Container vegetable gardening tips

I have a small vegetable garden plot in my backyard. This year I'm growing four different varieties of tomatoes, two varieties of peppers, cucumbers, carrots and a few flowers to attract pollinators.  We're lucky to have excellent, black soil for growing a veggie garden.  But we still don't have a lot of sunny spots in our yard to grow a couple rows of sweet corn, for example.

That's why I was so excited to find the new patio sweet corn variety from Burpee this year. Not sure if you can tell from my photo, but I'm growing the sweet corn in a galvanized feed bucket, which I bought for less than $20 at the local farm store.  My hubby drilled a couple of holes in the bottom for drainage.  So far, the corn has been growing well.  It's actually tasseled since I took this photo.  About the only issue is that the corn started to "fire" or turn yellow at the base of the stems.  I figured that the corn is probably sucking up nitrogen with its recent growth spurt, so I gave it a dose of all-purpose fertilizer. 

I've actually had really good luck the past couple years growing tomatoes, peppers and strawberries in 5 gallon buckets instead of planting them in the ground.  What I love about container gardening is that I control how much water and fertilizer the plants get.  And I can move the containers around whenever I want to change up the look of my garden.

This year, I took the advice of a local farmer and planted a ground cherry plant in a container.  When I bought the plant, it was just a tiny stem.  Look how it's bushed out!

I've also planted a "bush" summer squash variety in a bucket.  It's the first time I've planted squash in a container.  So far, it's growing good.  Every morning, it's loaded with squash blossoms, but I don't see any tiny squash forming yet.  But that's kind of up to whether the pollinators are finding the blossoms or not.

I'm also growing a sweet 100 cherry tomato in a bucket. Again, this little tomato was just a stem with one leaf when I bought it.  It's really filled out since then.

The only thing to remember when growing flowers or veggies in pots is that you need to keep the containers well watered, because they will dry out much faster than if you plant in the ground.  We're going through another dry spell this July, and I water the pots every day in the early morning before I drive to work.  The veggies also do well with a dose of all-purpose fertilizer once every two weeks.

While I'm sharing tips about my garden, I might as well share a few of my favorite photos from the garden as well.  The hollyhocks are blooming like crazy this year.

And I just had to share this photo of the garden gnome my husband bought me for my birthday.  I've got my soaker hose well positioned to give this little guy a "shower" every once and a while.  It makes me giggle everytime I see him out in my tomato patch.

I'm using the soaker hose as a cheap alternative to drip line irrigation in my garden.  I move the hose to a different spot in the garden whenever needed.  Veggie gardens need about 1 inch of water per week.  We haven't had a measurable rain in more than 2 weeks, so things are looking pretty crispy outside. There's rain in the forecast tomorrow, though, which is a good thing.

How's your garden growing this year? Do you have any container garden tips to share?

Hot pink flowering strawberry

A few weeks back, I stopped by the Iowa Arboreteum's spring plant sale.  I only planned to buy a couple new hostas, but I ended up buying more than a couple!  I couldn't resist the unique plant offerings, including this strawberry plant -- with hot pink flowers!  The plant tag explains that it's an ornamental and edible ever-bearing strawberry that you can plant in a regular pot; it doesn't grow runners.

Unfortunately, the tag doesn't say what the strawberry variety is called.  I did a quick Google search and found this Toscana strawberry, which looks pretty close to what I bought.  I was so thrilled to find such a new-to-me strawberry variety, but then a few days later, I found the same strawberry plant at my local Fareway greenhouse.  So maybe it's not that unusual!

I'll keep you updated on how the strawberries turn out.  Have you ever grown a pink-flowered strawberry?  Have they been around for a while and I just have never heard of them?

Garden update: May 2013

It's an understatement to say that the weather hasn't been very cooperative this spring.  Right after I took these photos, an unseasonably late storm covered my tulips in 3 inches of snow.  I can't complain, though, because we need the moisture after last summer's drought.

We're doing a lot of yard work this spring. We finally cut down the old wisteria vine that tore the shingles off our back porch.  I'll miss the spring blooms, but I won't miss how the vine covered the back of our house every summer.  Anyhow, that's why our yard is looking a little rough in my photos. That, and the snow.

I planted a few lettuce and radish seeds back in April.  Because the temps dropped right after I planted them, it took a month before they popped out of the ground.  But they're growing a little bit every day.

To get myself in the gardening mood, I bought myself a fancy pair of gloves at the farm store.  Don't worry. They'll get dirty soon enough!

