Category Archives: Container Gardening

Planting and Mulching Tomatoes

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Last year I tried a new variety of tomato, the Park’s Whopper. They’re a slicing tomato and the vines are too vigorous for staking so this year I plan to let them grow free on a bed of mulch and straw. I’m a real believer in leaf mulch, and I’m seeing the results in the worm population which continues to increase.

limedMulch

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Worms don’t actually eat the leaf material until it breaks down into minute particles, but they love the fungus that grows on leaves, and as they move through the mulch they help break it down. One concern is that leaves are very acidic so if you want to avoid a calcium deficiency and the inevitable blossom end rot in your tomatoes and other fruiting vegetables you need to incorporate some lime around the plant and then dust the mulch as I’ve done in the photo to the right. While the soil acts as a buffer, and it’s hard to apply too much, I only add a handful to the soil around the plant and another handful to the mulch. If you like to measure, about 1/2 to 3/4s of a cup should be enough.

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Ready to Plant

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Last month I wrote about using plastic containers for a weed free garden with a follow-up on bottom heating for root growth. Well here’s the results:

ready2plant This is a tomato plant in a two liter bottle. I’ve gained a considerable amount of root growth in just a few weeks. I should add that the bottle is reflecting my hand on the left and grass on the right side – just so you don’t think that green is a fungus.

While it’s not quite as evident here’s the root growth of a tomato in a milk container:

ready2plant2

So now all that is left to do is dig a hole, cut off the bottom of the container and plant it without removing the plant from the container. Not only does this keep weeds from the stem of your plants, but it also facilitates watering and fertilization directly into and through the plant’s root system. Perfect for drip irrigation as well.

Recycle Plastic Milk Containers for Weed Free Gardens

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A Quick Update on my Heavy Metal Containers

Last year I began recycling metal coffee can containers and the results have been promising. Both the scallions and carrots grew well, and weed free because they were planted in a potting mix, also known as a soilless medium.This worked out so well that I’ve decided to expand into a new area – half gallon plastic milk containers.

Scallions

carrots

For root vegetables there are two advantages. In addition to eliminating weeds around the plants, harvesting the plants could not be easier. Just lift up the container, tap the sides and the potting mix falls out.

If you look closely you’ll see that tangled in the roots is bits of wood. Though I tried both of the leading name brand potting mixes I found that the mix is largely shredded wood. This stuff makes for a messy harvest. So this year I plan to revert to peat moss and sand. The peat typically comes in 2.2 cubic foot bales. I’ll cut the bale in half and mix in a bag of playground sand. That’s about enough to fill my wheelbarrow with some space to work. Continue reading →

Coffee Can Containers – The Heavy Metal Version

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Last year I glued together some plastic coffee containers, and my cherry tomatoes did well in them, but this year I decided to go with metal containers because they don’t require assembly. I simply cut out the bottom of the can, and cut slits for drainage in the plastic lid which then becomes the bottom of the container.

Wood slats raise coffee can containers above the floor of the cold frame to allow for drainage.

Wood slats raise coffee can containers above the floor of the cold frame to allow for drainage.

One of problems I encountered last year is that I had to raise the containers off the porch to get good drainage. It’s even more important to have the metal containers raised because the plastic tops can affect a seal if placed on a flat surface.

This year one of the varieties I selected is a hybrid carrot, a cross of a Nantes and an Imperator variety bred in Germany. Typical of the Nantes variety this carrot is barrel shaped and grows 5-6 inches in length - about the same depth as a full sized coffee can.

But the roots of a carrot go much deeper than the body. My plan is get the carrots started and then after removing the lid set the containers in the garden so the roots can grow as deep as they may. When it’s time to harvest I’ll pull the containers up and the carrots will be easily accessible.

In addition to facilitating the harvest I expect the carrots will grow much better in a potting mix than the heavy clay soil in my garden – not to mention the ever present gravel and rocks -that permeate my plots.

Carrot seedlings sprouting in metal coffee cans.

Carrot seedlings sprouting in metal coffee cans.

I’m doing the same with some of my tomatoes, with the tomato in the center and carrots seeded along the edges. I’ve read that tomatoes and carrots are good companions with the carrots providing a green mulch around the base of the tomato plant.

I’ll have to let you know how this experiment turns out, but if you have access to metal cans you might just try it for yourself.

Warm Up Your Seedlings with a Cold Frame

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Cold frames are something of an afterthought for most gardeners, and their various designs are indicative of what some would call Yankee Ingenuity. The simplest might be a hole in the ground with a glass cover – usually an old window frame – though it might  have sides raised by hay bales destined to provide mulch after the plants are in the ground. The general idea is to be resourceful, and provide a place to harden off your seedlings while protecting them from a late frost.

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Coffee Can Containers – Use Them for Planters!

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Recycling plastic coffee can containers for plants offers an inexpensive solution that keeps plastic out of the landfill and saves you money. The standard container holds approximately one liter or a little more than quart of material, and that’s fine for annual flowers, and some vegetables like lettuce, but larger plants like tomatoes need at least twice the amount of space to develop a healthy root system.

Using coffee containers as planters

Using coffee containers as planters

As for as I know the only container suitable for stacking comes with Folgers Coffee inside. So, having a few of those lying around and not being used I decided make some planters.

You’ll need two cans for each planter, a sharp knife, possibly a small saw, silicon caulking, and a 1/8″ drill to provide drainage holes in the bottom can.

The hard part of this operation is cutting the lid and a hole in the bottom of one can. But the end result is worth the trouble as you can see from the photo on the right.

The two containers together are about 12 inches tall, and the finishing touch is to wrap them with aluminum foil to reflect light and keep the roots from overheating.

You should keep in mind that if you’re using the planters on a tile patio or on concrete the potting mix can stain the surface.

So follow along and I’ll step you through the process of modifying the cans, filling them with potting mix, and getting a tomato planted. You’ll want to prepare the container at least two days prior to planting to allow the silicon to cure, but altogether you the whole process only takes about one hour.

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