Cheap and Easy Container Gardening: Step by Step
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ค. 2024
- No space? No problem! This week, Ben takes us step by step through the process of making a BIG impact in a small space. Grow an abundant container garden and have fun repurposing old objects. Fear not! You'll have tasty pickings in no time!
Binge watch these videos! Swat up and get more bang for your buck!
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The weirdest thing I have grown in is an old sofa bed we pulled it back to the bare wooden frame and then used the spring section of the sofa bed as a trellis 😆.
Literally a growing bed!
Wow!
Freaking sweet idea
The Winner!!!!
We used an old door frame, when we've replaced the whole door, as a raised bed, made it into a hugelcultur bed, my tomatoes love it!!!!
I live in a flat with a balcony and last year I tried my hand at growing veg. Despite being a complete novice, I grew chili peppers, courgettes, beans and tomatoes. One thing I tired to increase my tomato yield was to have cherry tomatoes grown in upside down 5l plastic bottles and it worked a treat. This year I feel I've learnt a lot and with fantastic videos like yours, I feel more confident of a bumper harvest. Thanks for your great content and useful tips!
Wonderful - you packed so much in!
Nice nice 👍👍👍👍👍👍💓💓💓👍👍😍😊💯💯🎉
I put closet coat hanger racks on my fence and the rods between them. I strung grocery bags on the rods and planted peas. 20 bags and a 15x8 wall of peas!
Great idea - I bet that looks incredible too.
@@GrowVeg it really does.
I’m in my 3rd year. I became very I’ll 2 years ago. My husband and I thought starting a garden would be very healing for me. I’m still recovering and still gardening. We started with two raised beds. Last year added two wine barrels cut in half. Containers this year along with a pallet trelliss.
Ben your instructions are priceless! Your attention to detail is so helpful. I couldn’t have done this without you and my wonderful husband. Bee Well Ben. Diana from Colorado.
That's so lovely to hear Diana. I hope your recovery continues to progress.
God bless and expedite and your healing, dear Diana! I’m in GA, learning from Ben 💕
@@ladyela9283 what a precious reply. Thank you dear Ela.
Get well soon Diana its no fun being under the weather, I have good days and bad days with my Fibromyalgia make the most of it when you have a good one. Love and hugs, and happy new year toyou and your hubby from Western Australia 🤗🙏🦘🦘🎊🎉🥂
@@jennyc1846 you are so wonderful in taking time to encourage me. We can pray for each other even across the oceans. My heart is happy.
Happy and blessed New Year!
Two Ikea bags, one inside the other. They needed support on the sides to not flop open, but they grew a volunteer cherry tomato, two peppers, and some parsley.
I’ve got several of those dumb reusable grocery bags that I’m going to use this year, I’m glad to hear your experience.
Ikea bags need protection from the sun. If you can wrap it in protective material, it can last more than one season.
Last year I planted Nasturtiums in an pair of very old cowboy boots! I'd worn holes in them and could never just throw them out. They were hung up on a 2-hook hanger with a Hummingbird feeder, they looked beautifully funny. I should have taken pictures! I love this video, you have such great ideas and I've over-sown so many seeds my greenhouses are just bulging, I need more pots. Thank You!
I bet those boots looked fantastic - what fun! :-)
I used my old hot tub for planting. It’s deep enough no holes were necessary. It’s unprotected so just growing things there deer won’t eat. Save coffee grounds for my blueberries.. I’m container planting some things this year. Carrots, herbs,potatoes. My sister, who is elderly, wants a little garden. I’m using an old bathtub for her to have tomatoes.Ya’all have a blessed Sunday.
Thanks again for all your ideas and knowledge you share Ben.
Fantastic repurposing going on there Tonie. I bet they grow a feast!
Love that tip about part way filling the pot with organic material and then topping up the last 12’ with the good soil. Game changer!
It's saved me so much potting mix!
Hi see Robbie and Gary channel.. they show how to grow successfully in containers using weeds, twigs, kitchen scraps etc. Soil is used only as a top layer. Cheers. 🌻
@@janetbransdon3742 love her!
I did this in our school's polytunnel beds as i had a lot of very roygh compost free from the council which was too harsh for young plants when fresh. "Good" compost went on top and the stuff beneath had time to mellow. Result: a freezer full of beans and tomatoes and sunflowers like small trees!!
