What veg can I grow in pots and how?

[JodieG1]

I've never grown anything really and would really like to grow some veg in the garden in pots. I'd like something the children can get involved in and help with.

I've grown herbs before actually but not here, might do that again too.

Any advice on how to start as I know nothing about gardening, any websites that give good info?

[BoysOnToast]

hiya
i am similarly inexperienced.
i grew some veg in pots last year, a few less the year before... and this year have graduated to a full on 'patch' (well, i will do when the spring somes. i have built the raised beds at any rate)

good things for pots:
potatoes (in bags or tubs - if you want a starter/try out bag, ive got one spare i could send you if you like)
leeks
lettuces
strawberries
onions
garlic
um, there must be more...

tomatoes in grow bags... (3 plants to one growbag)

[BoysOnToast]

sweetcorns supposed to be good fun for kids as it grows so fast... i havnt managed it yet tho. (last summer we still had builkding work going on so i was less than attentive to my veggies!)

[JodieG1]

They all sound great. How do you plant them? What would I need to start? I really have no clue about anything!

If you don't need it that would be great, I can paypal you some money for it.

[littlerach]

We grow tomatoes, peas and some kind o fbeans, plus strawberries, blueberries and redcurrants in pots.
We start them off indoors, then put them out as they are bigger. We cover strawberrie sin net to stop the birds taking them.

[JodieG1]

How big do the pots need to be? What sort of soil would I need?

[jumpingbeans]

Have you ever grown cherry toms and strawberrys in hanging baskets, really good,hang them quite low an lo's can pick them

[Mung]

Just use normal compost. You are too late for garlic this year, but you could start planting some tomato seeds indoors in a warm sunny place now.

Peas are apparently hard to grow. I am trying for the first time this year, so perhaps go for some runner beans/broad beans instead. You could start planting them in small pots indoors now too.

I will have a few spare seed potatoes (earlies and main crop), as I can never fit all of mine into my patch. You are welcome to a few of them if you want. But, they try out bag should give you more variety.

Actually....thinking about it, if you only want a couple of plants of each, it may be best to buy them as small plants from your garden centre, although then the children don't get to see the whole process.

I would suggest growing the following in your first year:
cut and come again salad
potatoes
tomatoes
courgettes (I think you could do these in pots)
runner beans/broad beans
one type of soft fruit

Another fun thing to grow is chillis.

Give them a go and then see how you want to expand for next year.

[Mung]

Yes, tumbler toms in hanging baskets...great idea! You can also grow basil in there too.

[JodieG1]

Thank you for the advice, I'm going to pop to the garden centre after lunch and see what I can get. Looking forward to growing my own. Do you water them every day? I really am a novice, never even grown flowers and the herbs I grew were ready bought, I just had to plant them.

[BoysOnToast]

you can, of course, cheat and order an 'instant' garden (here)... a set of plants and instructions on what to do with them... might be a good way to start out? there are a few different packages.

hardly the most economical way of doing it... but for sheer satisfaction and peace of mind that you might get some results for your toil... and youd gain the confidence to do it yourself next year.

[warthog]

strawberries in hanging pots.

[jumpingbeans]

Try it worthog,keeps all the snails and slugs off as they are not on the ground

[Mung]

Those instant gardens look great boysontoast. I will keep them in mind as a gift one day. I am also going to give the strawberried in hanging pots a go

[JodieG1]

Ok I went to the garden centre and ended up buying some baby plants and a couple of baby flowers too. I'll try seeds if these live!

I have tomatoes, baby cucumber, lettuce and beetroot in pots now, a few flowers, lavendar, 2 more herbs which I've already forgotten thyme possibly and some daffodil bulbs.

I've potted them all with some compost, watered them and will do the bulbs tomorrow. The children helped too

Hopefully they'll do ok.

[Mung]

Well done. Are they indoors or out at the moment? They may need protection if they are outside, but then I am overprotective of my plants

Jumpingbeans...how many strawberry plants per pot/basket?

[JodieG1]

They're outdoors. What sort of protection might they need?

Going to plant the daffodils in the front garden tomorrow.

Hoping to get some more when I see how these get on and I need another pot or two as I didn't have enough space for the beetroot.

[JodieG1]

I also have strawberries but not hanging.

[Mung]

I put gardeing fleece on mine, but you could just bring them in during the evenings at the moment. The beetroot should be fine (I planted seeds direct last week and I presume they will be ok), its the other veg that I would worry about. Tomatoes need to be warm and I always thought that cucumber needed to be grown in a greenhouse (but may be wrong). They just may need some extra care for a while.
My thyme is outside, but I have planted basil indoors.

My window sills are full at the moment

With regards to watering, I know that tomatoes need loads of water and I would suggest and early morning and late evening watering once they are fruiting. A great way of feeding them is to get some horse manure, put it in a sock and chuck the sock into a watering can. Let it 'brew' for a while and then water with that once a week. One bag of manure will probably last you the summer.

Happy growing...

[Mung]

just found this site when searching on info about strawberries. Looks quite interesting...