Small space gardening can be a reality for a lot of urban and suburban families. Despite the fact that we’ve left the roomy rural farms of our forefathers, we have not lost the drive to develop a lot of our own food, so we have been confronted with finding ways to garden with less land. If you count yourself of these space challenged gardeners, don’t despair. There is a large number of crops that are well suited to container gardening. In this article, we’ll discuss four: lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and beans.
Lettuce:
Lettuce can be a favorite for free farming classifieds, especially loose leaf varieties which can be harvested with an ongoing basis, like Buttercrunch or Oak Leaf. Because lettuce grows very best in cool spring temperatures, plant it early in the year. Young plants are usually for sale in nurseries and garden centers a month or so before the average last frost date. Plant them in containers that are about 6 to 8 inches deep. Round containers work well, just as row boxes, because lettuce doesn’t have to have a lot of space. Set the containers within an area that receives part sun or some filtered shade throughout the day.
Tomatoes:
Tomatoes can be a home gardener’s favorite and there are many varieties that are well suited to growing in pots. Sweet 100 and also other small grape or cherry varieties usually do quite well in containers, though these indeterminate varieties may become large and sprawling if you do not prune rid of it or remove suckers from the plants. Also look for compact or determine plant types including Patio Prize. Because tomatoes can be a fairly deep rooted crop, choose large, roomy containers that are no less than 24 to 36 inches deep. Remember that indeterminate varieties may also require staking or caging, so you need to be certain your pot can properly accommodate a cage or tomato trellis.
Peppers:
Peppers are an execllent crop to develop in containers as the plants are relatively compact. Peppers can certainly be a temperamental plant, only setting fruit when temperatures are above 65 degrees but below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Planting peppers in containers gives gardeners the main benefit of to be able to slowly move the plants around when needed. For example, in the spring, you can place the container for the west or south side in your home, where it will receive maximum warmth. Because temperatures set out to warm up in the summertime, move it to some cooler location. In case a cool night is forecasted, the pots could be brought indoors for protection.
Beans:
When choosing beans for container gardening, it is advisable to pair your container and its location with the variety of bean you will be growing. Bush beans, for example, don’t ever have any special requirements. Pole beans, however, can be a climbing plant which will require some kind of supporting structure. If you have the capability to supply a vegetable trellis for pole beans to develop on, it can really be quite advantageous for small space gardening, because this setup allows you to develop as opposed to out, thus making the most efficient use of short space. Beans associated with a variety are a good option for small space container gardening as they are one of the most highly prolific vegetables from the garden, meaning you will get maximum return on your planting space. With an ongoing harvest of beans throughout the summer, make several successive plantings, each three weeks apart.
Container gardening can be a fun and rewarding hobby, plus its a terrific way to experiment with many different different crops. Just a small investment in some patio pots and containers, potting soil, and seeds or seedlings, you will have a wonderful kitchen garden growing on your deck and patio very quickly.
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