now they also come in different shapes and sizes but they’re made of renewable sustainable crops they’ll last for a few years you can either plant right into them or drop a pot inside of it in a couple years when these start to break down rather than throw them in the trash you throw them in your compost pile and let them break down there I like that option now in all cases pots need drainage and when you buy a plastic one chances are they’re not going to have a drainage hole in them so you’ve got to make sure that you do that so get a big drill bit drill several holes into this because plants cannot live in standing water so you got to provide that drainage other common options for containers include concrete it’s a great look last forever but the heaviest of all options styrofoam is another option that’s becoming less common but it mimics the look of concrete or stone but without all the weight metal is another great look but even galvanized product should be lined with plastic to avoid eventual rusting and wire baskets lined with coconut husk or pop popular inexpensive and reusable but they do tend to dry out in windy conditions so place them where they can be watered easily now if we’ve heard it once we’ve heard it a thousand times if we want to improve the drainage in our container we need to add something to the bottom whether it’s small stones or marbles or Styrofoam peanuts or maybe even crushed aluminum cans we need to create that airspace at the bottom of the container so the water moves through more easily now the real life application does that really work and rarely do we have a chance to see what goes on inside that container because usually it’s something solid like this but today we’re going to take a look at that and we’re going to use clear containers so I have two they both have holes in the bottom and in the first one we’re going to add some Stone that’s typically what we would do I’ll add more than you might likely usually do to really illustrate the point that may be the normal stopping point but just for today we’ll go up to right about there and then I’ll add some soil to the top a bit more there now in this one we’ll go straight soil nothing at the bottom for drainage okay so these are two simulated pots that we’re about to plant now the first thing we need to do is put the water in there because that’s what we want to see we want to see the results of what happens to the water so here we go so fill that one and we’ll fill this one maybe a little bit more in both so now we’ll let the water drain through for a few minutes and then we want to see the results of where that water goes so it’s been just a couple minutes and let’s assess the results so far now the one where we added the stone to improve the drainage take a look at this now we have some air pockets here but for the most part this is saturated soil the water hasn’t moved through to the stones and in this case where we didn’t add anything all soil look the saturation point is way down here at the bottom now that’s typical the water will move through to that point where the drainage or the exit Point occurs in this case it’s all the way at the bottom of the container here it’s at the bottom of the first substrate level now the academic explanation for that is that water does not pass easily between two substrates of different pore sizes in this case the water is going to collect in that area that’s denser the soil now the real life or practical application of this when we plant into to an area where we’ve added things for the drainage the roots are going to sit in an area where the soil is more saturated and we don’t want that because our plants can drown whereas in this case where we added nothing there’s more area where the roots aren’t sitting in saturated soil that’s what we want more air space that makes for a healthier plant so the next time you want a healthier plant and improve the drainage you don’t need to do anything at all just straight soil an important consideration with any container is the soil and you have a lot of choices now you might be inclined to just go out in the backyard and dig up what’s there and I can’t blame you for that being a good Steward and reusing what you have but don’t do it with your outdoor soil now this might be great for your trees and your shrubs but it’s just too heavy for containers and it’s all about the drainage and this isn’t going to do it okay so we go to the Garden Center or nursery and we’re looking at the Myriad of choices and undoubtedly you’re going to see top soil that’s what it’s called and at two bucks a bag it’s a great deal but you know what it’s best for outdoor use to add add bulk to outdoor beds and maybe raised beds but it’s not good for containers and the reason for that is there’s nothing in here to make it lighter there’s no timer loose nutrients and it’s just not ideally suited for containers now what about garden soil that’s what it’s labeled on the bag and that’s this right here now we’re getting closer it’s lighter and it has some of those slow release nutrients which are important in a container but it’s not engineered for containers this is actually made for outdoor use it’s not quite light enough so keep this outside side but what we do want is potting soil or container mix and this is it right here and you can see the difference look at those different textures and colors in here now that’s designed to help make the soil really light for drainage and for rud expansion in containers and yet the other thing is it also retains a lot of moisture so it’s the best of both worlds and this is what you want the other thing is it has those slow release nutrients and in a container you’re going to be watering all the time even with things that retain the moisture but as you water the nutrients are going to flow right through unless you have something in it that’s time relased and that’s why that’s important to have now if you’re an organic Gardener like me well you can buy products