Page 22 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2023

Growing veg in containers
GRAHAM ROBERTS
Growing in containers for me happened by accident. I raise all my veg seeds in either the greenhouse or a cold frame and, as you do, always grow a few extra. After planting out into the raised beds,
I was left with some extras, perfectly good and healthy, that I thought a shame to consign to the compost bin. So, they went into containers.
Over the past few years and increasing health issues, I began to appreciate the challenge container-growing offered and started experimenting with container size and growing mediums. The following is where I’m at and what works for me at the moment.
The Growing Media Mix
The mix I use is the same for all my container-grown veg:
• Half of old compost from one of last year’s greenhouse growbags.
• Half of well-rotted compost from the compost bins.
• 2 handfuls of organic chicken pellets.
Fill each container three-quarters full with this mix and top off with new growbag material.
The Containers
The best containers are free. Nevertheless, they should not be so
small that they dry out quickly and do not provide room for roots. Nowadays I tend
to go for two sizes, the first favoured size is the good old builders’ bucket; I’ve acquired a number of these. Neighbours’ bucket- sized cast-off patio planters, be they faded, split or simply unloved, also work and are still serviceable for my needs. And the chicken pellet tubs, of course, painted blue and perfectly acceptable (Alan Titchmarsh c.1990s has a lot to answer for).
My biggest mistake to begin with was putting too many plants in these sized tubs. I have since found the following works, per tub:
• 1 x courgette, or
• 5 x chard, or
• 5-6 x root parsley or turnip or
celeriac, or
• 3 x dwarf French beans, or
• A light sowing of carrots. Limiting the tubs to these small
numbers gives good yields. I normally feed them once a week with a liquid seaweed.
The second sized containers that I
use a lot of are recycled fish boxes. For anyone who has not come across these, they are polystyrene boxes, approximately the dimensions of a full-size seed tray but 4-5 inches deep. With half a dozen holes punched in the bottom, they are ideal for salad crops. Six lettuce plants fit nicely in these, or a light scattering of mixed salad leaves.
I’ve also found them useful for spare autumn onion sets: fifteen in a box in October/November, I’ll pop them in the cold frame for a couple of weeks until I see some growth, then bring them out and sit them on a dry-stone wall and start pulling
22 Simply Vegetables
them in March as beautiful salad onions (from the kitchen comes the comment that you can never have enough onions).
The main reason I start them off in a cold frame is to protect them from the mice and birds; they tend to leave the plants alone once they have a bit of root to hold them in place.
Afterword
I try to place all my containers at about waist height, so they are easier for me to tend.
Growing veg in containers is not everyone’s cup of tea, but as the years creep on and the health starts to fail, it’s a way for us to keep on growing our veg.