A neigbor dumped a toilet on the corner of my property, and the tow wouldn't come pick it up because it wasn't mine, so I planted pansies in the seat, and petunias in the back. Got a lot of compliments, directed those people to thank neighbor. come autumn toilet was removed! :)
Smart move!
Weirdest container so far: a leaky tea kettle. It was too pretty to throw out, so now it’s draped with thriving succulents. Thank you for your excellent videos!
Tea pot with succulents and miniature ivy growing out of the spout.
Let's have a tea party!
Teapots are excellent! Can water in the spout or use the spout to pour out excess water. I have several. I use an old crib spring as a trellis. Would love an old wringer washer. The weirdest thing I grew in is an old avocado green toilet! LOL. TFS
Great video! I have 2 canoes (the seats rotted out) they are my most productive raised beds 😀
great idea, bet they look great
Wow - what fun! :-)
I just inherited two rusty canoes and was wondering with my husband how they would do for raised beds. I'm so excited to try mine, now! Thanks!
The balcony garden I grew was so much fun. I had morning glory and moon flowers on the balcony around the support post and safety border. People traveling by would slow down to look at how beautiful it was. Now I have a large back yard. The experience gave me knowledge to pass to my kids so they can grow a garden wherever they may live along their journey.
That's fantastic to hear Catie.
I put up turned small plastic pots in the bottom of my deep planters as they take up the space and add drainage too.
Cardboard boxes, fabric pots, cinderblocks. and the earth.
I started my seeds (tomato, pumpkin, potato, cantaloupe, peppers and zinnias) in medium sized McDonald's coffee cups. They're thriving! I transplanted the potatoes into 5 gallon food grade pails this weekend and I'll be planting the rest directly into the garden once it's warm enough.🇨🇦
Thanks Ben I use dry grass clipping to fill and news paper,wood chips, tear up cardboard for the bottom of pots,then fill with compost mix. All of my herbs grow in pots and wooden planter. I have use old buckets,small waste bins. I have use guttering for chives and flowers.
Love guttering as a quirky container.
Thanks to you and your videos I am going around my house finding every possible container in which to plant seeds and plants. Cereal boxes and yogurt containers are being called to a higher purpose, lol!
Brilliant!
Craziest containers I have use are stainless steel 3 compartment sink on wheels, suitcase and red wagon.
Howdy Ben and Rosie!👋 Another super topic!👍
I garden mostly in containers...I grow everything in them...even pie pumpkins, small varieties of watermelon and popcorn.😃
I fill the bottom with sticks and stuff too. For squash I make a compost pit...put food scraps, etc. near grew bottom. They really take off when they hit that compose in place food.😃
I repurposed our son's sandbox and grew food in it for 17 years...collards, lettuce, beets, etc.👩🏾🌾
I'm looking forward to next week's post!❤
Wonderful Valorie! It sounds like you’re several steps ahead already. 😎👍🥒
Everyone's unusual containers sound so great!
They make my salad leaves in 2l cola bottle troughs seem so tame 😭
I do grow tomatoes in an old bath, and had huge success with wicking/self watering growing in an old fridge.
The weirdest thing I've used for a container is a net laundry bag. I worked great and had wonderful results. I planted tomatoes and marigolds in it. I've also used storage bins. Thanks for the great ideas and happy gardening everyone!
Notes to self ❤
✨Food grade plastic
✨drainage
✨light colored containers in hot climates
✨do soil research per plant (I’ll buy in store )
✨rocks under the pots to keep drainage open
I've even seen an old car (Mk2 Escort) planted up, you truly can use anything!...Steve...😃
That's remarkable!
Just wanted to say a big thank you. I am now in my fourth year of growing and feel like I can call myself a proper gardener at this point. I've got my head around the local weather and can often problem solve on the fly. However, I am always checking back with your videos and garden planner for confirmation. Here's to a good growing year! 🎉
That's great to hear Emma. :-)
All those reusable shopping bags from supermarkets - great for potato’s and handles included for easy transportation
I live on an island in Alaska and I used a large tote for holding halibut as a garden box and it was awesome haha nice and deep with a drain plug. I grew various salad greens and flowers in it
I mulch my garden paths heavily with fairly coarse wood chips (free if you can get tree guys to dump in your yard!). Every few years, I scrape of the top layer and dig out the well composted chips, which I use to extend potting soil and top off the raised beds.
What a super idea - makes everything go a little further.
