Container gardening is fast becoming a popular trend. This is mainly because more of us are taking an interest in growing our own vegetables in the smaller spaces in which we live. Growing tomatoes pots along with many other smaller vegetables is a great way to get a green container garden going in no time.

Starting your very first garden in containers or pots is simple and tomato plants are the best vegetable to start with. They are very easy to grow and fairly sturdy and resilient. There are many different plant types in tomatoes one favorite among container gardeners is the Sweet Cherry Baby Girl variety. These are cherry tomatoes with a sweet and juicy flavor at first bite.

The Sweet Baby Girls are the perfect fit for any window box or container. They thrive in these and turn into succulent treats for salads, recipes and more. In about nine weeks time you can harvest your first tomatoes and start enjoying them right away. These are hybrids so they are really strong and diseases tend to be non- existent in them.

The Patio variety takes around nine weeks to come into their full harvest and because they grow very compact but large are wonderful additions to gardens in pots. They are also very strong and sturdy plants as well.

Other varieties which work just as great include the Pixie, Tiny Tim, Red Robin, Yellow Canary, Husky Hybrids and the Small Fry. You will need to select potting soil mix to grow healthy, happy container plants. Never use garden type soil due to the fact that it could contain pests which could be harmful.

When putting soil in container sift thoroughly to get it as fine as possible. Also add in a fertilizer that is slow releasing to your soil mixture.At this time you can add in holding water gels in the mix. These work terrific especially for container gardens on rooftops or terraces where temperatures reach higher heats.

Add gravel or broken pottery shards to the bottom of your container once it has small drainage holes drilled in the bottom of each container you plan on using. This helps drain properly and keeps rot from setting in on the plants roots also. You can even get creative and paint your containers in happy and cheerful colors or scenes.

Fiberglass and pots or containers made from plastic materials work the best for any plants to go in a container garden. Clay pots tend to crack under pressure and when moving. Growing Tomatoes Pots can also be the first step into teaching your children or grandchildren gardening as well as healthy eating habits. If they grow their own foods then they will be more likely to want to eat them as well.

It’s all here and there’s no charge. Growing Tomatoes Pots Leave as many comments as you want. The report is a great free resource, get your copy now.

Uses of Organic Vegetable Container Gardening

Container vegetable gardening is an entertaining and involving past time–one that you must know certain things about before starting an organic version.

When starting your organic gardening by obtaining seeds to plant, do not use genetically modified seeds; use organic seeds instead.

The right kinds of seeds for your gardening can be found in good plant books.

It is preferable to let your plants receive at least about five hours of sunlight each day than keep your garden indoors.

Use organic fertilizers to make sure your plants are kept in good condition throughout the year.

It is also not a good idea to not give have a peat or vermiculite mix for your plants.

Make sure as well that potted plants get watered more than the plants in the ground, particularly when they are growing fast.

You can grow all kinds of plants, in all different kinds of situations, with organic container gardening.

It is more tedious to garden with containers, but it is also less difficult to manage.

It is inexpensive to use your old containers and baskets to do organic container vegetable gardening. You can grow radishes, tomatoes, brinjal, cucumbers, and more!

For some vegetables such as potatoes and corn, opting to grow the dwarf varieties may make more sense with container gardening.

Grow your plants properly by making sure to use good fertilizer for a real organic garden.

Organic gardening is eco-friendly, inexpensive, and abundant in its rewards.

Organic gardening is a very enjoyable hobby that you can enjoy for years to come.

More Vegetable Container Gardening Books Articles

Gettting the right content for your container gardening soil mixture can be a bit tricky if you have particlular plants or difficult growing conditions. Therefore you soil should suit the plant as well as the climate and pot / container material.

How to Establish Your Container Garden
By Crisologo Ramasasa

Vegetable production is not only applicable in the countryside or in the gardens but can be grown now within the heart of the city or just in your home even with only a limited space.

If your home has an area with ample sunlight – a requirement for growing vegetables, you can grow them successfully. What are the locations that can be used for container gardening? You can use your patio, balcony, terrace, rooftop, deck, window sill, pathways, etc.

Be aware of the sunlight requirement for each kind of crop. For leafy vegetables, the required sunlight should be about four hours the whole day, for fruit vegetables, at least 7-8 hours sunlight is needed daily, and root vegetables requires around 6 hours of sunlight a day.

And besides of producing your own vegetables in a safer way, the attack of common pests and diseases can be greatly minimized. You can also improve the soil conditions by adding some soil amendments; like manure, compost, and other essential food nutrients needed by the plants.

Everything in your home that are considered as garbage can be utilized to the maximum by making them into compost. Even your household waste water can be used to irrigate your plants.