I stopped at Holub greenhouse in Ames before Mother's Day and was surprised to find a nice selection of strawberry plants.  I planted them again in Stack-a-Pots. I had good luck with the everbearing strawberries last year. As long as I kept them watered and fertilized regularly, I had strawberries to pick all summer long.  I never really get a lot of strawberries, but it's still a fun backyard project.

Just for fun, I bought two varieties of ever-bearing strawberries: Fort Laramie and Tristar.  I'm curious to see how different they will be from each other.

My tulips are about done blooming now, but they were beautiful while they lasted.  I planted yellow, orange and red tulips to match my neighbor's same-colored tulips.  I wish the tulips would bloom all year!

How's your garden growing this spring?  Did the unusually cold weather slow or alter your gardening plans?  I still haven't planted my potted flowers yet, because the temps were close to freezing this last weekend.

Garden seed 2013

 

Yep, I bought garden seed already.  I get so excited when those seed catalogs arrive in the mail!  I'm happy to see that seed companies are offering more seeds for container growing.  Last year, I had great luck with the plants I grew in pots.  I'm planning to grow more container plants this summer, although I'm a little worried that the drought might lead to water-use restrictions in my town.  Container plants need to be watered at least once a day in the summer heat.  But I'm hoping for the best and that the drought will end this spring.

I would like to grow more flowers this year.  I saw dwarf sunflowers at the Iowa State Fair's Master Gardeners' plot, and I want to try to grow them at home.

Burpee Seed Co. is offering sweet corn for container gardening this year!  I've always wanted to grow sweet corn, but don't have the space.  I can't wait to see if these seeds will actually grow!

Something else I've always wanted to try, a dwarf melon variety that you can grow in a pot.  I might actually plant these in my little garden rather than a pot.  I would love to grow melons in my backyard!

And one more from Burpee, a new winter squash variety for container gardening.

And then after visiting the White House kitchen garden last fall, I've been wanting to grow scarlett runner beans.  I don't think these are edible, but the purple-flowered vines gave the White House kitchen garden a beautiful "cottage garden" look.  So I'm going to try these at home, maybe with a teepee-shaped trellis.

The rest of the garden seed that I like to grow -- like marigolds and zinnias -- I'll wait to buy until spring, when they're a little cheaper.  I'm willing to pay full price, and shipping, when it's a seed variety that's difficult to find locally.

Have you bought your 2013 garden seed yet?  What are you looking forward to growing this year?

Strawberry Stack-A-Pot Update

I realized the other day that I haven't given an update on how my strawberry stack-a-pot has fared this summer.  This is my second year of growing strawberries in a stack-a-pot.  The first year, I ordered a small stack-a-pot from Amazon. This spring, I found a larger stack-a-pot at a local K-Mart store.  I planted the pots with ever-bearing strawberries, which are supposed to bloom throughout the summer.

My first attempt at growing strawberries in a pot was only semi-successful.  I got a few strawberries from the small pot.  But later in the summer, I discovered that whenever I fertilized the strawberries with a little Miracle Grow, the plants would start setting blooms and fruit.

This year, I was glad to find a large pot so I could plant more strawberry plants. Since we're in the middle of a drought, I've been watering the pots every day. Over-watering isn't really an issue with the stack-a-pots, since they are designed for water to drain from one level of pots to another. I've fertilized the plants every two weeks this summer, instead of once the entire summer last year.  And I've been really happy with the results.  Every day, I pick two or more berries off the plants.  No, that isn't a lot, but it's still fun to find little berries that are ready to pick every day.  One morning this summer, I actually picked a handful of berries off the plants, and I enjoyed a bowl of strawberries and cereal for breakfast.

Growing a large strawberry bed isn't an option for me, since most of our backyard is shaded. It's so cool that I can still grow strawberries -- and still be picking berries in September!  I haven't noticed any disease problems with the berries, but I do have to pick them before the ants and fruit flies get to them first.

Have you ever tried to grow strawberries in pots?  I'm curious to see if I can overwinter these plants, but I don't really have the space to keep the pots on the back porch or garage in the winter.

Container gardening: Peas in a pot (or bag)

I've been having a lot of fun, and some unexpected success, at growing vegetables in containers. Yes, I have to water the container vegetables constantly.  But I also can move them around the garden if I want to change the look, make room for something else or give the vegetables more sun or shade.

This winter, I ordered a pack of Peas-in-a-Pot seeds from Burpee.  I've never had much luck growing spring peas, for some reason.  But I did have some success last year at growing lettuce in a grocery bag, after seeing it at a Discover Garden in southern Iowa.  So I decided to plant peas in a bag!

Guess what?  It worked!  I got about a handful of peas from the seeds I planted in the reuseable grocery bag.  Next year, if I do this again, I'm going to grow two bags so I can get a few more peas.

