How to Start a Container Garden on a Budget | Cost-Saving Tips

Starting a container garden doesn’t have to break the bank! Follow along as I share a few cost-saving tips for growing in containers.

Welcome to my urban balcony garden! My name is Ally and I’m so happy to have you here. Follow along as I transform my balcony space into the lush garden of my dreams! With only 84 square feet of space, I pack my balcony with more than 30 plants every spring, summer, and fall. I’ve been gardening for 5+ years using only containers and I’m always coming up with new ways to use what I grow in my kitchen — so make sure to subscribe and follow along on my journey to living more mindfully! Peace and love✌🏻💗

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[Music] hey everyone my name’s Ali and welcome or welcome back to my channel mindful living in today’s video I’m going to be sharing how you can start a container garden on a budget of course all Gardens come with expenses and they can quickly add up from the cost of your plants to potting soil today I’ll be sharing a few of my top tips on how you can cut costs when growing in containers let’s go ahead and get started tip number one is to start your plants from seed whether you are growing in the ground or in containers one of the best ways that you can save money is to buy seeds rather than transplants while starting your plants from seed requires more time and patience it will be significantly cheaper than buying store-bought transplants transplants can cost you anywhere from $3 to $5 a plant sometimes even more whereas seeds will cost you about $3 to $4 a package and you’re going to get anywhere from 50 to 100 seeds depending on the variety simply sew your seeds indoors several weeks before the last frost date for your area always check the back of your seed packets for all the information you will need in order to sew each type of seed I’ve collected a wide variety of seeds over the years that I’ve been growing in containers and another thing I’m going to mention is that your seeds last a really long time some of my seeds I’ve had for over 5 years on the back of your seed packets you’re going to see a packed for or sell by date for these Swiss chard seeds it says to sew them by December 2023 but I’ve successfully germinated these seeds and they’re growing in my garden right now the reasoning Behind these dates is so that consumers like us will toss the seeds away and buy new ones each year but you really don’t need to do that your seeds are going to last for several years if you store them properly in a cool dry Place once you do plant your seeds your seedlings are going to need plenty of light since they are growing indoors you’re going to want to supplement sunlight by using a grow light provide your seedlings with at least 12 to 14 hours of light per day under the grow light and make sure that you’re checking on them so they don’t dry out you want the soil to remain consistently moist but not too moist in which case it will start to grow mold there are all different types of grow lights that you can buy from inexpensive to more expensive the one on the end here is from Amazon and it’s just clamped on the side of my table here and I’m also using my arrow Garden as a second grow light as well the arrow Garden works great if you don’t want to grow in it hydroponically you can cover the top with a piece of cardboard which is what I’ve done make sure to leave the light fairly close to your seedlings you only want about 3 to 4 in from the plant to the light and make sure to continue to move it as your plants grow here I’m just showing a couple of my seedlings this is a tomato plant that I’ve planted out in my garden this year and here is some lettuce that I started as well these will grow very well in these small containers until they’re ready to go outside before you transplant into your garden you want to do a process called hardening off for about 5 to 7 days this is when you slowly introduce your plants to the outdoor environment increasing the amount of time they are outside each day start in indirect sunlight and then work your way into direct sunlight before you go ahead and Transplant them into their forever home tip number two to save money when growing in containers is to buy your soil in bulk when it comes to container gardening potting soil is often your biggest expense initially you’ll need to invest in a highquality potting soil for all your plants I like to use promix this is their premium all-purpose mix and this large bag is 112 L and it only cost me 27.99 Canadian opposed to buying four 28 L bags which will run you about $9 99 a bag so buying in large amounts like this will really reduce the price of your soil per liter once selecting soil for your containers you want to use a highquality potting soil never use Garden or top soil in your containers as it’s simply too heavy and dense for your potted plants potting soil is lightweight and fluffy it has great water retention and is specifically designed for growing plants in containers you can refresh and reuse your potting soil from season to season I do this from Spring through fall simply add in a slow release fertilizer and then replant my last tip to cut costs in your container garden is to use inexpensive containers I get asked a lot about the containers I have and where they’re from and these are containers that I actually purchased at the dollar store so all of these containers are cost effective and cheap I’ve been using them for over 5 years simply disinfect and use them year after year to save yourself money your containers don’t need to be fancy or expensive plastic containers like these will work perfectly fine for growing your plants I’m just showing my two larger Square containers here these ones I did buy from a local gardening center so they were a little more expensive but I did get them on sale at the end of the season they were on clearance so that’s another way for you to save a few dollars is to wait until the end of the gardening season and then buy your containers for the next year also don’t be afraid to get creative you can reuse a lot of different items as pots things like old water jugs barrels garbage cans and more I hope if you guys enjoyed this video today you will leave me a like leave a comment down below and don’t forget to hit subscribe so you don’t miss any of my future uploads thank you so much for watching I’ll see you in my next one