I'm so happy because my new place in Charleston is really sunny!! I'm talking about 8 hours of full sun to the yard. I've never lived somewhere with enough sun for vegetables, so I always just grew flowers.

I want to start a container vegetable/herb garden - I'm renting and my landlord wouldn't be happy if I tore up the yard. So far I have cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, basil, oregano, and dill. Any advice on plants that do well in containers? please share any and all garden tips/stories!!!

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!! those plants are gonna do great!!

4/9/2009 5:31:55 PM

Make sure your containers get enough drainage. I bought some pots the other day that immediately killed my herbs because there wasn't enough drainage going on

I've always had good luck with thyme and sage in containers. Mint also does really well. You could do sweet peas and squash as long as the container was big enough.

4/9/2009 7:42:31 PM

+1 on drainage. don't over water your herbs. especially lavender, i learned that the hard way.

tomatoes and peppers are pretty easy. squash are doable, but you'll need a couple separate containers in order to yield any fruit. if you want to do the organic thing, you can try lady bugs and/or mantis, but honestly i've never had much luck with them.

i'm going to try some cucumbers this year. don't know how well they'll do in a pot.

4/9/2009 8:39:36 PM

No tips, but I started growing some full sized tomatoes and plan to do some window/container gardening this year. My, rather ambitious list of things I want to try is:

Indoors:

Jalapeno Peppers
Habanero Peppers
Bell Peppers
Cherry Tomatoes

Outdoors:

Tomatoes
Spinach
Canteloupe
Pumpkin
Watermelon
Okra
Cucumbers

4/9/2009 10:16:10 PM

any plant can do well in a container if you know how to care for it


dont limit yourself girl

4/9/2009 10:20:16 PM

my pepper plant last summer is proof of that....thing was a beast

4/9/2009 10:33:54 PM

we do our jalapenos outside...but if you grow them with bells, make sure they are far away from your bell or they'll cross pollinate and you'll get hot bell peppers found that out the hard way hehe

4/9/2009 10:43:13 PM

tomatoes are the best bang for the buck

4/9/2009 10:49:38 PM

^^ That's awesome!

4/9/2009 11:00:19 PM

We are doing a container garden too! We have cucumbers, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, chive onion(i think), then also lavender, thyme, mint, basil, and a few others. They're doing great so far but I had to bring the outdoor ones inside for a few days during our weird winter storm in April.

The cucumbers seem to be a pain in the ass. They aren't growing much and osme days they look like they're gone and then the next they look fabulous.

4/9/2009 11:51:31 PM

if they are shifting that much in health youre not gonna get good fruit or hell they might not even flower

4/9/2009 11:55:21 PM

Are they really sensitive to temperature change?

4/10/2009 1:47:58 AM

well any plant that has to constantly rebuild itself isnt going to have enough energy to dedicate to flowering its just trying to stay alive

4/10/2009 2:03:35 AM

Thanks for all the great replies! I don't bother to grow lavender because it's no use in cooking. I should be good on drainage because to save dirt I put pinecones in the bottom of each pot. I'm worried that the tomatoes aren't in big enough pots, I only had 12" left . no pinecones in the bottom of those so the roots will have more room.

I'd love to grow squash, but I thought they spread out too much to do well in a container. also I got some spinach but it's dying, after doing some reading it seems they don't do well in heat Not the best choice for SC then! the label said full sun. are there any good veggies with shallow roots? I have some long shallow planters that will soon be vacated by my dying spinach.

Nighthawk, do you get enough sun indoors to grow peppers? elkaybie, that's hilarious about the hot bell peppers! I hope that doesn't happen to me, my plants are all close together to make watering easier

4/10/2009 6:14:36 AM

Im thinking of putting some stuff out in containers. What do you guys use? A buddy of mine uses the earthboxes and has great luck with his stuff. I might go to local nursery today or tomorrow to see what they have.

4/10/2009 8:23:30 AM

Since it's so dry/sunny in SC, have you thought about a potted Bougainvillea? Mine grew at least 3 feet over last summer, and I just put it back out today.

They are beautiful plants.

4/10/2009 9:43:18 AM

Quote :

"I don't bother to grow lavender because it's no use in cooking."

I use lavender in cooking all the time

4/10/2009 10:00:01 AM

Just fyi, no need to use containers to garden outside and avoid ripping up the yard. No till gardening (or lasagna gardening) can be more environmentally friendly anyway

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DZih2ggDzMSgC%26dq%3Dlasagna%2Bgardening%26printsec%3Dfrontcover%26source%3Dbn%26hl%3Den%26ei%3DBpPfSbWCCsKJtgftjcC0DA%26sa%3DX%26oi%3Dbook_result%26ct%3Dresult%26resnum%3D4&ei=BpPfSbWCCsKJtgftjcC0DA&usg=AFQjCNFQ9u02nrDvDrlEPiswh_6QfjQMJw&sig2=0Dk_nySa6fOrEXSyBgkDQw

But if you're renting, you still might be better off with containers to avoid killing the grass...

4/10/2009 2:43:37 PM

^ Lol, My great aunt wrote that book. Pat is an awesome lady. Her gardens are AMAZING. She grows them up in the Catskills where its super rocky.

