Last week, we talked about how wonderful container gardening is and how it can make gardening easier. This week, let's delve a little deeper into the plant material.
If you wish to grow edibles in your containers then there are actually many different plants that can be grown. Use your imagination and make your containers attractive as well as enjoying the added benefit of feeding you and yours. I plant everything in containers, but remember to plant only what will fit the container until after harvest. For example, if you wish to plant tomatoes in a container you need to use a 15- to 20-gallon container, so your tomato will flourish and not dry out. Smaller plants like peppers or eggplant can use a container a bit smaller or alternatively put two or three plants in a larger container.
If you are thinking of vegetables that are harvested for their root then it is important to plant the appropriate size for the container. My large pots will take full-size parsnips or carrots but if you have smaller/shorter containers then there are a variety of mini vegetables you can grow. Thorogreen beans, Baby Head cabbage, Early Sugar Midgit cantaloupe, Bunny Bite carrots, Little Minnie cucumbers, Easter Egg eggplant and Ladyfinger potatoes are just a few of the tiny vegetables available. Planting a container of spring onions is also a great idea. Nothing beats home grown vegetables.
Some other things to consider that are both beautiful and edible include kale, nasturtium, calendula and bright lights swiss chard. Even better is the more you pick, the better they grow, which is also true of herbs. Even growing lettuce and greens that have different leaf shapes and colours are fair game. Mix some of these in with longer season kale and have a container that will be beautiful from spring to fall.
One of the most important things you need to remember is to grow what you will eat. However, do not be afraid to experiment, as there are endless plants out there right now. Go for a tour of your top three garden centres and shop for the unique and beautiful.
Remember you will have to feed your container garden in order to get a harvest. I like to use a slow release fertilizer when planting just in case I get busy and forget to feed my vegatables. Each watering I also use a dilute mixture of 20-20-20 for those edibles that we do not wish to bloom and a dilute mixture of a high phosphorus complete fertilizer for those edibles we need to see bloom and fruit.
Good luck with growing edibles in your containers this growing season!
— Hanbidge is a horticulturist with the Saskatoon School of Horticulture and can be reached at 306-931-GROW(4769); by email at [email protected]; facebook: @schoolofhort; twitter: @hortiuclturepat; instagram: patyplant or check out saskhort.com.
Container gardening can be attractive and edible. Photo by Patricia Hanbidge
