5 Benefits Of Growing A Container Garden

When you hear the word garden, you may think of a large lawn growing in orderly rows and overflowing with vegetables, but there are many ways to grow your own food. Container gardens are attractive and practical, whether for a sunny patio or a large yard.

There are several keys to growing a successful container garden, Cision tells PR Newswire. Choosing the right container for the specific plants you want to grow is critical to their success. A large 1 liter tomato plant will not last long because there is not enough room for the roots. Medium to large plants such as squash, tomatoes and peppers do well in 5 gallon containers. Small plants like carrots, cucumbers and vines have short roots and can grow up to 12 inches wide. Always make sure the container you choose has good drainage and use good quality soil to help your container garden grow and thrive.

No need for weeds

Without a doubt, one of the most appealing things about container gardening is that you can grow vegetables almost anywhere. According to NatureZ, apartment dwellers can still enjoy fresh herbs and vegetables if they have a balcony that gets 4 to 8 hours of sunlight a day. The type of plants you choose for your yard will depend on how much sun you get. If your area gets about 4 hours of sunlight, but no more, you won't be able to grow sun favorites like tomatoes and peppers, but there are still plenty of options. Lettuce, onions, peas and most vegetables grow best in partial sun.

In places that get at least 8 hours of sun a day, you can grow almost anything in a pot in the ground. With the growing popularity of container gardening, new compact plant varieties are being developed especially for small spaces. When buying plants or seeds, look for labels that use the words "micro" or "mini" in the name or description: B Micro Tomato.

small weed

Sometimes weed can be almost therapeutic, an act that allows you to cleanse yourself while removing the head. But most of the time, weed is a boring and unpleasant experience where you sweat and swallow mosquitoes. According to The Micro Garden, when grown in containers, grass seeds have less soil to germinate. Less exposed soil has fewer or no weeds.

You can completely eliminate the possibility of weeds by rotating your plants around. An inch or two of straw, pine needles, or natural wood mulch will help the seeds germinate and retain moisture in the container. Because containers dry out faster than in-ground gardens, you can save time and money by preventing moisture from entering (with Miracle-Gro) when you don't need to water as often. When choosing garden mulch, use only natural products that do not contain chemicals or pesticides, as these products can leach into your soil and harm your plants. Also, if your choice is hay, make sure you get straw and not hay, as the seed is still used for livestock feed.

It is easy to protect yourself from frostbite

Imagine you have a large garden that is growing beautifully in the last days of spring, and suddenly a cold frost falls. Maintaining a large area of young plants is a lot of work, but if you're growing your plants in a container, there are much easier ways to do it. If you only have a few plants, you can bring them indoors before frost threatens. If you have a lot of plants, or they are too difficult to carry indoors, there are other ways to protect them.

Wilson Brothers Gardens recommends wrapping the pot with whatever you have on hand; b. A blanket or even foam wrap to protect the delicate roots of the plant from the cold. You must protect the plant. A cut milk carton or soda bottle makes a small greenhouse that you can cover with an antifreeze blanket or towel. You can make a protective canopy by gluing some sticks between plastic covered plants. Be careful not to touch the plastic green as it can damage the ice.

Fewer problems with diseases and pests

Pests and diseases make gardeners very angry. In some cases, your plants may look perfectly healthy one day and be in trouble the next. Because the eggs of insects such as pumpkin bugs overwinter in the soil, once they hatch they are difficult to remove without strong insecticides. According to Logan's Garden Shop, the containers may harbor harmful insects. If you find an infestation, it will be easier to control because you can isolate that container from others until the problem is resolved.

Fungal and viral infections are often the result of contaminated soil. Blight, a common fungal disease affecting tomatoes, is easily transmitted when the spores are moist and airborne (Guard Tech). Once the plant soil is infected, it is impossible to eradicate the disease. Sometimes, when the pot is infected, you can replace the soil without worrying about the disease spreading. The same is true for many soil fungal and viral problems.

Less time spent on maintenance

If you want to grow your own food but don't want to spend a lot of time, then container gardening is for you. Of course, you don't have to spend time on weeds, which leads to the growth of containers, but you can avoid other types of maintenance. Smaller plants designed specifically for containers are denser, so you can spend less time caring for them once they grow. For example, common garden tomatoes require holes or pots to prevent pruning and wind, not for growing space. On the other hand, some container tomatoes need a little staking to grow, but most grow like thick bushes, so all you have to do is plant them and watch them grow.

Regardless of where you grow vegetables, regular care is necessary. As a general rule of thumb, when the soil above the container dries one inch, it can be every day during hot summer days. Plants also need fertilizer. The University of Maryland recommends feeding potted plants with a water-based fertilizer every two weeks.

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