4/10/2009 5:22:18 PM

Quote :

"Nighthawk, do you get enough sun indoors to grow peppers? elkaybie, that's hilarious about the hot bell peppers! I hope that doesn't happen to me, my plants are all close together to make "

you can try bagging the flowers and controlling the pollination with like delnet bags or even white paper bags if they have to be close together

i know tomatos self but i dono if peppers do, if the peppers do self you can just bag em and let em goand youll be sure to get the peppers you want

also are you sure that you can get hot bell peppers by crossing? typically the male only contributes genetic information, the phenotype of the resulting fruit is 100% dependent on the female. now the resulting SEED may result in that hot bell pepper thing but im not seeing how thats possible, maybe the seeed you purchased wasnt pure

4/10/2009 5:50:16 PM

I think it would be awesome to have a hot bell pepper! I actually looked at my yard in more detail today and found a small spot to work with but I still will have a few things in containers. What I plan to do in my little spot is kind of related to the lasagna method. Im going to cover this spot with some dark plastic till the grass is dead, then plant my veggies, and throw some dirt/potting soil/whatever i figure out is best and go from there

4/10/2009 7:15:15 PM

why would someone grow cucumbers in a container?

4/10/2009 9:11:01 PM

they live in an apartment

4/11/2009 1:52:55 AM

I'm doing all container gardening to for my courtyard, well my courtyard after my house is built and I heard about the topsy-turvy planter, http://www.topsyturvy.com/?cid=631254 for tomatoes, which is what I would get it for, anyone else heard of it? think it would work?

4/11/2009 8:55:53 AM

^ My mom has a topsy turvy and it's growing crazy big tomatoes.

I'm considering making one of these for her for mother's day:
http://lifehacker.com/5190496/turn-storage-containers-into-self-watering-tomato-planters



and these are cool too:
http://lifehacker.com/245049/weekend-project-start-a-container-garden

4/11/2009 10:34:37 AM

Quote :

"Nighthawk, do you get enough sun indoors to grow peppers?"

Yes, I have a front formal living room that has a big ass south facing window and we barely use the room at all. So its the perfect place for growing stuff. I've got a couple of trays of seedlings right now sitting in that window and they are doing really good. When the peppers get bigger, I am going to pop those in some nice pots and hopefully enjoy fresh peppers year-round.

I am going to do a raised garden or two in my yard this year, so I won't have to completely destroy the yard, and it will look neat while I do it.

Minkagrl01, I have heard that thing is shit. Most reasons I have heard that it doesn't work is that you have to water the tomato plant multiple times a day, the water often runs right out the bottom of the planter down the tomato itself, and the pot has no insulation and therefore causes the root structure to get very hot on warm days. Added to that, it cools off really quickly in the evening, giving the plant an unstable and constantly changing ground that it is trying to grow in. I have heard they do okay if you are around the house a lot and can water them often, but most opinions in reviews I have read is that its not worth it.

One other thing I saw yesterday at Lowe's that I was curious if anybody else has tried is strawberries. We like eating them and I would love to be able to grow my own. Lowe's has 20 strawberry plants for $9.99. That sounded extremely tempting to me and I might have to pick those up and try a couple rows of strawberries this year. Might even container a couple and see how they grow indoors.

4/11/2009 10:45:05 AM

Also, has anybody gotten those window box garden units? I would like to get some of those for my windows, preferably in white. But everywhere I look they run quite a bit of money. Anybody got a good site that has them at a more reasonable price, or directions for building your own?

4/11/2009 11:16:23 AM

trashcan potatoes is where its at for me this year.

4/11/2009 11:45:52 AM

Well I went out today and bought MORE PLANTS!!! I got more tomatoes, bell peppers, and basil. I love pesto, that's what the basil is gonna be for. Also I got a thyme plant and some mulch. I moved the pots to a spot where they'll get sun about 1 hr earlier in the morning. SCORE!!!

So far I have Sweet 100's brand cherry tomatoes, Bonnie brand hybrid, and a "mounding" cherry tomato so we'll see how they do.

Nighthawk, I've never had any luck with strawberries. I always end up getting like 2 fruits per summer. that may be because they weren't getting enough sun - my yards have always been too shady for a proper garden. But 20 for $9.99 is a great deal so I'd go for it, especially since you have enough space.

4/12/2009 1:05:40 AM

no one cared about my post

4/13/2009 6:09:51 PM

We got Patchouli.... along with peppermint and spearmint.

Hey BigHit do you know anything about Orchids? We bought a tall orchid and I thought I would remember the name but I dont. I know it starts with an R...



It's about 5 feet tall with big leaves at the bottom and bamboo-ish looking stalks that lead to those flowers....I just need to know the name so I can Google exact care for it.

4/13/2009 6:48:14 PM

we plant some of our garden in containers, but most of it will be in the field. I'm going to start ridging up rows in the next few days for our beans, squash, cantaloupe, peas, watermelons, peppers, cucumbers, etc...