I go to the dump and retrieve metal bathtubs. I now have 8. Gave them a good scrub, used plastic pain to touch up any rust and filled with lovely well rotted horse manure and topsoil with some peat moss. Cheap usually free or $3 each, place on bricks so it can drain well and your off.
That's fantastic - what a great move!
Beautiful! There really is no shortage of ideas for growing in containers. Bakeries and delis will give 5 gallon buckets away, and they make great growing spots. The bonus is that they are portable. Garden on! Blessings... daisy
Hey there! That is a great idea. I don't know of too many small bakeries, but I wonder if places like Panera that have some baked goods would have those! Those get expensive and they are super useful.
Thank you Ben! I feel inspired 🪴 after watching your posts. My city garden in the Netherlands has slightly polluted soil, so I grow crops in containers. So far I’m growing some beets, radish, carrot, arugula, quite some herbs, cayenne, paksoi, tomato, cherry tomato, edible flowers, spinach, wild garlic, strawberry spinach and a baby leaf lettuce kind. The cucumber hasn’t done so well yet, but as a beginning city gardener I’m proud of how it’s working out so far. Next goal is guerilla gardening in the municipal empty “green”patches across the street. 💚🍀🌿
"Guerilla Garden"...I love the term. It's my goal in the near future to start a ''Guerilla Garden" group. 👍🏿
@Karen Session Good idea Karen 👍🏼 have fun starting your Guerrilla Gardening group 🪴🍀💚
Some wonderful produce growing there. And yes, loving the guerrilla gardening idea - more empty spaces need to be turned to good, wholesome, organic food.
@@GrowVeg Thank you Ben!
Good timing, I can only grow in containers in my back yard, I’ve recently planted potatoes along with some potato fertiliser in an old council recycling bin, so glad you suggested that one
Great minds think alike Kim.
Hi Ben, I have used a 1950's wooden tool box to grow parsley in, worked a treat. Also used large commercial coffee tubs to grow shalotts in with impressive results :)
Great repurposing going on there. :-)
Aww your fur baby is so adorable. I wish ours was well behaved and listen to us. Our fur baby likes to help us dig and eat carrots. cucumbers and especially the strawberries that hangover the pots. Happy gardening.
Sounds like your dog has exceptionally good taste. :-)
I use some of those blue kiddie pools, but they are not food grade, most of those you have there are not I really don't think it really matters I have been doing that all my life and I am still here
Weirdest thing ever planted was an old rubber tire lol and my grandma had an old toilet bowl that she planted flowers in lol. I've seen soo many crazy "planters/containers it never ceases to amaze me. Some plants are absolutely relentless and will grow just about anywhere anyway lol. GOD bless Happy growing!
Just about anything works!
I lost half of my fence during the last winter storm; so I had the whole thing replaced with hedge bushes to make a natural fence (in a few seasons). The gardener was so amazing to offer me all the pots that the shrubs came in. Saved me over $200 on equipment and I’ve got more pots than I had in mind to fill. So nothing strange yet, just bushels of gratitude 🙏🏻
Gratitude is a great thing to have. :-)
I bury the bottom 2 inches of black pots in the ground to help get a buffer for the heat from the sun. Seems to help with freezes too.
It must help in stormy windy conditions as the pot won’t fall over.
Smart move!
Really helpful! I've already got a load of lettuce growing in big yoghurt pots on a windowsill and I'm just about to experiment with creating a veg garden on a window ledge using milk bottles (food grade plastic!) threaded onto tension rods. If I manage it without killing passers by underneath I might film the results....
Sounds like you're coming up with a very creative solution there Claire.
Just keep making videos. What ever it is I will watch it. I live in Colorado USA so the altitude is a problem but your cheerful optimism keeps me going.
Wonderful - thanks for watching Wendy!
Supermarket crates we had left from online shopping. They make nice big pots and have good drainage built in :)
I love this info! Filling the pots half way with sticks and such is so smart! Thanks for that! Working on a Patio Garden now and this is so appreciated!
I fight Bermuda grass so I grow exclusively in containers. I once planted in a broken toilet. It was broken before we got to use it so it was hygienic. It all works. Great advice.
I bet that made for an interesting feature!
Just the video I needed before I head to the garden centre tomorrow to get some seeds and plugs. I have a very small garden with no real borders but intend on filling it with containers. Great content! 💚🌱
Great stuff Jonathan!
Great tips here, and container planting really does have some great benefits like being able to move your plants to happier locations.