that are still organic and have some of those slow release nutrients in it or worst case scenario you just add them yourself you know we hear from our viewers a lot and a common question is how to garden in a small space and sometimes they don’t have any space at all and they’re looking for our best tips well why not Garden against the wall or even on the wall because these days they are specially made systems just for that purpose but one of our favorites of all is to use recycled material so what if you like the idea of a vertical garden but maybe you’re a do-it-yourself kind of person or you’re on a tight budget well that’s the case for two of our friends of the show Monty and Kai they own a house in Asheville North Carolina and now that they’re moving back they’re serious about fixing it up and one of the first things they want to do install a vertical garden but they have two rules it’s got to be simple and it can’t cost a lot of money no problem check this out now I don’t know about you but I can’t think of many things more ubiquitous than the standard palet and you know what they make a pretty darn good vertical garden frame as well and you can find them everywhere from dumpsters to behind stores and usually they’re free but just make sure you check with the manager first in worst case scenario sometimes you have to pay a few bucks but never more than that keep this in mind though when you get a pallet sometimes they’re made of pressure treated wood and you don’t want that because you don’t want those chemicals coming in contact with your roots so look for pallets made of untreated wood now when you get them home make sure that you wash them off really well because a lot of times they’re going to be kind of grungy and when you lay them out on a flat surface you’re going to notice that sometimes the palette is going to have spacing that’s different from one side to the other in this case this is going to be our back side where the slats are much wider but we’re going to cover that up what are we going to cover it with well we’re going to use some landscape fabric for that we’ll just line it out over the back cut it the size and then tack it in with some roofing nails but you could use staples for that as well and there’s one other layer that we’re going to add and that’s a thin piece of plywood mainly that’s really there just to protect the house now what other the tools do we need well we’re going to hang the pallet to the house with these L brackets so we’ll need these and of course some screws and anchors but to make sure everything looks nice of course we want to have a level and a tape measure but really that’s about it you guys ready to work yeah ready to work okay position the empty pallet against the wall where you’ll want it mounted and add the hardware before it’s full of soil and [Music] plants and speaking of soil setting the pallet back on the flat surface makes filling the void super easy use a good quality potting or container mix that’s lightweight and drains well and don’t be stingy when adding the soil at this point some will fall out and the rest will settle but it’s important that enough soil remains around all the roots and be sure to leave some for later we used about six bags total and then the best part adding the plants this pallet garden is just a random design using all Edibles the plants are simply stuffed into place and soil is tucked around each root ball the beauty of this vertical garden this is 100% edible and it’s right outside their kitchen door so it could not be more convenient for access to fresh food we’ve got some herbs in here tomatoes peppers we’re going to put the peppers in the top this area right here the peppers are going to get the tallest and they need some room to grow up so we’re saving this area we’re reserving that for all of our peppers [Music] [Music] [Music] then it’s simply a matter of mounting it against the wall pre-measuring and adding the hardware of head of time makes this part a lot easier this is where it’s helpful to have more than yourself getting it over here it’s not terribly heavy but it’s a little bit awkward at this point so we’ve put a cinder block in place just to kind of give us some positioning and [Music] [Music] leverage Monty and I held the pallet in place while Kai inserted the screws through the the already attached L [Music] brackets finally we added some upright pepper plants into the top section and watered all the plants [Music] in it’s important to keep the pl thoroughly watered to allow the soil to settle around the roots and to help the plants establish well the guys are already in the house getting their salad bowls ready but it looks pretty good doesn’t it and the best part is I think we met both of their requirements it was super easy to build and in real time it only took about an hour and the only cost here was the price of the plants and the soil everything else was either free or they had the items around the house now I know you probably want to build one like this at home a vertical garden using a pallet and we have all that information on our website and the address is the same as our name it’s growingagreenerworld.com you’ll find it under the show notes for this [Music] episode at some point I think we all find ourselves asking the same question just what plants do well in a container or conversely what shouldn’t I plant in a container well the fact of the matter is just about everything does well in a container even dwarf and semi- dwarf fruit trees do exceptionally well in fact all fruit trees and vegetable plants do well but the most important consideration is paying attention to the size of the root mass for example if you’re growing carrots you need to take into consideration the size of the tap rot at maturity so you’d want to have a container that’s big enough to accommodate it at full growth and some other plants that would do well in a large container like this tomatoes and finnel now on the other hand if you’re growing