4/13/2009 7:04:19 PM

Quote :

"One other thing I saw yesterday at Lowe's that I was curious if anybody else has tried is strawberries. "

I've always had the worst luck with strawberries outdoors. The bugs can't get enough of them. But I have had luck with them grown indoors as long as I had a south facing window to put them in.

4/13/2009 8:13:26 PM

Use the hair/dust from vacuums to fertilize tomato plants. They get a lot of good minerals from that mess.

4/13/2009 8:26:25 PM

Quote :

"Hey BigHit do you know anything about Orchids?"

orchids are the largest and most diverse faimly of plants in the plant kingdom

hell no i dont know shit, sorry

^make sure tomatoes are CONSTANTLY watered and not allowed to get dry at all, also make sure they have calcium if u dont do either one of these you get blossom end rot and you wind up with a lot of cull tomatoes until you fix the problem

[Edited on April 13, 2009 at 9:49 PM. Reason : d]

4/13/2009 9:46:52 PM

pm sent

4/13/2009 9:52:20 PM

Quote :

"It's about 5 feet tall with big leaves at the bottom and bamboo-ish looking stalks that lead to those flowers....I just need to know the name so I can Google exact care for it."

good luck with that description, all the orchids I've seen look exactly like that. Didn't it come with a little tag with directions for watering and sunlight? Also be careful if you planted mint in the ground with your garden, it spreads easily and can take over the garden.

4/14/2009 6:50:18 AM

orchids--water with warm water, not cold or they will go in to shock. if you use bark and sponge, water less b/c the water will hold...if you just use bark you may need to water more. water thoroughly then drain completely. use orchid food about once a month during blooming season.

good luck, b/c they are hard to keep alive if you do anything wrong.

4/14/2009 10:05:03 AM

its tough to identify any orchid because there are like 5 million types in any given region and they are all specialized simililarly

4/14/2009 11:14:25 AM

i did container gardening outside last year, so if it got shitty out i could just bring the plants in. everything would have been great if those goddamn ants hadn't carried off 10 of my watermelons.

4/14/2009 11:46:35 AM

add to my topics

so, i was excited to container garden before, when i had a yard. but i'm in the process of moving and we're on the third floor. our apartment seems to get a ton of light, so if anyone has suggestions for indoor gardening, let me know.

particularly, if nothing else, i want to do herbs - basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro, whatever i can fit. but i would LOVE to do something like (cherry) tomatoes?

if anyone has cheap container/window sill suggestions and recommendations on gardening, let me know.

4/14/2009 12:42:05 PM

The mint are in their own containers.

The bf has several other orchids that he's managed to keep alive and blooming, we've just never had a tall one before. We plan to treat it the same as any other orchid though and hope for the best, it is so pretty!

4/14/2009 2:18:28 PM

I've been growing radishes indoors since February. I've had a few grow to an edible size and they are tasty!

lucky you for having such a wonderful assortment of veggies!

4/14/2009 4:10:04 PM

Y'all might want to check out this site: http://www.veggietrader.com/

The gay part is you have to register before you can browse, but it sounds like a great idea nonetheless.

4/14/2009 6:29:33 PM

Quote :

"particularly, if nothing else, i want to do herbs - basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro, whatever i can fit. but i would LOVE to do something like (cherry) tomatoes? if anyone has cheap container/window sill suggestions and recommendations on gardening, let me know. "

You can grow anything inside that you can outside if you have enough sun. Vegetables in particular need at least 8 hours of sun. Herbs are a little less picky, but the ones you named still like as much sun as possible. I've been reading lately that herbs are tastier if they are grown in poor soil. I never tried this but you could maybe dig up dirt from your yard rather than using potting soil. There are "mounding" cherry tomatoes that don't get very tall, I never grew one myself though.

Are you going to start from seeds? It's cheaper than buying plants but is just too much hassle IMO. Make sure you pinch off any flowers you see on the basil, any stem with a flower will stop growing leaves.

The plastic fake terra cotta pots at any Home Mega Store are like $2.50 each, and a bag of dirt is about $2.50. Just put a table or something by the window, and load it up with plants.

4/15/2009 7:12:27 AM

Riddle me this, the cucumber we planted and placed in the window is doing much better than the ones we put outside on our deck, both get equal sun. The outside cucumbers have been brought in countless times due to frost issues and has once been downpoured on. I thought these plants did better outside?

4/15/2009 2:51:06 PM

^^Thanks, Britta! Yeah, with the farmer's markets and such around here, I'm just going to pick up herbs in the plant form. I've noticed they're starting to show up already in the Union Square Greenmarket for the city gardeners.

I'm definitely going to find a Home Depot in the city and get a few of those long, rectangular plastic containers. I worry about drainage more than anything.

^Uh, from the sounds of it, the frost and rain may be the cause. The indoor plant has a more regulated environment than outside. But I'm no expert at gardening, more like a n00b.

4/15/2009 5:48:11 PM

what do you mean by "doing better"?

4/15/2009 6:02:45 PM

Well we brought it in during the frost.

The cucumber inside is showing stable growth, the one outside stopped growing but is still green, standing tall, etc, though out of 10 plants that is the only one that is so far living...

4/15/2009 6:47:29 PM

set em up

4/15/2009 7:15:18 PM