Who has green fingers?

Healthy eating champion said:
Last year we were only able to plant flowers in the front yard due to the strange seasons (New England weather lol) . Since the soil in my backyard isn't the best, I plan to plant more edibles such as carrots, beans (string beans), potatoes and peppers in containers.
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Containers are a good way to go. It makes maintenance a lot easier too! BTW, you can add your location under you 'image'. See how to here.
 
Healthy eating champion said:
Last year we were only able to plant flowers in the front yard due to the strange seasons (New England weather lol) . Since the soil in my backyard isn't the best, I plan to plant more edibles such as carrots, beans (string beans), potatoes and peppers in containers.
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Consider putting the potatoes in the ground. it will make your life easier in 2 ways. the first is that they are a great soil cleaner and the second is that in containers you will be watering them every day no matter how much rain you may or may not have had because they need a lot of water and their foliage naturally creates an umbrella effect prevent water from getting into the container and containers are notorious for drying out. beans are another that require a lot of water and don't fair well in containers sadly. that can easily be dealt with with an old trick to line the ground a spade or ideally 2 deep with either compacted grass clippings or old newspaper which acts to hold water in. roots can penetrate as needed so it's not a swimming pool effect causing stagnant water to build up.
Tomatoes are good for containers, as are herbs such as thyme, oregano, and a small plant of parsley (needs watering so single plant dwarfed by container initially). it doesn't matter that they won't survive winter etc though thyme is surprisingly hardy and may surprise you).
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Consider putting the potatoes in the ground. it will make your life easier in 2 ways. the first is that they are a great soil cleaner and the second is that in containers you will be watering them every day no matter how much rain you may or may not have had because they need a lot of water and their foliage naturally creates an umbrella effect prevent water from getting into the container and containers are notorious for drying out. beans are another that require a lot of water and don't fair well in containers sadly. that can easily be dealt with with an old trick to line the ground a spade or ideally 2 deep with either compacted grass clippings or old newspaper which acts to hold water in. roots can penetrate as needed so it's not a swimming pool effect causing stagnant water to build up.
Tomatoes are good for containers, as are herbs such as thyme, oregano, and a small plant of parsley (needs watering so single plant dwarfed by container initially). it doesn't matter that they won't survive winter etc though thyme is surprisingly hardy and may surprise you).
Click to expand...

We used to grow our potatoes in containers due to lack of space and found it easier to control pests. yes better in the garden but not always practical.
 
Lullabelle said:
We used to grow our potatoes in containers due to lack of space and found it easier to control pests. yes better in the garden but not always practical.
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I'm speaking from experience as well. I used to grow them in containers and it is very easy to overplant in containers and very easy to get no crop at all if you don't water them often and every day. the ground may not be practical everywhere but the member I replied to stated they had ground and soul issues and potatoes are well known in the gardening community at cleaning soil ready for the next crop next season. they are best in the ground and the member has that option. that was all. I have them in raised borders this year which is also a pain. I only have raised borders on the veg plot due to being on the side of a mountain and there being no soil literally. when it rains, it rains hard and everything runs to the bottom of the mountain. great at the bottom of you like biting insects but strangely that's not where our house is. the raised beds are slightly better than containers but still have poor soil issues and major issues holding onto any water at all. Exactly the same problems as containers only I don't get the brand new compost effect!
 
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