As the name suggests, Container Gardening refers to growing plants in different containers rather than planting them directly into the ground. In todays world when the limitation of time and space has been felt like never before, container gardening seems to make more and more sense. It allows you to grow any plant in anywhere in the world which earlier was never thought of. Poor soil, lack of space are no longer an excuse for abandoning the excellent hobby of Gardening.
As I am writing this article, the popularity of container gardening has exploded through out the world. Plants in different pots and containers can be seen from lawns of bungalows to the rooftops of urban apartments in every country. Those have given an entire different color and texture to the landscaping.
But before going any further let me first give you some reasons for starting your own container gardening:
Container Gardening can be the best gardening option for the beginners. Even a rookie can start gardening in very little time.
It can be very economical. No need to waste much more time and money with starting with normal garden. Where most of the initial costs involved preparation of soil bed, weeding, fertilizing, suitable area for gardening etc. you can start with a single pot, little bit of soil or soil-lessmix, and some seeds or just one or two sidling.
You don’t need big space to do container gardening. You can use your terrace, stoop etc. Just make sure you are getting ample sunlight there. When you are having space constrains the container gardening is the best available solution to your problem.
Container gardening can liberate you from the geographical problem you faced while gardening in your traditional garden. It is said that “you can grow Cactus in Alaska” by using container gardening method.
Portability is another big advantage of doing container gardening. While teaching your child Botany, you can definitely give some live example by bringing your container to the study room, make your child associate with the plants without leaving the study room.
You don’t need to worry about critters which may have destroyed your garden earlier.
Here are some nice looking containers available on Amazon
There is almost no plant that you cannot grow in a container. Vegetables, herbs, flowers plants, even trees can be grown through container gardening. You just need the container of appropriate size.
So if you found yourself interested in pursuing container gardening, I request you to please read on. Container gardening process is very similar to that of traditional gardening with little fine tuning.
The first thing you need to start a container garden is to find an suitable Container. You can use almost anything in the world as a container as long as it is big enough to sustain the root growth of the fully mature plant and it has proper drainage. As they say in case of container gardening “size does matter”. Try not to use a container smaller than 12’’. Even a five gallon plastic bag can be used as a container to start gardening.
Drainage is very essential in container gardening. Make sure your container has sufficient drainage facility like some holes at the bottom.
Try to use quality potting soil or make your own by using different soil-less media which I have discussed earlier. You can use your garden soil also but make sure that drainage of the soil is maintained. Using your garden soil also restricts your vegetables or other plants choices as per you local geographic.
As the source of nutrition is limited inside the container, you need to add fertilizers from time to time. Try to use organic fertilizers(like compost), as it will benefit you in the longer run.
You can start from seeds or by transplanting seedlings. Both of them have their advantages and disadvantages. Choose the option that better suits you.
If you are growing vegetables it is almost necessary to put your container where there is ample sunlight. Plants which are only cultivated for leaves or stems can grow without direct sunlight. You can check the effect of sunlight on the growth of different plants in my earlier article Sun or no Sun.
Unlike traditional gardening you need to take proper care in case of watering plant. As there are no source of water which the roots can reach you need to put water at regular interval. The details of watering techniques can be found here.
As I am a strong believer of “slow but steady” style of growth I will always suggest you to start with small and then achieve the bigger goal with continuous growth. Try to start your container gardening with plants which are easy to grow such as tomato, pea, eggplants etc than move up to the higher difficulty level such as squash or melons.
Thanks for reading. Like to receive your feedback on this.
