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Grow a Delicious Vegetable Garden in a Container!

By: Piper Cox

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Fresh grown vegetables are so wonderful! The taste of a freshly picked tomato is pure heaven and eating your own new, red potatoes is so worthwhile. You don't have room for a huge garden? Crisis solved, containers make vegetable gardening simple!

Many people think of container gardening as an easy method to grow beautiful flowers and accent patios and porches with color. But have you ever experimented adding a few vegetables among the flowers? Most vegetables grow terrific in containers. Peppers and cherry tomatoes grow wonderfully in the middle of flowers. Their bright fruit is a striking interest in the blooms. Plants such as red potatoes and beets add lovely and interesting foliage to your planters.

You can combine your flowers in with the produce, or you can set aside a few just to fruits and vegetables. One ideal illustration of the ideal produce container plant are strawberries. Strawberry plants spread by putting out runners that root down and start a new plant. After they run out of space for new plants the strawberry plants begin to create berries. Fresh strawberries whenever you want them, what could be better?

Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind when setting up a container garden.

No matter what type of pot you choose, it needs to drain properly. If your pot doesn't have holes for drainage, you can add gravel to the bottom or drill holes yourself. If you have a very large pot, you can make a drainage area and eliminate the need for large quantities of soil by adding a layer of styrofoam at the bottom. You will be able move the pot easier because of the lighter weight. Make sure your have deep enough soil for the plants to develop a good root system.

Do not use garden soil. Typical garden soil is heavy and is not best for container plants. You really need to use a good potting soil that is rich in organic and natural material for suitable drainage. Mix regular potting soil with compost and peat moss to get a nourishing soil that is just right for containers. Mixing a time release fertilizer into the soil is a good idea. It will feed for about three months and help you raise better produce.

Your new plants will want to spread their roots, so dig a hole that is twice the size of their root ball. Then back fill the hole with some loose soil, this will give the tender roots soft soil to anchor in. Gently massage the roots to break them up before you plant the plant. If you look closely at a plant fresh from the store container, you will see that the roots are growing in a tight circle. This is because they have been contained and now they need to break free from that growing pattern.

Give your plants a healthy start by using a root starting fertilizer as you are planting. Mix the root starter with water as directed and pour some in each hole as you plant. Root starting fertilizers contain the proper nutrients that help to avoid transplant shock.

Take the scissors to your new plant. Lots of people have a tough time doing this. It is so difficult to cut your brand new, healthy plant! You want the plant to develop a healthy root system, so it needs to focus on that. If the plant is trying to sustain foilage and maybe blossoms, it can't focus on the root system. Generally you need to cut the plant back by two thirds. You will have a fuller, healthier plant in the end if you cut it back now.

Combine plants that require the same kinds of light and water together. If a plant requires full sun, don’t pair it up with a plant that needs in partial shade. Well thought-out planning will yield the best outcome in container gardening.

For fresh produce all summer long, you can't go wrong with a container garden. You can make your container gardening a family thing by letting kids help out with the watering and harvest. Try container gardening, you will like the benefits!

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Piper is a self-employed author who enjoys exercise, good nutrition and the outdoors. She loves to work in the garden with her Mantis tiller. She enjoys gardening, good movies and baking. She spends a lot of time doing research on ideal gardening techniques and passing the information on to you.

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