Vegetable Container Gardening

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In the Garden:
Hello everyone! As you may know, I love container gardening! I believe I learned from the best of the best in Atlanta Georgia, many years ago. I learned outdoor container garden design, install and maintenance from what I think is the most elite landscape design and maintenance firm in this city, Planters @ http://www.plantersgarden.com/ . I learned interior container garden design, install and maintenance from the most posh plant retailer in the city, Boxwoods Gardens and Gifts in Buckhead. In all my years in the biz, no company ever came close to comparing in beauty and overall outcome to these two different companies.

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But back to container gardening, the one thing that was just about to get hugely popular right before I became a "Stay-at-Home Mom" was Vegetable Container Gardening! So, granted, I didn't learn from a reputable source, I could only imagine that gardeners could apply the same techniques used for regular container gardening to accomplish such a task. I guess you would have to be armed with some veggie plant knowledge, like which tomato plant is going to be small enough for my container and which veggies just won't hack it at all in a pot, because there are some. ie Corn or large Watermelon are not suitable for container gardening.

Lettuce Garden in a re-usable bag
photo by Kerry Michaels

Gardeners are getting very creative in there container choice too, like seen here in the ever popular, re-usable bag. It's quick and easy and a great conversation piece.

My Patio Tomato

 You can mix blooms with your vegetables in containers like above, which has a Patio Tomato in the middle surrounded by Yellow Lantana and Purple Million Bells.

Southeastern Flower Show picture of large Tomato container

In a tasteful and fun way, you can try planting them up in bright pots with accent colors in the form of a trellis. New Potatoes are awesome in containers! Start out by planting your seed potato in the bottom of the container of your choice. As the foliage grows, bury it until the plant reaches the top! Then simple harvesting in the Fall by dumping the pot out and finding your goods! Involve the kids in this one!

Some things to help you along:

• Choose a top quality, organic potting soil. This will ensure good drainage in your container.
• To the potting soil, add some organic granular fertilizer, and water every two weeks with a fish emulsion or seaweed mix. As with any plants, be sure the soil is moistened and not dry before you fertilize.
• Provide proper staking of Tomatoes, heavy Peppers and vining veggies.
• Water, water, water! Get to know your pots, they will tell you how often they need water with the notorious "wilt", and start timing your watering to catch it before they do so!