growing in pots

[dispic1]

i am quite new to this growing veg thingy and i would like to grow some veg in pots on my patio to start with.

last year i grew some tomatoes and spuds with great success and now i am read for something else.

i am going to have a go at dwarf beans and peas, both on a wigwam bamboo structure. onions, leeks and carrots along with spuds and tom. i have just sewn my first pepper seed. will this work using mainly large pots???

any advise would be great.

[Jenny Green]

Yes, peppers and chilli peppers will do well in pots, especially if you have somewhere warm and sunny to put them.

[Monika]

I trust you are not on a water meter?! Because any vegetables grown in containers need masses of water, particularly if we get another dry and warm summer, well, even when it rains it's usually not enough to wet the roots properly in containers. Make sure your compost contains lots of fibrous material like well-rotted manure. Perhaps you could even try water-retaining gel though I have never used it for vegetable containers.

[Jenny Green]

Or get a rainwater butt? I have three!

[Tigger]

We're on metred water but have lots of water butts. Our quarterly bill is much reduced than our previous estimated one.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Dispic1, don't forget that you can't plant a lot of plants outdoors in there pots until the frosts have finished, but you probably already know this.

[Marge]

do those water retaining gel blobs make a difference to watering needs, or are they a con?

[John]

Hello Marge
I'm not sure about those water retaining granules. I did find Chempak Wetting Agent in my local garden centre last year though and found it extremely useful with peat type composts. I guess it would also work on soil based ones. This stuff is liquid that you add to water in your can and give the compost a thorough watering. It was very economical and the compost only needs retreating again after a couple of months.

The problem with compost, expecially peat type, in pots is that it can become dry in the middle without you realising it. You water thoroughly and water drains from the bottom of the pot - you think everything is OK - but if fact water has just run down the outside of the compost. I periodically give my pots a good dunking to make sure that they've wetted all the way through.

John

[loznkate]

dispic,

I grew three varieties of carrot last year. Since they're cheap as chips in the supermarkets (well cheaper actually) I decided that purple, red and small and sweet was good idea, you can also sow every two weeks or so to ensure constant supply through summer (if you've got enough pots).

Good luck.

Loz