In other words, container gardening is considered to be the practice that makes use of useless things.

What Containers Are Ideal For Container Gardening?

Growing vegetables can be executed in any type of containers such as; cans, plastics, pails, split vehicle tires, cement bags, feed bags, bottle water plastics, gallon cans, cylinder blocks, milk container, bamboo cuts or any containers that have been thrown away. Even coco shells, banana bracts, leaves of coconut is ideal as potting materials especially for short season vegetables, like, pechay, lettuce, mustard, etc.

Good growing containers should possess the three important characteristics as suggested by Relf (1996);

1. They must be large enough to support fully grown plants.

2. They must have adequate drainage.

3. They must not have held products that are toxic to plants and persons.

Containers that drain poorly can affect the success of a container garden. It is therefore vital to have your containers above ground or any support that would raise the containers such as; slats, hollow blocks or anything to provide space below them to allow excess water to drain freely.

For bigger plants, you should use big containers and for small containers use small plants.

Small containers (1-2 gallons) are suited for lettuce, spinach, mustard, pepper, radish, green onions, carrots, beans, and dwarf tomatoes. Medium size containers (3-10 gallons) are best for eggplants while for larger ones (bigger than 10 gallons) are good for cabbage, cucumbers and tomatoes.

For most plants, containers should be at least 15 cm deep minimum especially for shot season vegetables.

Recommended Container Size and Type/Crop

5 gal. window box – Bush beans, Lima beans

1 plant/5gal.pot, 3plants/15 gal. pot -Cabbage, Chinese cabbage

5 gal. window box at least 30 cm deep – carrot

1 plant/gal. pot – cucumber

5 gal. pot – Eggplant, tomato, okra

5 gal. window pot – Lettuce

1 plant/2gal. pot; 5 plants/15 gal. pot – Onion

5 gal. window box – Pepper, spinach

Soil Media Composition

Plants grown in containers will depend on the kind of soil mixture to provide a maximum growth development. It is a must that you should provide the best soil media composition to give the possible return of your toil. Failure to give the plants with the necessary food nutrients in their growing period would results to poor growth, lanky, and stunted plants that will results to your failure.

The ideal soil mixture for container-grown vegetables crops are as follows:

1. It should be light in weight and porous.

2. It should easily drain excess water.

3. It should have high water holding capacity.

4. It should be free from soil borne disease, nematodes and insect pests.

5. It should supply the right and balance amount of nutrients for the plants.

The best mixture of soil media should compose the following; synthetic mix of horticultural-grade vermiculite, peat moss, limestone, superphosphate and complete fertilizer.

Compost can also serve as an excellent growing medium.

In your country where the above media are not available, you can make your own potting media by mixing 1 part loam soil or compost manure, 1 part fine river sand, and coconut coir dust.

If your country is producing rice you can replace coconut coir dust with the rice hull charcoal (carbonized). But this should be thoroughly sterilized to kill some deadly microbes that are detrimental to the plants.

Sawdust is another medium that could be used in preparing your growing medium in the absence of coco coir dust and should also be sterilized.

Sowing Seed and Transplanting

Before going into the sowing procedure, give your utmost attention to the selection of seed you’ll use as planting materials. Good quality seeds should be your first concern.

Good quality seeds possesses the following characteristics:

1. damage free

2. free from other mixture with other varieties

3. free from seed borne diseases

4. and with good vigor and germinating capacity.

To get a quality and reliable seeds, you should buy from certified seed producers or seed suppliers.

All vegetables that undergoes transplanting are excellent for container gardening. Transplants can be purchased from local nurseries or other successful gardeners in your locality.

Before transplanting, fill plastic or germinating tray with the growing media preparation using the following ratio: 60% rice hull charcoal(carbonized), 30 % coconut coir dust, 10% chicken manure (60-30-10 ratio).

In the absence of the above materials in your country, you can use the old soil media preparation – 1 part sand, 1 part compost, and 1 part garden soil (1-1-1 ratio). Make sure to sterilize them before the seed are sown. This is to kill some microorganisms that may cause damage to the seedlings.

You can also purchase a prepared growell medium sold in local agriculture stores in your respective country. Inquire from your agriculture experts available in your area.

Once the growing media is ready, fill the holes of the germinating or potting containers. Press the soil medium lightly with your fingers in every hole filled with the medium. Then follows the sowing of seeds.

