Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: rogertb on May 18, 2018, 06:15
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Hi chaps, I have several quite large plastic pots (2ft diameter) at home - we don't use them any more and I wondered if it was worth taking them to the allotment, given that if I put them anywhere they will take up their same area of open soil (if you can understand what I'm trying to say) ie - is there something that will prefer being in a pot rather than open soil ? - maybe some salads, french beans ? Any advice very welcome ... many thanks.
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Hi, containers can be good if you want to grow something that likes different growing conditions, e.g. If you want to have blueberries but don't have acid soil, or if you have heavy clay soul and want to grow something that likes light free draining oil. They are also good if you want to keep s plant in one place, e.g. Mint which will spread like wildfire if not contained. For me the problem would be watering them as I am not at the plot for days at a time, but if you can get around that they may be useful.
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How about getting them a few feet off the ground, and using them for carrots?
We use buckets up high to deter carrot fly, and with last year's compost, they work a treat!
(Give my love to 'The Polegrove' - many happy afternoons spent there..;0)
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You can grow strawberries and things like dwarf French beans, lettuce, and anything else that slugs and snails enjoy as you can put a barrier at the base so they don't climb up - ha!
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Having previously gardened in a place with very stony soil I used to grow all my carrots and parsnips in tubs (to save the inevitable wonky roots). They always did beautifully well, with the added bonus of no carrot fly!
I also used to grow my potatoes in large pots. I only grew salad potatoes (hubby worked full time on a large arable farm so we had enough maincrop spuds to last us through) so 4 or 5 tubs did us plenty, and it meant that I didn't then have to spend the next few years still digging up rogue potatoes in my main beds. They were also incredibly easy to harvest - no back breaking digging, I just stuck my hands in and pulled a few out, or if I wanted a lot the pot was tipped over and the spuds simply picked up.
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Thanks one and all for the responses, very encouraging .... I'll certainly try a few carrots and a few other things and see how we get on ....