Plant Growing Tips for Container Gardening

How does your garden grow? If it’s a container garden, the plants will need to be cared for a little differently than an in-ground garden. These plant growing tips for container gardens apply to both flowers and vegetables grown in containers, promoting healthy, vigorous growth and allowing two crops to be grown in each container per season.

Container Choices

Start with containers that are deep enough to accommodate growing plant roots. Shallow containers dry out quickly and will stress garden plants or flowers. Any container that can hold potting soil can be used as long as it is deep enough and has drainage holes in the bottom. Place a layer of newspaper or a coffee filter inside the container over the drainage holes so the potting soil will not leak out during watering.

Fertilize for Container Gardens

Mix a slow release fertilizer into the potting soil mix before planting anything in the containers. Choose a top quailty potting soil mix and add more slow release fertilize even if the potting soil already contains it. Apply a water soluble plant fertilize every three weeks during the growing season.

By mid-season, the slow release fertilize has been used up by the plants and needs to be re-applied. Leach out the old fertilize by running clean water through the container to flush the soil. Pour clean water slowly into the container and continue pouring the water until it is coming out of the bottom drainage holes almost as fast as it is being poured in to leach out all old fertilize. Then apply more slow release fertilize to the top of the soil, being careful not to touch plant base with fertilize.

Container Garden Plants Need to be Cut Back

If flowers of vegetable plants are performing poorly in the container garden, or if the plants become leggy, cut them back to encourage new, healthy growth. Apply water soluble fertilize to the plants after cutting them back. Remove all spent flowers and ripe vegetables as soon as possible to encourage new vegetable and flower production.

Plant Fall Crop in Container Garden

After the spring and summer planting of vegetables and flowers are done for the season, remove the plants and their roots from the container. Run clean water through the potting soil to leach out any remaining slow release fertilize, then mix in fresh slow release fertilize to the potting soil. Replant the container garden with fall chrysanthemums or cool weather vegetable like cabbage so each container can produce two crops per season.

Source:

Container Gardening About.com accessed Nov.24, 2010