My first time posting on here..would like some advice about growing veggies in containers.
Due to circumstances beyond our control husband and I have had to move house, and now with only one minimum wage coming in and debts to pay. This house has a very small concrete back yard but have been told that I can grow lots to eat in tubs, buckets etc.Now is the start of the planting season so magazines tell me, so my son in law has promised to take me to B and Q for some bags of compost and some seeds...So, this is where the help is most needed...what seeds shall i get, how do i sow them to ensure that we have as much to eat throughout the year as possible. At least we have an outside tap which should make watering easier.
Help!
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Joy, the warmest of welcomes to the forum.
Firstly, i don't suppose you can ge an allotment can you.
As regards to the magazines saying you need to start sowing, they are always a month in advance of what needs to be done, so there is no rush as it is still very early in the season.
Have you had a look seed swop category on here, i'm sure people will help you get started with some free seeds.
If an allotment isn't an option, i would say it would be best to start with salad crops, and the vegtables that are more expensive to buy.
I'm sure you will get lots of good tips, as everyone is very friendly on here.
Firstly, i don't suppose you can ge an allotment can you.
As regards to the magazines saying you need to start sowing, they are always a month in advance of what needs to be done, so there is no rush as it is still very early in the season.
Have you had a look seed swop category on here, i'm sure people will help you get started with some free seeds.
If an allotment isn't an option, i would say it would be best to start with salad crops, and the vegtables that are more expensive to buy.
I'm sure you will get lots of good tips, as everyone is very friendly on here.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
No allotments near by and we have no transport and I am not in best of health and nearly 60!...no excuse really I know. Have been following some of the links on site but most seem to be aimed at allotment growers. Are most of you on here allotment growers?
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Joy, no not everone on here has an allotment, and some of the members grow in quite small gardens, so they will be able to be of more help than me.
Just so it helps others give you some good answers, does your little garden get much sun, do you have a fence round your garden you can grow things up, and could you start seeds of on one of your indoor window cills.
I hope you don't think i'm trying to complicate things, but the more we know the more we can help.
Just so it helps others give you some good answers, does your little garden get much sun, do you have a fence round your garden you can grow things up, and could you start seeds of on one of your indoor window cills.
I hope you don't think i'm trying to complicate things, but the more we know the more we can help.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
Welcome Joy,
I don't want to put you off growing your own but if you are on a tight budget it may cost you more growing in containers than the value of your crops.
3 that come to mind that are worth growing would be Runner Beans and climbing French Beans on a wig-wam and Tomatoes. All should give you a reasonable crop from a good size container.
Best of luck.
Beryl.
I don't want to put you off growing your own but if you are on a tight budget it may cost you more growing in containers than the value of your crops.
3 that come to mind that are worth growing would be Runner Beans and climbing French Beans on a wig-wam and Tomatoes. All should give you a reasonable crop from a good size container.
Best of luck.
Beryl.
Beryl wrote:
I don't want to put you off growing your own but if you are on a tight budget it may cost you more growing in containers than the value of your crops.
Beryl.
yes but growing things is fun! shopping at the supermarket isn't. I would suggest a strawberry tub, some cut and come again salad leaves, maybe even a grapevine? and a nice herb planter. I once lived in a row of terraces and amused the neighbours by digging up the whole yard with a pickaxe (ruptured the water pipe but i'll not go into that
)Then i layed a path of reclaimed bricks with gaps for little beds, and i even planted a tree (amanogowa)there was probably not another tree in a 2 mile radius. Its nice to have a little grreenery in the urban jungle. You could spend just as much on ornamentals for pots, so much better if they are edible.
Mandy
The main cost of growing in containers is the initial outlay for pots, which I'd suggest you improvise (buiders buckets, compost bags, freezer draws)or look on 'freecycle' to see if anyone local to you is giving them away.
The running cost of seeds can be reduced by swapping, shopping for them a the local Lydl supermarket, and once you've got them, storing them in a cool, dark, dry place so you can make a packet of tomato seeds last for 4 or 5 years.
the compost and fertilizers are a cost, but you can boost them with homemade compost etc. (see the threads on wormeries, bokashi bins..)
i wish you the best of luck, it is as someone has already said, a lot more enjoyable than supermarket shopping, even if it only saves you a little.
The running cost of seeds can be reduced by swapping, shopping for them a the local Lydl supermarket, and once you've got them, storing them in a cool, dark, dry place so you can make a packet of tomato seeds last for 4 or 5 years.
the compost and fertilizers are a cost, but you can boost them with homemade compost etc. (see the threads on wormeries, bokashi bins..)
i wish you the best of luck, it is as someone has already said, a lot more enjoyable than supermarket shopping, even if it only saves you a little.
The garden faces east, surrounded by 6foot fences. There is a very large shed too so space is at a minimum..about 12foot by 12 foot with a 6 x 6 x 6 shed in a corner.
we have inherited a nice collection of spare recycling tubs and fish boxes that were already in the shed. Will need to drill holes in the bottom for drainage. Compost has arrived this evening.Thnak you son in law, Will I need to stand the tubs /boxes on bricks to aid drainage? Have windowsills inside so will be able to start things off. Sald leaves sound a good idea as those you can keep cutting. Think that it will be trial and error this yea but should be fun I think.
Thank you all for the advice and support.
we have inherited a nice collection of spare recycling tubs and fish boxes that were already in the shed. Will need to drill holes in the bottom for drainage. Compost has arrived this evening.Thnak you son in law, Will I need to stand the tubs /boxes on bricks to aid drainage? Have windowsills inside so will be able to start things off. Sald leaves sound a good idea as those you can keep cutting. Think that it will be trial and error this yea but should be fun I think.
Thank you all for the advice and support.
