Growing Food Plants in Containers, Step by Step
Growing my own food isn’t always easy. I’m no professional farmer, I don’t live in the country anymore, and I don’t even have a backyard. There are some foods that I’m simply unable to grow myself, especially animal products. Other foods are very easy to grow, even in urban conditions.
In the past year I’ve adapted my food-growing skills to container gardening. I learned that growing herbs and vegetables in pots and planters is very different than growing them in plots. With a garden, you can usually count on Mother Nature to do a lot of the work for you. Container gardening, on the other hand, requires more care, superb soil and excellent artificial drainage.
The work is very well worth it. It saves time and money, but it’s especially culinary useful and a great way to make food more delicious. Container gardening can help you make tea with freshly-picked peppermint, real pesto from richly aromatic basil or pasta sauce from ripe tomatoes, exploding with flavor that hardly exists in pre-packaged supermarket bought foods.
Here’s my simply how-to guide, inspired by this morning’s planting of basil.
Get seeds or seedlings of the plant you want to grow. I personally prefer seedlings for two reasons. First, it’s easier for an amateur to determine the quality of a seedling than the quality of seeds. Second, there’s less chance for pests to harm the plant: eat the seed or interfere with germination.
Choose an appropriate container. Any size will do as long as plants have enough room to grow and that there’s adequate drainage. A small citrus tree obviously needs a much larger container than herbs.
Fill 2/3 of the container with soil, preferably good-quality potting soil. A soil mix especially made for containers is better than garden soil because it is formulated to prevent plants from drying out in the pot.
Dig holes for the seedlings. I simply use my finger, but you can use any tool that scoops the ground and makes holes. Make sure the holes are at least 5 inches apart from each other so the individual plants have enough room to grow comfortably.
Place the seedlings in the holes. Gently press the soil around the base of each plant.
Water generously, but don’t drown the seedlings. Watering is gentle art. The soil must never dry out, but too much water will cause the roots to rot. The soil has to be moist, not dry, not soaking. Excellent drainage is an absolute requirement for successful container gardening. Only if the surface of the soil is dry to the touch, then it’s time to water. However, don’t let the soil go dry for a long period of time, but check every day.
Place the container according to the appropriate amount of light that the plants need. Herbs usually need some shadow. Vegetables require full sunshine.
Provide particular plant care. Some plants are very cold-sensitive or prone to specific types of pest. Others, like basil or mint have a tendency to grow tall. To encourage a growth of more leaves, pinch off the growing tips just above the first set of leaves, allowing new shoots to sprout from the stem. Plants like tomatoes and cucumbers need support growing upwards. You can buy a special cage for that end or simply use support sticks and twine.
Protect from pests. Plants can be attacked by various types of insects and diseases. Inspect the plants on a regular basis for insects, color changes, holes, etc. If your plants get sick, you can choose to use chemical pesticides or more natural solutions like vinegar or horticultural oil.
Harvest the plants when they’re at the peak of maturity. You’ll know this by the intoxicating smell and the excellent flavor.