Thankyou , straight to the point, concise and informative. Too many gardeners think that we want to hear about their lifestyles and spend more time waffling about other things rather than gardening. Good tips here and I'll be back.
I know what you mean Anthony! :)
I have a fairly large back garden but I still plant things like blueberries and tomatoes in pots so I can move them around to chase the sun. I love planting in containers and harvesting spuds in them is so easy.
Lovely, thank you, Ben!
You have so much ideas to plant things in pots! See you soon!
Awesome! I live in an apartment with a balcony and would really like to plant some produce too! Thank you so much for this video😁
Strangest container so far - some old embroidered cowboy boots - they were too pretty to throw out so I now grow marigolds in them 😆
I bet that looked awesome!
I love your analogy to baking a cake! I also love that you are encouraging people that dont have a lot of space!
Thanks so much. It's surprising what can be grown in containers. :-)
Thank you, Ben, that was my project for today. I am putting pots under or near underneath of a tree and I may have to move them if they come to trim the tree. This tree has large evergreen leaves that smother every thing. Various challenges but we are going for it.
Great you're going for it Jeanette - hope you enjoy a good crop.
I use old chimney pots to grow courgettes in. 👍
Great idea, I'm going to try that :) thank you for the idea :)
@@carolineowen7846 I use homemade compost with a top up of shop bought. Also a handful of chicken poo pellets, and a old length of hose sliced down the middle which goes around the top edge of the chimney pots to protect the courgettes from the rough surface. The first year I didn't and the leaves got damaged in the winds. A plastic cloche fits over the top to start with, but it's only on for a week tops, as they grow really quick!.👍
@@carolineowen7846 I might grow giant sunflower's in them this year as I have a new allotment! I have so much more space to grow now. Soo excited! Good luck!👍
I bet that looks stunning - what a great idea!
Living in a appartment so I appreciate this video alot . Hope to see more on container gardens as well tips and tricks for very small space garden solutions.
First time gardening this year since we were both children and you’ve been such an inspiration, I can’t say thank you enough. So much useful information. We have lots of containers and I’ve made some raised planters from old pallets. Trying to grow herbs, a variety of salads and veggies inc potatoes and some fruits like strawberries and blueberries. So far so good, can’t wait to see them grow. Great videos thank you.
How exciting to be rediscovering the joys of gardening! Very best of success to you for this year’s crops. 😃
ATM as well as potting on when needed I'm growing a load of strawberry plants from runners I took last year,and I'm hoping to sell them alongside some flower pots,just small 9cm pots,raising money for guide dogs.
With my disabilities I find it's good to help people who can help you,even tho I don't have a guide dog I do have an assistance dog,she's only a puppy at and learning lots each day. She loves to be in the garden and helping me to plant things to sell on to the community. I'm gonna ask if I can take some along to my local drop in group and ask for donations,I'm hoping 50p a plant will be accepted.
I know I've had to cover all the overheads but I think it's worth it.
Today I've spent the day filling the pots that came last night thanks to Amazon,pots and tags included that was a good spot. So have filled them with compost and have set them down in the shade to soak up some water...then ether later today or tomorrow I plan to sow the seed onto the pots.
I hope that my efforts will be worth I and will make lots of money. They need it to train the dogs to save people's lives.
Thanks for all you do as you help as you guys have inspired me to think outside the box.would never have thought to use my seed to help. If I thought people would want tomato plants and stuff I would happy do that. For my nan as she has no way of staring stuff off I have done her 2 tomato plants and she's giving me £5 for each as she said all the TLC I have given them is worth it,that's started the guide dog fund. 🤣 Happy Sunday all
What a wonderful thing to be doing Cheryl - I'm sure your strawberry plants will be snapped up! :-)
Old (well-cleaned!) toiletbowls. Used to have a row of them in front of my house. The set-up of the antistink drainage (in Dutch swann-neck) and the wide flat bowl makes them excellent for growing plants because they never completely drain out water. Also the inward edge under the sitting area preserves moist around the edges. Very steady and also wind-resistant 😉
Great advice - a very unique garden planter!
I've heard they're good for growing 'peas'. 😋
Last year I gave birth and couldn't take care about garden much. So I planted my tomatoes in the plastic nappy bags. And got surprisingly reach harvest :)
Wonderful!
I have 2 kinds of radishes....3 kinds of carrots...peas and beets. Tomorrow I'll be putting my onion starts in I grew from seed and planting some cabbage seeds. My cabbage starts will go in the garden in a couple weeks.
