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8/1/10 11:12 P

Great website Nettie, thank you!!!

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8/1/10 10:21 P

I know this is a very old thread but I couldn't resist replying. I have been VERY pleased with my home-made self-watering containers (how-to link below). They are cheap to make and you have control on the depth of the container as some plants (tomatoes, corn, for example) require at 18-24" soil depths but you can get away with much less for other veggies. This is my first year using them and I'm now planning my Fall plantings.

earthtainer.tomatofest.com/

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9/28/09 12:21 P

I'm not showing a very green thumb with container gardening. The soil I purchased was infrested with gnats. I bought some BT in hopes of getting the population under control and possibly wiped out. I don't know that I'm making any headway. The larvae are eating the roots of my plants so they're not growing at all. They're just hanging on and slowly withering. I'm really annoyed.

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6/14/09 2:11 P

Thank you Lori for the great info on your gardens! Something worth checking into. I also thought window boxes went on the outside of the window...

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6/12/09 10:01 P

Okay, silly me - I thought "window boxes" would hang from the window on the outside of the house.

Whoosh - I finally found one that does that. LOL!

Edited by: LORI2008 at: 6/12/2009 (22:09)

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6/12/09 6:45 A

It's funny, over the years I have found more useful links from the Ohio Cooperative Extension, and other Ohio sites, then most anywhere else. Not just in gardening....

You Ohions (???) are smart!

Hey, now that I think of it, my dear friend, who always knows something about everything, is from Ohio too.

I know, nothing to do with container gardens... carry on....

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6/11/09 11:35 P

i used to do all my plants in containers. now, i have the yard for the garden. i do plan on putting some invasives in pots. i like them, but they go everywhere.

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6/11/09 9:58 A

Abigail,

www.aerogardenstore.com/promotion/index.ph
p?promoName=catalog&pageName=homepage&
r=1

Aerogardens allow you to grow flowers, herbs and some vegetables inside of your house without using soil. It's technology is a combination of hydroponics and aeroponics. Some people have more success with them than others. It is a learning process despite how simple they've been able to make set up and maintenance. Unfortunately, a lot of people give up after their first try instead of figuring out what they can do to make their yields better the next time around. I had okay success with my first plantings - my second planting of lettuce was worlds better, but could still be improved upon. Each time I learn something I can do differently or better so I get a better crop or longer "growing season." I'm totally hooked on my gardens and love that I can grow things even in the middle of winter. My first crop of cherry tomatoes were beginning to ripen when outdoor gardeners were just starting to think about tilling. LOL!

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6/11/09 9:49 A

I checked out the ohioline link first. OMG! Exactly the information I was hoping to find all in one place. I can't wait to get home tonight to check out the rest of your links.

Thank you for sharing! I feel like all I need to do now is decide what I want to grow, make a grocery list and hit the store!

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6/11/09 6:14 A

Here's a couple of links, some look stupid simple... yet I found them the most useful.... I don't know all the fancy lingo and such, so they help...

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/container/container.html

here's one that gives awesome info on the size pots and amount of soil you will need for each type of plant...

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1647.html

this one is a bunch of links to various other sites... some lousy, some great, some broken...

http://www.container-garden.com/


hope they help!

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6/10/09 5:32 P

What is Aerogardens? Thanks!

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6/5/09 2:33 P

Yarell, I'll gladly take those web links!

I did see self watering window boxes and thought they would be a good idea since none of my windows are at ground level. Little buggers wouldn't be able to get at them. But the screens in my window aren't on a track to slide up and down out of my way to get at the box to tend it. And they aren't easy putting in and out either. Considering I finally just got my boyfriend to put them in after living in the house for 3 summers, he might be a bit peeved if I asked him to take them back out again. I'll have to think about it.

Thanks for your help everybody!

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6/2/09 8:11 A

I only have tomatoes in the topsy turvy. This is the first year, so I don't know how it will work.

Lisa

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6/2/09 7:40 A

Most of our garden is in containers. I have 3 Earth Boxes with lots of peppers. The others are all in the cheapest containers we can buy at Wal-Mart. We were going to order them online in bulk but they were out of them. My stuff grows great. I do have onions, leaf lettuce, cucumbers, radishes and beans in the ground but we take advantage of the space we have. The dill is sprinkled in with the onions, the radishes are planted under the pole beans, the cucumbers are running through the espaliered peach trees and leaf lettuce is scattered through everything. I'm getting a good crop of squash from the containers and all our tomatoes (about 36 plants) are doing fine. My herbs are always in containers so I can bring them indoors if it ever gets cold here. It takes a little work but you can do it.

Kim

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6/2/09 6:21 A

I mostly container garden, and that is simply because my back yard was literally the neighborhood sandbox for over 60 years... so soil is yuck.... hosta grows there, but then where doesn't that grow!

The unfortunate thing for you is that common area. Darn kids.... how about hanging ones? They make many varieties of plants that will grow that way now....

is the backyard just as bad? Window boxes??? A lockable greenhouse?

I have a couple websites pegged if you're interested.

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6/1/09 10:50 P

Does anybody here successfully container garden? I have 3 Aerogardens in the house and do alright with them, but they're not enough to feed a family of four, let alone have anything left over for "putting by." I don't own any land, so my only choice is containers. I'm thinking about getting the self watering kind and trying some full size tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and perhaps berries. I haven't decided if I want to buy more grow lights and keep the containers indoors, or try setting them out on my front and back stoops. I have reservations of having them outside, because there's nothing keeping the neighborhood kids from walking right up and making off with any food that is growing. The property all around my home is "common area." So there's no way to keep them away.

Can anybody recommend good pots to use or good books to follow for setting up this type of garden?

Thanks!