In sowing seeds some techniques should be followed to insure germination:

Watermelon (Seeded) (Citrulis lunatus). Soak seed 30 min.- 1hour in top water. Incubate by using moist cotton cloth. Spread the seeds and cover. Place in an improvised cartoon for 24-36 hours. After this period, sow the seeds at I seed per hill. Seed must be level in the soil guided by a finger or stick at 1 cm deep. For the seedless type the procedure is the same as the seeded but the tip near the embryo should be cut with the use of a nail cutter before inserting to the soil. Cutting the end portion of the seed hastens germination.

Bitter Gourd/Ampalaya (Momordica charantia). Soak seeds for 30 min.-1 hour. Cut the tip near the embryo and sow with the seed deep of ¾ of the soil at 1 seed per hole.

Upo ( Lagenaria siceraria ) and Patola ( Luffa cylindrica ). Cut the tip covering only near the embryo and sow seed at 1 seed per hole.

Squash (Cucurbita spp). Soak seeds 30 min.-1 hour. Then pinch the tip near the embryo and sow seed at 1 seed per hole.

Pepper (Capsicum annum L.), Eggplant (Solanum melongena), and Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum). Sow the seed directly to the germinating tray at 1-2 seeds per hole.

Pechai /Pechay (Brassica pechai), Lettuce (Lactuca sativa), Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis ), and Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Italica ). Sow seed directly to the germinating at 1-2 seeds per hole.

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus), Honey Dew / Muskmelon (Cucumis melo). Sow the seed directly to the germinating tray at 1 seed per hole.

Carrot (Daucus carota) and Raddish (Rafanus sativus). Directly sow the seed to the field at 2-3 seeds per hill.

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis ) and Beans (Phaseolus limensis ). Sow the seed directly to the field at 1 seed per hill.

Corn (zea mays). Sow the seed directly to the field at 1 seed per hill.

Papaya (Carica papaya). Soak the seeds for 30 min.-1 hour then sow to the germinating tray at 1 seed per hole.

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus ). Directly sow the seed in the field at 1-2 seeds per hill.

Container size for specific crops.

o Medium – Beans, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, broccoli

o Large – Cuccumber, eggplant, tomato, pepper, okra, squash, papaya

o Small – Onions, parsley, radish

Light Requirements

o Sun – Beans, cucumber, eggplant, tomato, pepper, carrots, okra, squash, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli papaya

o Partial shade – Lettuce, onions, parsley, radish

Fertilizer Requirements

To get the right amount of fertilizer for your vegetables, you should analyze your soil media mixture. And if you can do it, organic or inorganic fertilizer should be used.

Fertilizer combination of organic and inorganic would be much better with the correct proportion depending on the plant requirement.

When using inorganic fertilizer you should prepare a base nutrient solution by dissolving 2 cups of complete fertilizer in 1 gallon of warm water.

A growing solution is prepared by diluting 2 tablespoons of the base solution in 1 gallon of water.

Application starts by pouring 2-3 tablespoons of the growing solution on the soil media around the plants at the time of transplanting.

The frequency of application may vary from one crop to another, but one application per day is adequate. It is advisable to leach all unused fertilizer out of the soil mix once a week by watering tap water to cause free drainage through the holes in the bottom of the container.

This practice will prevent buildup of injurious materials in the soil media. If you want to use organic fertilizer, you should use pure or 2/3 compost in the growing media.

If both the organic and inorganic fertilizer will be used, at least one part of the growing media should be compost and one tablespoon of the growing solution applied at least once a day.

If you’ll use synthetic mix growing medium, which is already enriched with superphosphate and complete fertilizer subsequent fertilization may not be necessary for early maturing crops.

For late maturing crops, daily application of the growing solution is necessary until maturity or shortly before harvesting.

Water Management

Water is the life for container garden plant. It’s important that you should not neglect this requirement. Proper water management is vital for a successful container gardening.

Basically, one watering a day is enough for container-grown crops. But for vegetables grown in small containers may require 2 times of watering a day.

Plants grown in clay pots needs more frequent watering since pots are more porous and extra water is allowed to drain out from their sides.

If the growing medium appears to be excessively dry and as the plant shows signs of wilting, the containers should be grouped together so that the foliage creates a canopy to help shade the soil and keep it cool.

Poor drainage of the growing media or container can lead to water-logged condition that may results to plant death due to lack of oxygen.

To make sure you have a vigorous plants, always check the containers at least once a day and twice on hot, dry, or windy days and to feel the soil to determine whether it is dump.

To reduce water evaporation for container plants, you should apply mulching materials such as plastic mulch or putting windbreaks.

You can also install trickle or drip irrigation system to the plants base if you think you can’s attend to your plants daily.

Pests and Diseases Control

Control of pests and diseases in containers needs your careful assessment because wrong use of pesticides may cause damage to the environment, especially children who may often come closer to your container plants.