Thanks Ben!!! Love the brassiere!
That tops my quirkiness, I don’t own any! 😆
Sowed zinnias, marigolds, lettuce varieties, creeping thyme and okra.
💐💖🙏🌠🌎🍃🌱🌷💗
I saw that at a garden show - not sure I'd be brave enough to put that in my own garden! :-)
Oh go for it! Live it up!!
AWESOME!
I am a beginner gardener and learned much!
I planted this year tomatoes, white pumpkin (we make them in to mpantzina and this are the best for it), egg plant, cucumber, sweet corn, peas and 2 more things but I don't know how the are all in English and more then half of my garden is potato's hehe. sorry for my bad English.
I think your English is great! Well done on growing so much. :-)
My soil in my garden is pretty bad so will be amending all year in this season utilizing pots and cow feed tubs to grow in. Thanks for all the great information on container gardening. Really enjoying the video's
Roto a 50% compost ratio into your soil and cover it with a weed membrane over winter to stop weeds sucking up nutrients. The worms will get to work and it'll have improved before spring. I wouldn't rototill the whole garden though, as the blades decimate the worm population.
I’m going to grow some carrots in my big plastic compost bin this year as a trial, strawberries and herbs in hanging baskets and an old leaky watering can is going to be modified to take something, maybe spring onions .
That sounds superb. Salad leaf mixes would also look great in the watering can.
I grew in a homemade toddlers bed that used their crib mattress after they had out grown the crib.😂 It was painted bright pink and really put a pop of color in my garden, made all my lettuce and radishes really stand out.
Sounds incredible! :-)
Dang it Ben, I wish you'd uploaded this a few months ago when I started my balcony garden 😆
I learnt a few of the points of this video hard way. Like I thought smaller pots would need less watering because they are small... thinking they won't be that thirsty
Well you learn something new every day as a gardener! I hope your balcony garden thrives and brings plenty of tasty pickings.
You should be a presenter on Gardener's world. I love your channel.
Thanks so much! :-)
@@GrowVeg I really mean that, love your garden, presentation, enegy, everything. Lots of tips for folk with a smaller budgets.
Ben: I'm going to put in about five or six handfuls.
Maybe a bit more...
That feels about right.
😂
Yes, I realised as I was doing it it was a moving target! But you get the idea! :-)
Great presentation without a lot of goofy stuff. Good job.
Your fur baby is so stinking cute 🥰 I loved the close ups. Love your videos so informative. I have been going around my town collecting wood pallets to make raised beds and sewed some grow bags. I live in an apartment but have a small porch so taking notes on all these tid bits you have provided ☺️💖
So pleased you've been keeping busy getting your planters ready - very best of luck with what you grow. Rosie (the dog) says hello. :-)
I'm using cheap, square garden waste bags from places like Wilko. They are about 60cm square, and the same deep. The material is quite porous, so no problems with drainage. If you put a good layer of twigs and prunings on the bottom, they will probably puncture the fabric for even more drainage. I'm then filling with dug out turves (upside down) and used potting compost from other containers, finishing off with some BFB and fresh multi-purpose compost. This year planning to grow leeks, spinach, endives, carrots and spring onions, with a few annual herbs scattered in for companion planting.
That sounds like a great setup there Paul.
Pringles snacks tubes! Halved, with drainage holes drilled, they are good for small portions of herbs or salads
your videos bring me a ton of enjoyment! right now on the last day of april in northern minnesota, im still looking out the window to snow in the yard. i really want to get a bunch of containers going someday! we've had one or two in the past, and its really enjoyable! our ground is very hard to grow anything in (except crabgrass) so id love some raised gardens someday too.
thanks for making it all look so much easier than my brain makes it out to be sometimes.
It can be quite easy. Just do what you can and concentrate on enjoying it all. :-)
Great videos, learning a lot from you. Thank you. An old butler's sink with a variety of flowers, which my husband say is not unusual, an old 1940's style mop bucket with tomatoes and a split 100L water butt, sawn in
2 halves for melons and pumpkin. The latter two grown for first time this year.
Some great repurposing going on there Heather. :-)
Great tips for container gardening! Just a side note, I live in Ontario Canada and this is where peat bogs are, so peat is local to me so not a burden to transport.
Over here in the UK we’re being told to avoid peat based compost in an effort to preserve peat bogs, you can still buy peat and I think a lot of commercial growers still use it but we’re being encouraged to replace it with peat free where possible - might be something to look into
Your container gardening tips have been a lifesaver for my small patio.