micro greens or maybe spinach mesculin mix or even radishes well they only need a couple inches for them to be happy so something like this would be perfect and there’s no need for Overkill that’s a good choice now when choosing your plants and seeds read the descriptions and look for words like compact growth dwarf semidwarf baby or even great in containers that tells you that the plant will not get too large yet still produce well from there you can use your imagination to combine different textures colors and even different Heights to give your container interest now here’s a quick tip you know even if you’re only interested in growing Edibles buy some flowers anyway and put them in the container with your plants or somewhere nearby in the garden because not only will it make everything look better but more importantly it’ll attract pollinators and that’s always a good thing now one of the most important considerations to keeping your containers looking great all the time is to make sure they get watered pretty much all the time and of course that can be a big concern for a lot of people so an easy way to take the worry out of all of that is to put your watering on autopilot with a drip irrigation system and an automatic timer the systems are sold as complete kits so everything you need is included they’re very easy to assemble and if you need additional Parts you can buy them separately this kit comes with a supply hose micro soaker hose and black PVC tubing along with all the connections for five containers and cost about $30 step one in setting up this system is to attach the Quick Connect water controller to the garden hose the timer is sold separately but if you’re using one go ahead and attach it to the faucet choices range from basic timers to programmable options with more features like this one for about $50 cut the green garden hose to length for your first container attach the hose to one side of a micro adapter and the remaining hose to the other side next cut a length of soaker hose make a circle and connect each end to a t fitting now cut and attach a length of black tubing that reaches from the fitting in the container to the adapter on the garden hose finally repeat the process for your remaining [Music] containers now one of the most common areas that’s often overlooked with container gardening is the fertilization and yet it’s so important to the plant’s long-term success now keep in mind when you put a plant in the container the only access it has to nutrients are what’s in the container and the more you water the more those nutrients wash out and that’s why it’s so important to come back with supplemental periodic feedings now you can do that a couple different ways as an organic Gardener I like to use either a granular organic fertilizer you can get that just about anywhere or you can use a liquid version such as fish Emulsion or seelp it doesn’t matter which you use as long as you come back consistently with low Doses and do that through the entire growing season now what about wintertime well at that point your plants are likely going into dormy so you don’t need to fertilize at all in fact you’ll probably bring your plants indoors to ride out the harsh conditions of winter now there’s one fall project that’s likely on everybody’s to-do list even if you have just a small deck or patio and that’s getting your special plants inside and protecting them over the winter time now placing them in front of a bright sunny window is ideal but if you don’t have that maybe a garage or a basement where they’re out of the freezing temperatures in the wind the plants will go dormant or semi- dormant and they should be good to go next spring when it’s warm again but what about the containers themselves some of these can be so attractive and yet so expensive you’d hate to lose them to cracking and yet it’s a common occurrence in the wintertime now the reason for that is when they’re full of soil and the soil gets wet and then it freezes it expands so there’s a lot of pressure on the inside of the container but since the container is rigid it has no flex it has nowhere to go and that’s where the cracking comes in so it’s best if you can get your containers inside but sometimes the containers are so far away from the house or they’re just darn right heavy or maybe you don’t want to take on another project in the fall I understand that so try this instead when you empty the container of the soil next time before you add soil back in use some of this shipping wrap that has the bubbles in it line the inside a couple times now what that’s going to do it’s going to provide the flex and the give that you need that you don’t get from your container so if it’s full of soil and the soil gets wet and then the soil freezes and there’s that outward pressure this will absorb it and prevent your containers from cracking another factor to consider is the heat that can radiate off a wall in the peak summer months brick walls cement walls even dark containers can trap and retain heat and that can add a lot of stress to your plants now in the winter time if you’re trying to get a little extra heat and cheat your Zone a little bit that’s not so bad but in the the summertime not so much so if you live in a hot part of the country with a south facing wall you might want to provide a little more distance between the wall in your container well I hope that after today we’ve given you just a few more reasons to container garden especially when it comes to Growing food no matter where you live from the smallest of spaces to a big backyard Container garding makes sense for everybody and if you’d like to watch this episode again or get more information you can do all of that on our website under the show notes for this episode that address it’s the same as our show not name it’s growingagreenerworld.com I’m Joe lample thanks for joining us everybody and we’ll see you back here next time for more Growing a Greener [Music] World [Music] [Music] I