Container gardening

[longwinters]

Anyone using containers to grow veggies etc in?  I have 6 grow boxes from The Garden Patch that work great.  Have had them for about 5 years and use them to grow my peppers in.  They also work great for lettus, spinach and the like.  They seem a bit expensive but I bet they will last for many more years.
 
I also have a couple of wood slat (home made) boxes that I grow potatoes in.  As the potatoes grow I add soil and screw on more slats to raise the sides.
 
Both work great on my basket ball court or any small space that doesn't lend itself to tilling etc...
 
Long

[Dixiejack]

Up until this year, I grew tomatoes in bushel baskets using sawdust as my planting medium. You have to water them every couple of days and fertilize them once a week and add a tablespoon of sugar once a week.   They are the sweetest tomatoes that you can hang a lip over.  Make sure you don't use resinous sawdust like pine because the tomatoes will taste like turpentine.

[lakota]

I grow strawberrys in barrels. This year I have planted lettuce in window boxes. I'll let you know how it works out.

[Victor3]

 We don't have much garden space, so grow a lot of stuff in containers. Both on the ground and hanging from hooks at the edge of our patio or "shepherd's crooks." This year we've got strawberries, bell peppers, jalapenos, lettuce, chard, radishes, potatos, tomatos and various herbs in pots.
 
 Past few years we've been growing upside-down tomatos out of 3 gal plastic buckets with a hole cut in the bottom.

[ironglow]

  I tried the 'upside down 'tomatoes and growing them right side up in hanging containers.  It didn't work well for me, I think because of the constant fluctuation of the moist/dry cycles, since I am not as diligent at the watering as some may be. I didn't use commercial potting soil; I figured that would not be cost efficient, since I have plenty of garden space.
  I like my plants to have contact with the soil, which helps to moderate the extremes.
 
   Here is an old way of growing potatoes above the soil which works;
            http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/vegetable/tips-for-growing-potatoes-in-straw.htm
 
   Another suggestion for growing crops in small square footage;
                http://tipnut.com/grow-potatoes/

[charles p]

A lot of veggies can be grown in bales of wheat straw.  Potatoes do very well.  Tomatoes work also.  A friend of mine has a large garden but he still grows some things in bales.  He lets his bales age a year and after the 2nd year, he adds the straw to the garden for mulch.
 
 
Have to water every day - that is the downside.  Same problem with the upside down tomato planters.  Just not enough dirt to feed a lot of roots and the water runs right through them.

[cjclemens]

I used to use pallets to grow some veggies.  All you do is fill them up with soil and plant between the boards.  If you place them on some kind of soil or gravel, the roots just grow right through the bottom of the pallet and down into the ground.  Good thing about pallets is that you can toss em out when they rot apart and go find more, usually for free.

[Bugflipper]

For sweet potatoes and regulat ones I use car tires, similar to what you are doing longwinters. Just add another tire and dirt as it grows up. When it's harvest time just knock a tire off and leave the rest in the dirt.


For container gardening I like the pots that have the water reservoir in the bottom. They wick the water up. It gives them another few days when you forget to water them. I do eggplants, tomatoes and poblanos in them. They are bought the year before when they go on clearance and I pick up gloss white $1 spray paint. It helps with less evaporation and keeps the plastic from becoming brittle in the sun.