Growing Food in Pots part 2


 You can grow some really great vegetables and fruits in containers.  The last article was about which plants do best in pots.  This time we will focus on pots and soil.

There are basically three commonly used choices when it comes to containers for growing food: plastic pots, clay pots and fabric bags.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of container.  Your decision will depend primarily on what you are going to grow.  The size of the container also depends on the size of the plant you will be growing and whether you will want to move the pot.  A big plant in a small pot will dry out quickly.


PLASTIC


Plastic pots are more durable than clay pots.  They are lighter than clay and also cheaper.  The biggest advantage of plastic pots is they do not dry out as quickly as clay pots.  If you are growing plants that need moist soil, plastic pots do a good job of holding water.  Also, it is way easier to drill extra drainage holes on the bottom of the plastic pot when needed.


There are some disadvantages to plastic pots.  Plastic pots are lightweight so they are more prone to tipping over when there is a high wind.  If you have a big plastic pot, this probably won’t happen.  Tipping over goes back to the idea of maintaining a balance between top growth vegetation and roots.  Plastic is easy to clean and reuse.  When the plastic breaks and if you have a type of plastic that cannot be recycled, you will creating plastic waste for the landfill.  



CLAY POTS


There are two types of clay pots: unglazed (terra cotta) and glazed (colorfully decorated and fired).   Terra cotta is more porous than glazed so it dries out faster.  For plants that don’t want too much moisture (e.g. peppers), terra cotta can be your best choice for a pot.  Terra cotta lets the soil dry out more between waterings.  Glazed pots are a good intermediate between plastic and terra cotta.  Glazed do not dry out as fast as terra cotta because the glaze stops the porosity of the pot.  


When outside, the heavy clay walls of terra cotta and glazed pots help to moderate temperature changes so the root systems are exposed to a more naturally consistent soil temperature.  Clay pots are heavier so they are less likely to be blown over by the wind.  Clay is a natural material so you don’t have to worry about creating nasty landfill waste when your pot breaks (unless your pot has been glazed with a toxic element).


Clay pots are heavier than plastic so large volume clay pots are harder to move.  Clay pots are more expensive than plastic, especially the glazed, decorative pots.  For terra cotta pots, as the water evaporates through the walls of the pot, salt moves through the wall leaving a whitish film.  The biggest disadvantage to clay pots is that they break easily.  Besides dropping or kicking them, clay pots can crack and break when subjected to freezing temperatures.  



FABRIC GROW BAGS


The biggest advantage to fabric grow bags are their ease of use.  They typically have handles so the smaller bags can be easily moved from place to place.  Between growing seasons, you can easily empty out the bags and store them in a dry place.  If you have a plant that needs good drainage, a fabric bag is a good choice.


Fabric bags have some disadvantages.  Typically grow bags last only 2-3 growing seasons.  Most of the grow bags sold are not biodegradable.  They are made of plastic and don’t break down.  Grow bags dry out faster so they need more watering than plastic or clay pots.   Finally, fabric grow bags can be more expensive than other containers.


CARDBOARD BOXES AND PAPER BAGS


I have had some luck growing plants in cardboard boxes, but there are some things to keep in mind.  First, you want to find a cardboard box that is sturdy, otherwise it will fall apart pretty fast.  You might want to encircle your box with duct tape, once or twice, to reinforce it and give it more strength.   You still need drainage holes on the bottom of the box so your plants won’t be too wet.  Place your box in a location where you won’t mind soil spilling out if your box fails - preferably on the ground or on a concrete slab.


A friend of mine had success growing potatoes in brown paper leaf collection bags.  These bags are quite large and tough.  You need to roll down the side of the bag to create the size pot you want.  These leaf bags won’t last more than one season.  You can easily harvest the potatoes, but you will have to shovel up the soil.



SOIL


The most important thing to keep in mind when growing food in containers is that you will want to add some perlite or vermiculite to your soil.  Perlite and vermiculite are types of clay that are excellent at holding water.  The biggest danger to your potted plants is drying out.  Perlite and vermiculite will help prevent your plants from wilting, but if you wait too long between watering your plants can still dry out.  


