Container Gardening

I know that there are people who swear by starting plants from seed.  For my part, however, I rarely have much luck with it.

This year, I spent around 20 on seeds, potting soil, and little peat pots to start the plants.  By planting time, I had two zucchini plants, 2 pumpkin plants, and a few bush beans.  A week after putting them in the ground, half of those were dead.

Ah, well.

I will certainly keep trying (one of these years, I will get the hang of it), but for this year,  I again need to think about buying and potting seedlings.

So, where do you look for seedlings?  How do you choose them?  In large part, it depends on what is important to you.  Do you want specific varieties of your chosen crops?  Are you interested in heirloom varieties?  Have you done research into which type of zucchini has the best flavor?  Depending on what you want and need, you can look in different price ranges.

The easiest (and cheapest) place to find vegetable seedlings is the garden center of your local superstore or home improvement store.  At my local K-Mart, I can buy flats of early vegetables for under $2 for a 6-pack.  That will produce a lot of tomatoes.  A Home Depot or Lowe’s will have prices in a similar range.

Obviously, at a superstore, your selections will be limited.  They may not have much information about the varieties they do have, and your chosen variety may not be there.

You also have to be very careful about quality.  Look for stems that are straight and not cracked.  Check for dead or dying leaves.  It’s usually a good idea, when buying 6-packs, to opt for smaller plants, rather than larger.  While the larger plants may be closer to bearing fruit, they get that size by remaining too long in their tiny pots, and often do not thrive when moved to a larger container.  If you are buying late in the season, opt for the larger plants in solo pots rather than the 6-pack flats.

If you choose to go up a step in quality, look for a well-reviewed local nursery.  Quality in nurseries can be hard to judge.  You want a place that knows a good deal about local growing conditions and can advise you on the best plants for your garden.  Whether or not you need their advice, their knowledge will affect the plants they care for.

Nurseries will be much more likely to carry a selection of plant varieties.  Instead of “strawberries”, they may have 4-5 types of strawberries to choose from, with different maturity times or plant sizes.  If you have pickier needs, shopping at a nursery can help you get just what you need.

Tip: if you are looking for a specific type of plant, it may be worth researching local farms to see if they offer any seedlings for sale.  There is a local farm near me, Verrill Farm, that allows people to pre-order heirloom and hybrid tomato seedlings in late winter for pickup in May.  This usually requires some pre-planning, but if you can find a provider, can give you an excellent start on your garden.

If you have specific needs that can’t be met locally, you can turn to online sources for your seedling order.  Be VERY CAUTIOUS when ordering online.  With most online orders, you can receive it and immediately know if something went wrong.  With plants, you may not know until a year or two later that the cherry tree you ordered was actually a mislabeled apple tree.  You also cannot select the healthiest-looking seedlings.

Before deciding to buy from an online nursery, look for reviews of them.  Dave’s Garden has a fantastic resource called the Garden Watchdog, which keeps reviews of nurseries and lets you know how many are positive and negative.  If you can, I strongly urge you to order from one of their Top 30 sites, all of which are very well reviewed.

If the sites that have your chosen variety all have neutral or slightly negative ratings from the Garden Watchdog, don’t worry too much about it.  One interesting fact about reviews is that people are much more likely to post about bad experiences than good, unless offered another incentive for reviewing.  A site with 30 good reviews and 30 bad still likely has 90% or more customer satisfaction.

One real downside to ordering online is shipping costs.  If you plan to buy online, plan your purchase carefully and buy everything you will need at once and from one site (if possible) to minimize your shipping costs.

Good luck, and good shopping!

So, you’re looking to get started in container gardening, but you don’t know what to grow?  We can help!  Here is a list of five edible plants that grow well in containers.

1. Herbs
If you don’t have much experience with container gardening, herbs are hands-down the best place to start. 

With a little care and nurturing, you can keep a basil plant alive on your kitchen windowsill through a winter, and it is even easier to plant a container bed with several herbs at once to thrive through the summer months.  I always start my herbs from seedlings.  If you have an urn or windowbox, consider planting several varieties side-by-side.  I keep basil, parsley, chives, tarragon, oregano, and thyme in mine.  Find out what you use most!

2. Tomatoes
Depending on how much space you have, you can opt for the right style of tomato plant for you.  If you are limited in space, you can grow cherry tomatoes in baskets: they’re both decorative and tasty.  Good varieties to try for that include Florida Basket Tomatoes and Anmore Dewdrop Tomatoes.  Get more info on Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Containers.

If you have more space, you can upgrade to larger tomatoes in pots and planters of five gallons or more.  Roma tomatoes grow very well in pots.  Remember to stake and water well, and you can get a great harvest.

3. Radishes
Radishes can be a lot of fun to grow, especially with children, because they are very quick to grow and don’t need much space.  You can plant them in a windowbox or a little planter and have a harvest in 3-4 weeks!  Moisten the soil in a pot, plant radish seeds, and cover with 1/4 inch of soil.  Cover the pot with plastic wrap until the seeds sprout.  3 weeks after that, your radishes will be ready to eat!

4. Lettuce
Lettuce is a pretty plant, and works well as combination vegetable and ornamental container plant.  I like to plant it in windowboxes, for a nice bit of greenery.  They don’t need too much depth, but be sure to space the plants adequately.  Following the instructions on the package should be fine.  One advantage to lettuce is that you can find good partial shade varieties, which can help if you don’t get much direct sun.

5. Squash
In my experience, summer squashes are a terrifically forgiving plant.  You need a good-sized pot for container squash, but if you get a pot of around five gallons or more and try to keep them watered, you can get a fabulous crop from them.  Keep in mind, squash plants (especially zucchini) like to spread out and fill space.  You need to either prune them back or be prepared for crazy trailing leaves and vines.

Nearly any vegetable you can grow in the ground can be grown in a container, provided the container is big enough.  These suggestions should help you get started, but feel free to experiment on your own and find what works best for you.  Good luck!