I've also been enjoying a crop of early tomatoes, which I planted in buckets way back in April.  I tried a new yellow pear tomato variety this year, and I've been amazed how many little tomatoes are coming off the plant.  And the little yellow tomatoes look so colorful in salads.

If you're interested in container gardening, in a 5 gallon bucket or bag, I have just a few suggestions.  Make sure you poke (or drill) holes in the bottom of the container for drainage.  Use potting soil (not "garden soil").  Fertilize every two weeks with Miracle Grow or an equivalent.  Don't let the containers dry out.  I water the pots once a day when the weather gets hot, and about every other day when the temps are closer to 70 degrees.  If we get a rain, I'll also wait a day or two to water.  Finally, I recommend using some type of fungicide to prevent tomato wilt and stem rot.  I found an organic fungicide/insecticide/miticide at our local Earl May Garden Center that works great.  One of the main ingredients is Neem Oil, a natural fungicide.

Have you tried container vegetable gardening in your own backyard?  Do you have any advice for those of us who are still learning how to make it work?

Garden update: March 2012

Believe it or not, I'm gardening -- in early March!  Usually March in Iowa comes in like a lion, out like a lamb.  But this year, the temps are in the 70s and even in the 80s this weekend.  And the soil temperatures have hit 50 degrees, which is when it's warm enough for seeds to germinate.  I'm trying to resist the urge to start planting my vegetable seeds, though, since the average frost date in central Iowa isn't until the first of May.  However, I'm thinking about planting a few lettuce seeds, just to see if anything grows.

Last week, I read on Facebook that the Earl May garden centers in central Iowa just received pansies for sale.  Pansies are extremely cold tolerant.  Last year, I planted pansies in April, then we got a couple of inches of snow.  But by mid-May, the pansies looked gorgeous.  I've also planted pansies in the fall, and after an extremely snowy winter, they bloomed again in the spring.  So I couldn't wait to plant them again this year.

I also found a pack of lettuce seedlings at Earl May.  I thought it would be fun to plant an edible arrangement. (Pansy flowers are edible, too.)

I especially loved the large orange blooms on these pansies.  The plants should grow and fill up the container as the weather continues to warm up.

I also checked on my tulip bed in the morning on a 70 degree day, and I didn't see any sprouts yet.  Then three hours later, I went back outside and saw these little tulip shoots. Can't believe they popped up from the ground so fast!

Unfortunately, I learned last year that the rabbits really love to nibble on tulip shoots.  So I bought a cheap roll of wire garden fence to keep the buggers out.  The fencing wasn't long enough, however. So the tulips I couldn't protect were gone by the morning, thanks to our neighborhood rabbits.  But most of the tulips are safe for now.

It felt so good to get my hands dirty in the garden again.  Even a short winter is a long time to wait before it's garden season again.

My first (and only) strawberry

Hello, everyone!  I told you I would give an update on the strawberry pot I planted way back in April. (Can you believe that was two months ago already?)  So far, my potted strawberries are doing excellent.  I highly recommend the Stack-a-Pot, which I bought from Amazon.com.  The strawberries are growing fast, especially the plants on the top "stack."  And the pot looks so pretty, I'm thinking about buying another for next year.

The only drawback of the potted strawberries is that the six little plants aren't producing many berries.  In fact, I've only picked one red berry from the plants.  I blame our crazy weather.  We had a cold, wet spring, followed by a week of dry, 90 degree temps, then pouring rain the last couple days.  Needless to say, I'm a little disappointed.  I was hoping for at least a half dozen strawberries, so I could add a few to my morning bowl of cereal.  But the one berry I picked was delicious -- very sweet and ripe.

There was actually a second berry that was ripening plant.  It was pink and on the verge of turning bright red.  But one night after I got home from work, I looked at the pot and the berry had completely disappeared -- all that was left was the stem.  At first, I thought my husband had picked it.  Then I remembered seeing a bird on that same corner of the deck. 

I did a little research on the Internet, and sure enough, birds are notorious for eating strawberries.  About 30 percent of strawberry crop losses are due to birds!  That's why many backyard gardeners place nets around their strawberry gardens.

Well, lesson learned.  Just when I think I've got this gardening thing figured out, there's always a new (frustrating) twist.  I'm still loving my strawberry pot, though.  The pot looks very pretty on my deck. The strawberries are an ever-bearing variety, so they should produce fruit throughout the summer. I can already see a new berry forming on a plant.

I'm trying to console myself with the thought that at least I'm keeping the neighborhood birds well-fed. :)

Have you ever tried to grow strawberries in a container garden?  Any tips for a newbie like me?