Container veg growing

container veg growingMost vegetables can be grown in containers. The bigger the container the better, I had best results with old flower buckets (morrisons sell them eight for a pound) fill with a good quality compost and feed and water regularly as pots and containers dry out quickly in dry spells. I have grown:-

  • carrots
  • calabrese
  • cauliflower
  • courgettes
  • spring onions
  • broad beans
  • runner beans
  • dwarf beans
  • tomatoes
  • turnips
  • radishes
  • potatoes
  • peas

with varied results. I found that courgettes grow well if the container is big enough, other squashes however, didn’t do so well I suspect that they need more space. I have also grown potatoes in buckets but the big seed companies sell potato growing sacks and these are much more suited for the job.

It’s best not to over crowd plants in pots, try to imagine how big each plant will be when fully grown. As a guide in a recycled flower bucket I planted 6 broad beans (the variety was the Sutton which is a dwarf broad bean) 6 peas (meteor again a dwarf variety) 1 tomato, 1 potato, 1cauliflower, 1 calabrese, 6 turnips, about 20 radishes, 10 carrots, 1 courgette, 3 runner beans (it helps to bury some newspaper below the bean seeds to hold some moisture this stops the beans getting stringy).

Another advantage to growing vegetables in containers is they can be moved relatively easily (into shade, or out of cold) and this can help with a form of companion planting without restricting root growth.

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