Container growing

I'm experimenting with container growing. I am a complete beginner, so please be patient with my newbie questions.

I've got some young tomato and potato plants, and some onions and cabbages growing in small pots indoors. Getting ready to plant them in larger pots outdoors. I also sowed some leeks and carrots, but they aren't looking good so far.

What kind of soil should I use for planting?


I've got some bags of "potting compost" (contains peat) which is described as being good for container growing, and some multi-purpose compost" which is described as being good for growing vegetables. Should I just use one or other of these? A mixture of the two?

(Sorry, as a newbie I can't link to the specific ones I've got. )


Anything I should add to the mix? I understand that plants need traces of minerals from rock. Does the compost have all the needed minerals? Should I add a little gravel or sand to the mix?

I understand too that plants need certain bacteria in the soil for growth. Does the compost have the correct ones already? Maybe I should add a few scoops of soil from the garden?

What about perlite? It's supposed to increase water retention and aeration. Is this needed?


Should I add fertilizer? How about plant food? I've seen potato food sold in pellets, and tomato food in liquid. Should I add some of these?


How about water-retaining crystals? Are these useful? I heard they are good for preventing over-watering. Is that correct?

 

You can grow all manner of things in containers.



Courgettes and butternut squashes inside buckets protected by car tyres.





Spring onions, lettuce, radishes, beetroot, calendula and tomatoes.





The polypropylene sacks work well too.



If you're up against constraints such as lack of funds to buy enough compost then improvise.


These two hexagon planters were actually the bases from showroom display cabinets that have been modified to be self watering containers with a bucket reservoir below soil level and a cotton bath towel wick.

They need maintenance every year or two but I was able to grow gai choi, gai lan, lettuce, radish, spring onion, garlic, sage and coriander in about 10cm of multipurpose compost.


If you don't want to buy or modify containers then you could always make you own.






Don't expect too much if you're just starting out. Gardening is a long game and the pleasure, for me, is not just in the successes.

Use the first growing season as a baseline and work on marginal gains in the following years.

I buy the cheapest compost that I can find irrespective of type (seed starter, potting mix, loam based etc) then I add amendments to it that we get for free or for very little money to suit the needs of the plants that I want to grow.

For drainage, add sharp sand, grit, glass marbles/beads etc.

For aeration, moderate drainage and moderate water retention, add perlite. Some people even use expanded polystyrene foam or other inert materials in their compost mixes for non edible plants.

For water retention, add rotted down organic material and/or vermiculite.

Do your own alchemy to see what compost mixes work for which plants.

Some people don't even use compost or soil at all (ie hydroponics and aeroponics).

For beginners, vanilla multipurpose compost is suitable for most applications. It usually has added nutrients that last for about three months. After that, just observe the effects of the deficiencies so that you can take preemptive action the next time around.

For beginners who may not necessarily have the raw materials to make their own fertiliser/feeds, a balanced fertiliser or near enough (organic or otherwise) will work for most applications.

Feeds and compost mixes are all well and good but you will eventually reach the epiphany that they are just two small components of a few more (ie sunlight, heat, airflow etc).

Like the fire triangle, if you just concentrate on just one or two components instead of on the whole then you will not achieve ignition.

 

Thank you for the information. I've got some tomatoes and potatoes growing in large pots and they seem to be doing nicely.

My cabbages and onions didn't do so well, but it's shown me what not to do. I've started again, and perhaps it will be better this time.