Hello Joy
I agree with Beryl - by far the best money savers are beans and tomatoes. Modern varieties of climbing french bean such as 'Cobra' are very productive. Raspberries will also give you a lot of fruit - you could grow them up one of your fences but will be far happier if you can get them into a small patch of soil somewhere.
I would stand your containers up off the ground, not because of drainage but simply to deter creepy crawlies like woodlice, slugs, ants and so on from taking up residence in your compost.
John
I agree with Beryl - by far the best money savers are beans and tomatoes. Modern varieties of climbing french bean such as 'Cobra' are very productive. Raspberries will also give you a lot of fruit - you could grow them up one of your fences but will be far happier if you can get them into a small patch of soil somewhere.
I would stand your containers up off the ground, not because of drainage but simply to deter creepy crawlies like woodlice, slugs, ants and so on from taking up residence in your compost.
John
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Joy, it would pay to lift your pots/tubs off he ground a little, but it doesn't have to be bricks, old broken tiles or the like will do.
Don't be scared to ask any questions, however silly you may think them.
Don't be scared to ask any questions, however silly you may think them.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
Hello Joy - welcome aboard.
I know you have said an allotment may be a bit much for you, but it worth checking whether your local sites have a site shed. Quite often these are run by the local horticultural society and you don't have to have a plot to buy stuff there. Generally memebership of the society is only a few pounds a year.
As they buy in bulk, they can be great sources of cheap compost, seeds and fertilisers, plus loads of help
Sue
I know you have said an allotment may be a bit much for you, but it worth checking whether your local sites have a site shed. Quite often these are run by the local horticultural society and you don't have to have a plot to buy stuff there. Generally memebership of the society is only a few pounds a year.
As they buy in bulk, they can be great sources of cheap compost, seeds and fertilisers, plus loads of help
Sue
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Compo
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Hi Joy and welcome
Lidl, Aldi and Wilkinsons have cheap seeds, although for quantity you cannot beat seeds of Italy in my opinion (available in good garden centres). Poundland have cheap tubs as do Wilkos and buyology if you have any of those nearby. Beware though of cheap l compost, but your local tip (posh name household waste recycling centre) may have some of their own compost.
Carrots do ok in tubs, as do lettuce and as been said before cut and come again varieties. Runner Beans and Peas and french beans are possible. Spring onions from seed and leeks also are possible. You will need to think about food of the liquid type, look back on this site for various ways that you can make cheap liquid feed, as I feel your pots will run out of food in a few months, chicken manure pellets may be an option, sprinkled on once a fortnight after the first couple of months of the veg growing in tubs.
Spuds in compost sacks and you can pad out the compost for spuds with shredded paper or newspapers or cardboard well soaked and ripped up.
Good luck and do update us with your progress.
Compo
Lidl, Aldi and Wilkinsons have cheap seeds, although for quantity you cannot beat seeds of Italy in my opinion (available in good garden centres). Poundland have cheap tubs as do Wilkos and buyology if you have any of those nearby. Beware though of cheap l compost, but your local tip (posh name household waste recycling centre) may have some of their own compost.
Carrots do ok in tubs, as do lettuce and as been said before cut and come again varieties. Runner Beans and Peas and french beans are possible. Spring onions from seed and leeks also are possible. You will need to think about food of the liquid type, look back on this site for various ways that you can make cheap liquid feed, as I feel your pots will run out of food in a few months, chicken manure pellets may be an option, sprinkled on once a fortnight after the first couple of months of the veg growing in tubs.
Spuds in compost sacks and you can pad out the compost for spuds with shredded paper or newspapers or cardboard well soaked and ripped up.
Good luck and do update us with your progress.
Compo
We are knocking the back wall down(it is unsafe) and a fence put up next week so was proposing to use the bricks to make a patch to stand the tubs on. Will check out the ideas for cheap feed for the tubs. Have a compost bin that is stood out the front on the small patch of soil there. It will take ages to fill and rot down but it is a start. Will check out Wilko, best shop in town . But are the seeds/plants in £1land viable with them being so cheap?
An allotment is not an option..annual rent is £100 a year here and the council does not have a compost/ bark chip recycling sytem at all.
Don't think it will be worth while us growing spuds as we eat very few of them..now a 'sphaghetti tree' would be ideal as we cook/eat mainly Italian(we are all vegetarians)
An allotment is not an option..annual rent is £100 a year here and the council does not have a compost/ bark chip recycling sytem at all.
Don't think it will be worth while us growing spuds as we eat very few of them..now a 'sphaghetti tree' would be ideal as we cook/eat mainly Italian(we are all vegetarians)
As you have some bricks why not make a raised bed fill it with compost or top soil as and when you can try Freecycle also newspaper and cardboard though not too much, put it in the sunniest spot only as far as you can reach as by not standing on the soil you can plant things much closer together you can put such as climbing beans at the back and other things planted in blocks look at square foot gardening for ideas, I grow tumbler tomatoes in hanging baskets also cut and come again salads, get the largest plastic hanging basket from Wilkinsons and make the drainage holes 2-3 inches up the sides instead of in the base this gives them a well for water, Wilkinsons sell seeds bogof you will have to go in a few times to get benefit of this buying ones of the same price at each visit as it is always the cheapest free ! good luck 
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Primrose
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I'd be tempted to try and grow the things that are most expensive in the shops. Tomatoes will grow in growbacks or large containers and three or four climbing runner beans or French beans in a large tub will provide a good yield. Cut & come again salad leaves will allow you pick just enough for what you need to eat at any one time. If your fences have strong wooden posts, long hanging bags with holes in them (as opposed to hanging baskets) can be planted up with strawberry plants instead of flowers and being well away from the ground, should grow free from slug damage.