So pleased to hear this, thank you. :-)
great example of creating your own potting mix. Thank you.
I would just like to give a heads up, if you're using perlite, the dust that you see is incredibly bad for your lungs (it's basically tiny shards that make little cuts in your lung tissue), so either wear an N95 mask if indoors, or preferably use it outdoors so you refrain from breathing it in! This is also especially important for any pets, because their lungs are even smaller and therefore they're even more susceptible to damage! Dampening the mix with water like pointed out in the video is a good tip before you start mixing it, so you raise less dust from the mix.
That's really great advice, thank you.
The majority of our garden is pots and containers. Last year, mum was getting rid of an old single divan bad. When she turned it upside-down to start chopping it up, I looked and said "That would make a great raised bed!" So we cut some of the length off and I grew amazing sweetcorn in it last year. Then In Autumn I put garlic and onions in which are still growing well. I'm thinking once they come out to put my borlotto beans in perhaps.
I am growing a fair few types of tomatoes, including "Big Mama" which is supposed to give huge plum tomatoes, so I'm excited for those to make into sauces. I'm also going to try a trailing tomato in a hanging basket and also I have a "current" tomato which I'm hoping will grow really tiny toms! :D
You mentioned about the carrots in a pot being lifted up to stop the carrot fly - just wondered if that means they only attack them if they are in the ground? Or can they still get to pots?
We seem to be going through The Attack of the Aphids at the mo. They are driving me mad.
Wow, what a great up-cycle :)
Maybe try inter-sowing carrots between the onions & garlic rows. (they are happy companions)
When you crop the garlic & onions, are you going to start at the back so you can put a trellis up for your beans?
I read / or saw on a previous video that carrot fly don't fly above 30cm / 12", so if you interplant the carrots between the onion rows in the divan raised bed, they will be up high, so no carrot fly.
Have a look at the companion plants to deter aphids you are experiencing.
Your garden sounds fab you must be really proud of your hard work x
@@carolineowen7846 Thank you! :) It's been working really well. Ahh I didn't realise about the carrots and garlic/onions growing well together, that's a nice idea.
I've not really had much thought about how I'm going to do the beans yet. I am growing Dwarf Borlotto lingua di fucco, as I grew about 6 plants of them last year and they were absolutely amazing. I had no issues at all with them and they only need short canes for a bit of support. I blanched and froze them, then put them in a Chilli con carne and they were so delicious with a buttery, slight nutty flavour. I only wished I had got more. So this year I'm doing double the amount.
@@carolineowen7846 Oh right really!! Now that is very interesting and so helpful, thank you. I've been eyeing up Dragon Carrots, not only because they look really nice, but also I'm a sucker for anything with Dragon in the name haha! (Also have Snap Dragons, Aquilegia Dragonfly and indoor Dracena (Dragon Tree) plant)
Yes, that’s right - by growing carrots in containers you can raise them up above the low-flying carrot flies. A finger-sized carrot for salads would be ideal for container growing.
Love this channel! Gives me no excuses to not get started growing this spring 😁👍
Nice video! The oddest containers I've grown veggies in are: Potatoes in old tires. One stacked on top of the other, filled with dirt. The next is herbs in an old boot. A giant size man's work boot works well and it's a novelty you can show your friends.
Great repurposing there Deborah!
I did the same thing with comfrey. I ended up with a container of comfrey plants! Not that I mind, but it was a surprise!
I'm a big fan of containers. For the past 14 years I've found I get good results for all types of veg by using large plastic pots (bucket-sized) as miniature raised beds.
All I do is cut several 1" diameter drainage holes in the SIDES of the pots, level with the base, then plunge the container into a well-prepared garden bed a depth of 4 inches.
Fill with compost, plant your veg, and you have the benefit of a (slightly) raised bed which will water itself to some extent. It needn't look untidy, either. If you arrange a 'raft' of even-sized pots - say, 21 of them in a block 7 wide and 3 deep and spaced as needed (6" between them is probably enough) - the result looks quite smart.
It works especially well for tomatoes, sweetcorn, beans, sweet peppers, chilli peppers, and spuds.
You can still water as usual, but I'm based in the grey and soggy north of England, so the soil is generally moist enough. Please note that the pots shouldn't have any extra drainage crocks in the bottom; it's important that there's direct contact between the container compost and the garden soil.
