April is here, and it’s a big one for yours truly. On the 24th, I will turn 40! I have always loved being an April baby. This is the month where things turn from brown to green, birds return, and so does warmth. It is a good month to start prepping for the garden, especially if you want to have a go with container gardens this year. I was looking through my Reader’s Digest Gardening Secrets: Expert Tips for Gardens and Yards of All Sizes book and found some good tips that I thought I would share.
One tip that I found particularly interesting involves making big planters more portable. Instead of filling them fully with soil and making them nearly impossible to relocate as a result, the book suggests filling the bottom third of the planter with items like crushed aluminum cans, Styrofoam, and crumpled up milk bottles. If you put them into mesh bags like onion and potato bags, they will not be difficult to remove later but will lighten the weight of the container overall and still allow you to fill it to the top for easy plant access. I am not entirely sure how that would go with plastics and Styrofoam leaking various chemicals into the soil, but perhaps finding an ulterior non-biodegradable light object to put inside would be helpful.
All container plants need a drainage layer of small rocks, sticks, and branches at the bottom of the pot to help keep water from pooling. In addition to that, make sure that every pot has a drainage hole for excess water to escape. If you are insistent on using a very pretty pot that does not have a drainage hole and do not wish to attempt to drill a hole in the bottom of it, try to plant something with a smaller pot and place the smaller pot inside the larger one to allow for proper draining.
Another tip that I found interesting is placing a few used tea bags on top of the drainage layer of the pot. According to the Reader’s Digest book, they will retain water and also add nutrients to the soil. I would recommend using standard black or green tea, though any sort of tea should work.
If you are curious about what size pot to choose for the plants you hope to grow, The Old Farmer’s Almanac has a handy container size chart with a list of most of the most popular veggies. You have to take into consideration not only the size of the plant above ground, but also the depth and width the roots require for stability and growth as well. You can find this useful tool at www.almanac.com/tool/vetegable-container-size-chart, as well as likely other gardening books out there. If you click on a vegetable listed on the chart on the website, it will also take you to a page giving you further tips on how to grow the selected vegetable. What will they think of next?
It has been a very long time since I have attempted any vegetables in a container, but I feel that this year is a year of changes for me, and why not include container gardening in the mix? I am hopeful to have a tomato plant, some salad greens, and maybe a pepper plant this year. Whether you are planting a container garden or going wild in the soil in your backyard, I wish you happy gardening and many veggies ahead!
