Growing in containers

[Ovalman]

Hello all, long time lurker here anyway I spotted a local food bank/ community group growing in pots so I suggested to put in some raised beds. Well lo and behold the idea has took off, we sourced a free grant and now have several raised beds and a polytunnel.

I have a raised bed of my own 7' x 3.5' so I plan on growing high yield and quick growing veg like carrots, beetroot, lettuce, radish. Things that basically suit small spaces. I also plan on growing in pots and grow bags. These are pots out of Poundworld, I don't have exact measurements but I could do if needed.



I plan on growing a variety of things like cauliflower, cabbage in these pots (1 per pot) but I'm wondering how many broad beans and peas to put in each pot? Any ideas? I don't want to overcrowd each pot but I don't want to waste space.

Any help would be appreciated.

[tigerburnie]

Peas could be crammed in every couple of inches if there's good compost or manure in the pot, go for smaller height varieties or better still Mange tout. Broad beans are also hungry, so maybe 3 maximum?

[Ovalman]

That was the figure I had in mind but didn't want to put too many in and stunt the growth. Putting too few in will give me a bigger crop but I may not max out the space.

The variety of Broadbean is "The Sutton" which it says on the packet suitable for containers. I haven't chosen my pea variety.

[Colin2016]

Check out square foot gardening, hopefully from library if you have difficulty I would be happy to send you my copy to borrow.

Also Quick Crop .co.uk is a good site for research.

[Ovalman]

As a noob my posts are under moderation so may appear in the wrong orders

Yes I know about the square foot gardening. We started the project last June and I was able to get things growing. We have struggled with a water supply which was the biggest downfall. We've 1 water butt but it went dry during the hot period. Hopefully we can get this sorted for the summer.

I tried square foot gardening but it wasn't a massive success. The water was the main issue.

What grew well:
Carrots, beetroot, scallions, chives, lettuce, various salad leaf like Spinach etc.

What went OK
Peas, kale, leek, mange tout, french beans, runner beans

What didn't work
Onions went to seed, Khol Rabi didn't swell, Turnip didn't swell, outdoor tomatoes (my fault, I didn't pinch out side shoots plus lack of water), brussel sprouts (mildew affected them).

This year I plan on growing a lot more in containers and using the containers like a square foot patch. My raised bed will be used for a constant supply of root veg. I particularly like veg like beetroot where you can eat the tops as greens so I plan on growing a lot of turnip, khol rabi and beetroot.

Thanks for those links, some good information.

[Westi]

Hi Ovalman! Welcome to the forum!

You've answered your own question really, use the failures / not so good and look at what went wrong - in your case watering it seems! Set up drippers, they are quite cheap if you want to fill a bag rather than connect directly to a water source, but they do work if you set the little tap things correctly & can last several days even in a good Summer. Can your team bring some large bottles of water down - one butt is never going to meet the plants needs - go on any local free to a good home local sites (Gum Tree etc) & take all offered if you have the space!

Or just be creative with how you arrange them for flow off if there is any rain - as if there won't be!

[tigerburnie]

I grew the Sutton last year in raised beds(sort of big container), not a huge cropper if I'm honest, but tasty.

[Ovalman]

I asked on one of the sites mentioned above and they got back to me with 2 per pot. I think I'll plant 2, 3, 4 and 6 per pot and compare results. Peas maybe 4, 6, 9, 12?

The pots measure 12"x12"x12" but taper toward the bottom as can be seen.

I also found good information on drip fed water bottles from pop bottles, thanks for the suggestions.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Ive found the square tubs with a water reservoir from Lidl very useful. They are only about £3 or so and are a good size for a few veg especially with the built in water supply. I've had good results with an early sowing of carrots in the unheated greenhouse in one, and the small cherry tomato Garden Pearl did very well with one or two to a tub and a few basil and lettuce with them. I sometimes plant a couple of tagetes with the tomatoes to keep the whitefly away and they look pretty.

[Primrose]

I reckon you could grow one, and possibly two tumbling tomato plants such as red or yellow tumbling tom in containers that size. I would first dig in some chicken manure pellets to provide enough nourishment to keep them going the whole season, and also some water retaining crystals. This is how I grow tumbling tomato plants in patio containers and it works well. You do have to water generously especially in sunny weather.

[oldherbaceous]

Evening Ovalman, if you can get hold of some large saucers to stand your pots in, this will help hugely with the pots not drying out so quickly. It also stops the nutrients in the soil or compost from washing through when watered and you can put a liquid food in the saucers, when and if required.