I have talked about container gardening a few times in the past few months. At the moment I have plants growing both in the ground and in containers. I noticed recently that I have less of a pest problem in containers than in-ground.
Whether you live in an apartment (or tipi), a house or a farm, container gardening is a simple solution for low-cost, organic gardening.
Most herbs love containers. A window box or small tray can produce most of your herbs for cooking. A few easy starters include: Basil, Cilantro, Sage and Thyme.
My favorite veggies for containers include Peppers (all varieties so far), Lettuce and Spinach, Squash and Tomatoes.
It's not necessary to purchase fancy or expensive containers. I prefer to use recycled pots and containers. For seedlings, I have cleaned (sterilized) yogurt or cottage cheese containers and then poked holes in them for drainage. When I ran out of plastic I used recycled toilet paper rolls. When I ran out of TP rolls I bought peat pots.
Get it? Cheap!
One item I did splurge on was organic seed-starter mix. In the past I have mixed my own but this season I was behind schedule so I bought a bag. Gasp! It wasn't all that expensive and it saved me a bit of time. Drainage is very important for starting seeds.
For self-watering trays I re-use plastic or styrofoam trays. When seedlings are ready to be transplanted there are several low cost/no cost options available.
1. Clean kitty litter buckets
2. 5 gallon utility buckets
3. Thrift store or garage sales
Use your imagination! Decorate ugly buckets or pots. Just because it isn't stamp "planter" doesn't mean it wouldn't make a great plant container.
Happy Planting!
2 comments:
Hi Mary. Thanks for calling at my blosite. I am also a gardener and grow my own plants from seed. Like you I think it's fun - Dave
Thanks for stopping by Dave!
Post a Comment