Hey gardeners!
Today, we’re going to talk about container gardening! It’s almost exactly what it sounds like — growing plants in some kind of container rather than in a raised bed or directly in the ground. This has a couple of concrete benefits:
First of all, of course, it saves a lot of space. Containers can be placed just about anywhere — on a porch, beside a driveway, in the corner of a balcony — and you can have as few or as many as you’d like. This makes it a great option for urban gardening. Plus: they’re mobile! If you discover one of your container plants isn’t getting as much sun as it needs, you can always move it somewhere else. Container gardens usually require less weeding, as they’re off the ground, and you can adjust the potting mix according to which specific crops you’d like to grow. Almost anything you can plant in the ground can also be grown in a container!
You can start a container garden in anything that will hold soil, like plastic buckets, small or medium trash cans, or window boxes, but make sure whatever you choose has a few drainage holes in the bottom, about ¼ inch in diameter — soil that can’t drain is more likely to have bacterial or fungal growth, which can harm your plants.
Or, you can use a fabric grow bag! Grow bags are neat because they’re porous, which lets air and water in and out more easily than plastic. This allows for soil drainage. It’s also good for plant roots — the roots will stop growing when they get to the edge of the bag because they’ve reached air (this is called “air pruning”), and the circulation through the walls of the bag encourages healthier roots overall. The best material for a grow bag is heavy-duty landscape fabric, often made from polypropylene. Other types of fabric will still work but often won’t last as long — they’re less durable. Also: keep an eye on whether or not the material is food-grade, especially if you’re planting vegetables.
One thing to keep in mind is that grow bags will generally dry out faster than plastic containers or garden beds, so make sure to water frequently. Also, containers in general do better with a “soilless” potting mix — soil from the ground is often too heavy and can become easily compacted. Here’s a recipe if you’d like to make your own mix, but you can also buy one from a garden store:
https://www.almanac.com/how-make-your-own-potting-mix
Here’s some more info about container gardening:
https://www.almanac.com/content/container-gardening-vegetables
https://www.almanac.com/gardening-methods-overview
It’s possible to sew your own grow bags! (This person used cotton, but you could substitute for a more durable material.) Check this out:
Finally: if you’d like to get a chance to try out grow bags for yourself, stop by our upcoming workshop!