If you have compost, that is always a good place to start with your potting mixture.  The organic matter in compost will help to hold water along with the perlite or vermiculite.  If you can make your own compost, that is the best.  If you have good topsoil in your yard, you can just use it, but it is still a good idea to add some compost and perlite/vermiculite. 


You might have to buy soil.  Potting soil might already have perlite or vermiculite in it, but you might want to add more.  Bags of topsoil or garden soil will probably not have perlite or vermiculite already added to it.  


Then there is the question of fertilizer.  Some bagged soil will already have fertilizer added to it.  You need to look on the label for an NPK content (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium).  If chemical fertilizer is already added, you won’t have to fertilize your plants for a couple of months.


  If fertilizer has not been added to the soil you are using, I recommend that you water your plants in the morning with fish emulsion mixed in with the water.   You only need to use fish once every 7-10 days.  If you can get a seaweed mixture like Maxicrop, that is good to add to the water too.  It will provide trace elements needed by your plants.  If you don’t like fish emulsion, there are many granular organic fertilizer products available today that you can add to your soil.  


Growing food in pots gives you the opportunity to eat healthy, fresh food that you know has not been sprayed with pesticides.  Even if you start with just a couple of potted food plants, before you know it, in future years, you will be growing a jungle of delicious plants you can be proud of sharing with your family and friends.    


Thank you for reading.  You might like to read my most recent books.  They are available from Amazon. Here is the link:  

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Edwin-McLeod/author/B08TCJTKSW?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lovable Lawn

Image
Glory of the Snow (Chionodoxa)   Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it.   I could probably look like the Terminator if I took steroids and spent lots of time in the gym lifting weights, but I’d prefer not to have shriveled testicles.   You could have a lawn that looks like a carpet, but you probably don’t want to expose yourself, family and pets to pesticides and all the negative environmental consequences that go along with using chemicals on your lawn.   One of the worst consequences of using chemical fertilizers is water pollution.  Inorganic chemical fertilizers are very water soluble.  A large percentage of chemical fertilizer ends up washing down into streams, rivers and lakes.  The massive algae bloom that occurs almost every year in Lake Erie is primarily the result of chemical fertilizers used on lawns and farm fields.  The overgrowth of algae not only kills fish, it also caused the City of Toledo, Ohio to close down their water system for several da
Read more

To Pot or Not To Pot

Image
                                                                     Bambino eggplant If your home does not include space for a garden, you might like to grow some food in pots.  Or, if you do have a yard, you might like to expand your garden by adding a few pots.  You can produce lots of food by growing vegetables in containers.  You just need a little background knowledge.  I am going to separate this article into two parts.  The first part is about choosing the plants and varieties which grow well in pots.  The second part is about the advantages and disadvantages of different pots and about potting soil mixtures. In general, when choosing food plants to grow in pots, you want to choose smaller size varieties of vegetables.  The reason: you want to maintain a balance between roots and leafy vegetation.  The limiting variable in growing plants in containers is water.  While in a pot, the root system cannot grow as large as it would in garden soil.  On a hot or windy day, the vegeta
Read more

Trick Your Taste Buds

Image
                  Stevia rebaudiana   (Robert Lynch, Melbourne/Australia)  CC0  Stevia is a plant that tastes like sugar, but does not give you the calories of sugar.  It fools your tongue into thinking you are consuming food energy, but you are not.  Any time you experience a sweet taste, it is the result of molecules binding onto specific receptor proteins in your taste buds.   Why is this plant important?  Stevia is a natural source of sweetness without making you gain weight or, for diabetics, raising your blood glucose level.  Many people are looking for a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners created in a laboratory, like Aspartame and Sucralose.  Research has shown that Aspartame and Sucralose have many health risks associated with their consumption.  Stevia is one natural alternative to artificial sweeteners. The leaves of Stevia are 20 to 30 times sweeter than table sugar.  It has been consumed in South America for hundreds of years.  Stevia was introduced to the re
Read more