Not everyone is blessed with a nice back yard to grow a vegetables garden. With some thought and planning any yard can support a vegetable garden grown in containers.
Vegetables that take up little space, such as carrots, radishes, onion and lettuce, or crops that bear fruits over a long period of time, such as tomatoes and peppers, are perfect for container vegetable gardens. With some thought to selection, any bush or dwarf varieties and almost any vegetable can be adapted to growing in a container.
Before the gardener goes out and buys a clay pot, whiskey barrel or landscape timber, go on a treasure hunt through a variety of garden centers, hardware stores, import shops and antique shops. Consider selecting ceramic animals, all sizes of ceramic and clay pots, old wheelbarrow, wooden container, old bath tub or one of those special growing devises on the market. With one of these containers, add aesthetic appeal to any yard or patio.
The container should be able to hold a minimum of 3 ½ gallons of soil and allow the water to flow out the bottom through a small hole. That is about what would be used in a 12-inch pot. A cubical planter measuring 1 foot high and 1 foot wide holds 7 ½ gallons of soil. The exception is some leafy and root vegetables that can be grown on a small scale in 4- and 8-inch pots.
Soil from the garden makes poor container soil. A better container mix combines organic materials with minerals. Many gardeners will use a “soilless” growing media or potting soil mixture because it contains the right nutrients for vegetable growth and enough air space to allow air and water movement. After the growing media is in the container, soak it thoroughly with water before planting.
Plant the seeds at the depth listed on the seed package or according to the OSU Fact Sheet, “Oklahoma Gardening Planning Guide”. Rather than burying the seed, the gardener can actually lay the seed on top of the soil mixture and then cover it with more soil to the recommended depth. Plant beet, carrot, lettuce, radish and turnips seeds directly into the container. Vegetables like cabbage, broccoli and tomato should be planted from transplants.
The spacing for container grown vegetables may be closer than for vegetables planted directly in the garden. Broccoli and cabbage for instance, can be planted 10 inches apart rather than 1 ½ feet in conventional gardens. In addition, the gardener needs to allot enough soil for each vegetable. This may take some experience, because the gardener needs to know approximately how large is the root system of each vegetable planted and then allow for that in the container. Remember that plant roots grow two times passed the dripline of the plant. Tomato for example needs approximately 5 gallons of soil for one plant.
Watering container-grown vegetables is especially important because of the limited volume of soil that may dry out faster than the soil in the ground. All containers normally need to be watered daily. They can be immersed in water if they are light enough or they can be watered by hand or with a drip irrigation system.
Water the container until the soil is saturated. Don’t water again until the soil is dry to a depth of 1 to 2 inches. To check, poke a finger into the soil and rub a bit of it between the fingers. If it is dry, then water. Moisture meters can be used for a more accurate measurement.
Give the container a supplemental feeding of an organic or a water-soluble fertilizer every week or two. Because container cultivation requires more water than in a conventional garden, nutrients leach out faster.
Jim Coe lives in Lawton and writes a weekly gardening column for The Lawton Constitution.
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