To be safe, you should implement the Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This approach is focused on the so called systematic pest management which means to prevent problems before the pests and diseases appears.

How you can do this?

It is done by monitoring pest population, identifying pests, and choosing a combination of control methods to keep pests population at a minimal level. These methods includes cultural, mechanical, biological, and chemical methods.

Recommended Practices…

o Select insect and disease-resistant varieties of vegetables. Avoid insect attracting plants in the garden or those that are susceptible to pests. Beans, peas, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce and squash are more resistant to insect pests.

o Water the plants adequately to keep them healthy. Fertilize and thin plants to reduce competition for moisture and nutrients.

o Remove weeds to conserve soil moisture and eliminate hiding places of pests.

o Encourage natural enemies of insect pests, such as predators and parasites. Attract beneficial insects like; Western Damsel Bug, Lady Beetle, Green Lace Wing, and Minute Pirate Bug into your garden by planting small flowered plants such as; daisies, cosmos, marigold, and clover. Be sure they are in flower bloom throughout the growing season.

o Avoid growing the same types of vegetables in the same spot year after year. A 4-year rotation cycle is recommended.

o Exclude pests from plants by using fiber materials, row cover, and other barriers such as plastic bottles and plant collars.

o Remove infested part of the plant right away. Remove all plant residues from the containers after harvesting all the crops.

o Use traps to disrupt mating cycles of insects. Yellow sticky boards catch winged aphids, whiteflies, and leafhoppers.

o Handpick pests or knock them off plants with a stream of water from a garden hose. Kill the insects by putting them a soapy water.

o If all other control methods fails, the least toxic insecticides includes botanical control such as neem and pyrethrin. Insecticidal soap, horticultural oil may also be used for insect control. Always identify the pests before choosing a pesticide and use according to label directions.

Harvesting

Harvesting varies with vegetables. Leafy vegetables may be harvested when the desired leaf size is required for every use they are intended. Others harvest leafy vegetables after the required age is meet. For fruit vegetables such as, Luffa, Cucumber, Eggplant, beans, Okra, and Upo they are harvested when their size are big but tender. For squash varieties, they are harvested either matured or big but tender depending on the preference of users.

Cabbage, cauliflowers, and broccoli should be harvested when their heads are already compact. Peppers and tomatoes may be harvested when their fruits have started to ripen.

If you’re growing container-grown vegetables just for home consumption, you can harvest only some part of the plant and retain the rest for future use. But if you think you have more than enough for family use, you can harvest them all and sell or give them to your neighbors.

Never allow your vegetables to bear flower before harvesting them except when your purpose is to collect the seeds for future planting.

Maturity Indices of some Vegetables

o White potato, onion, garlic – Tops begins to dry and topple down

o Cowpea, sitao, snap beans, batao, sweet pea, winged bean – Well-filled pods that really snap

o Okra – Full-sized fruits with the tips that can be snapped readily

o Lima beans, pigeon pea – Well-filled pods that are starting to lose their greenness

o Upo, luffa – Immature (if thumb nail can penetrate easily)

o Tomato – Seeds slip when fruit is cut, or green color turning pink

o Sweet pepper – Deep green color turning dull

o Musk melon – Color of lower part turns creamy yellow, produces dull hallow sound when thumped

o Cauliflower – Curd compact (over mature if flower clusters elongates and begin to loosen)

o Broccoli – Bud cluster compact (over mature if loose)

o Cabbage – Heads compact s (over mature if heads cracks)

o Sweet corn – Exudes milk sap when thumbnail penetrates kernel

o Eggplant, ampalaya – Desirable size is reached out but still tender

o Honey dew – White color cream with aroma

o Squash – Big enough with dried leaves

o Watermelon – Dull hollow sound when thumped and lower color part turns yellow

o Water spinach – Leaves at their broadest and longest

Problems Encountered in Container Gardening

In container gardening you’ll meet some problems that may hinder your daily operations. This is sometimes discernible when you’ll not attend the plants due to negligence.

However, you can prevent these problems if you’ll religiously observe your plants closely. Small pests and diseases can’t be seen visibly if you’ll not see the plant appearance closely. You’ll only see the affected plants once you come closer and actually touch them.