I must admit that I don't insist on only using food-grade containers. I'll use anything, including the cheapest, grottiest plastic buckets. I'm not fanatical about green issues, nor am I neurotic about my health. I make my own compost to save cash, and if I can grow cheap food as well, I'm happy. 🙂
What a great method, and I love the fact that they are almost self-watering too. Smart move! 🍅🌶🥔🌽
I grew salad greens in a cardboard produce box from Costco. Worked beautifully!
Nice one Carolyn!
I've grown cucumbers in cement blocks.
Again thanks for a wonderful video. I'm growing garlic and kale in an old metal bathtub...no drainage holes but there is a spigot to empty it at the bottom and that is open😇
I bet that looks fantastic Gail.
I bet that looks fantastic Gail.
I bought 2.5 and 3 barrel laundry hampers, lined them with plastic, and grew potatoes.
That's a great idea Penny.
Great tips as always!!
Celery does well in containers too!
People put old broken furniture on the side of road for bulk trash. I helped by repurposing bed spring & mailbox post for trellis. Dresser drawers for containers & side boards for raised beds. If color matters just get cheap spray paint & paint the exterior. Also used a neighbor’s fallen wood fence they were going to throw away.
What fantastic repurposing - love it! :-)
Another great video Ben! I am renting and mainly growing in containers at the moment. Your videos give me hope that I can actually grow pretty well this way, and still eat!
I liked the garden compost arm chair 😂
Looks really lovely.
Thank you for the great information about containers. We love your videos.
Cheers Michelle!
I feel really inspired by your knowledge and expertise. Can't wait for the morning so I can get stuck in preparing my mix
Great to hear that Ann!
I use mineral tubs that cattle feed came in. They are usually thrown out by the farmers
I live in a small terraced house with a concrete yard.....this, as an ex smallholder, is really frustrating, but i have managed to grow a ton of fruit and veg in tubs and pots. I have a fig tree and thornless blackberry , a pomegranate tree (no fruit yet but it's very pretty!), raspberry canes and blueberry bushes that come back to life every year.....and i plant out tomatoes, chillis and sweet peppers, loads of different herbs, lettuce, spring onions, radishes, potatoes and anything else that will fit in, every Spring. I've covered a giant dog cage with bubble wrap and other plastic, which i use as a small greenhouse to harden plants off and use old white voiles to protect from the summer sun as my yard is South facing......and the brick walls retain a lot of heat.
This Spring, i have just aquired a long awaited allotment from the council.....it's a mess and needs a lot of TLC at the moment, but it's all very exciting! I've already got a bucket of horsepoo and nettle tea in a bucket, brewing up there. As the soil needs seriously sorting out, i'm taking a bunch of pots up there so that i have some kind of result from the plot THIS year. I think the majority of this Spring is going to be spent digging up broken glass, nettles, bricks and stones but the pots will also weigh down any covering i put on the soil whilst i try and bring it back to life .......and i'm hoping some beans and spuds will survive in the ground, this year, to grow in the patches that i've already addressed. Having no car (just a shopping trolley and a backpack!) , it's quite a task moving 'stuff' up to the plot , which is half a mile away, and slows things down a bit but we're getting there!
All heil the pots and tubs....and the Thermos flask!🌹
Oh wow, you’re doing so much already. And how great to have got an allotment. Best of luck getting it into shape this season. Enjoy the whole process of it. 😀
Growing carrots in my kids old baby bath.
you are such a good teacher, i enjoy your videos and i always learn something new. When my refrigerator and freezer died in the same week, i drag them in the front yard and as they lay on their back , i thought wow what a great planter. i now have 14 refrigerators that i have covered with repurposed wood . i fill the bottom with wood chips then leaves and on top good soil and compost.
it is insulated both from heat and cold. if your fridge dies, rejoice you have a great planter , use it in your garden. Thank you for sharing your knowledge
What a superb idea - how ingenious!
I bought two sets of black fabric "raised beds" - each consisting of four pockets. These got filled with potting mix, and then planted with very happy tomatoes. However, they are in sun for much of the day, so I have since wrapped them round with lengths of white bubble wrap left over from the house move. This helps protect from excess moisture loss, and also stops the black fabric absorbing too much heat. Not the prettiest addition to the garden, but so far it seems to be working !
That sounds like a great addition. Probably very necessary in hot weather.
Excellent video and information! Thank you 😊!!