Some symptoms, causes, and corrective measures you should observe…

o Tall, spindly and not productive. The plants receives insufficient sunlight and excessive supply of Nitrogen. To correct them, you should transfer the containers to a place where there is sufficient sunlight.

o Yellowing from bottom, poor color, and lack vigor. The plants receives too much water and low fertility. To correct this, you have to reduce watering intervals and check the pots for good drainage.

o Plants wilt even with sufficient water. The plants has poor drainage and aeration. To correct, you should use a potting mix with high percentage of organic matter. Increase the number of holes of the container for good drainage.

o Burning or firing of the leaves. The soil medium is high in salt. To correct this problem, you have to leach the container with tap water at regular intervals.

o Stunted growth, sickly, and purplish color of leaves. The temperature is low and low phosphate. To correct, you should relocate the containers to a warmer area. Increase phosphate level in base solution.

o Holes in leaves and distorted in shape. The plants are pests infested. To correct, you should use non-chemical insecticides or other biological control for insects.

o Spots on the leaves, dead dried areas or powdery or rust occurrence. The plants are affected with a disease. To correct them, you should remove the disease affected parts or the whole plant in serious condition. You can use non-chemical pesticides if the disease is in the early stage of infestation.

Cris Ramasasa, Freelance writer, writes about home gardening and Internet marketing tips. You can get a copy of his latest ebook “Discover How to get started in Flower Gardening” and “Vegetable Gardening Made Easy”, also get lots of tips, Free articles, and bonuses at: http://www.crisramasasa.com

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When choosing your container gardening soil mixture always choose one that’s right for the plant, container and climate.

Having a shaded area or corner in your home or patio does not need to be a problem when choosing container gardening shade plants. Some plants can cope, and indeed thrive in low light conditions- but it’s important to know which ones.

Design Secrets of Choosing Plants For Container Gardening
By Davey Greenjack

The secret of choosing the right plants for container gardening depends entirely on the needs of the plant and so the first and most important consideration should be where the container is finally going to be placed.

The conditions where the container is going to be finally placed, will decide what sort of plants you can use. There is no point in mixing shade loving plants with those that only thrive in strong sunlight. One of the biggest mistakes would be container gardeners make is to mix plants without consideration for those plants individual needs, likes and dislikes. The greatest secret to successful container gardening, is that you cannot just use plants in a container that look good together, they must also be happy where you put them.

Is the spot sunny or shady? You should do a bit of research first, but a good tip when choosing plants that like strong sunlight, is to look for those ones that have a silver or bluish colour to their leaves. These plants have developed these silvery leaves to deflect the sun’s rays away. In this way, the plant attempts to stop itself loosing to much water from evaporation, in the heat of the day.

You can also use other plants in strong sunlight like Sedum, which have thick fleshy leaves which are used by the plant to store moisture. Then there are also sun tolerant plants like Rosemary or Lavender that have needle shaped leaves. Most Mediterranean herbs will grow well in strong sunlight and this has the added benefit for the kitchen, in that it also encourages them to produce stronger oils and flavour.

If the container is to be placed in a shady spot, you must only use plants that will tolerate the lower levels of light. Here you can use plants such as Bergenias, Hostas, Heucheras, Tiarellas and Pulmonaria. These will thrive in shady conditions and brighten up any area.

Having decided which plants to use based on their preference of light conditions, you must also consider which ones like dry conditions, when it comes to the soil in the container and which ones prefer their feet to be a little wet. The constant watering that the containers need in high summer, unless you use self watering containers, will benefit some plants more than others

Moist loving plants will not thrive standing in water like bog plants, especially in winter and as a rule all containers need good drainage. However you must make sure that any container with moisture loving plants does not dry out. This will mean watering at least 4 times a day in high summer, again unless you are using a self watering container.

Moisture loving plants are for the most part herbaceous, a type of plant that contains both some lovely examples of contrasting foliage and some wonderful blooms. They are often used as a focal point in a garden design, with their great architectural shapes. Although many are to big to share a container, like the massive Gunneras, there are smaller varieties suitable for gardening containers. These can include those pretty Polygonatum’s, delicate Primulas and bright marsh marigolds.

There are small varieties of Irises for instance, that love moist but well drained conditions but do prefer to grow in a lime free soil which brings us on to the next point. You must decide if your plant needs acid soil or not. This will also depend on what soil you have available to fill your containers, although you can make it more acidic by adding in some peat, used coffee grounds or fallen pine needles or by adding lime you will go some way to balancing out an acid soil. Rhododendrons love acid soil but plants like saxifrages will need a more alkaline growing medium.

The size of the container will also have an effect on the plants you choose. You container must be big enough to accommodate the plants as they grow. You do not want to use plants that will grow so quickly they become root bound or cramp out their neighbours.

These are the four major decisions to be made in choosing plants for containers, without the added consideration of design. Just like an artist, who must choose what materials they wish to use, watercolours and oils or acrylics, before painting a picture and who will then adapt their techniques and design accordingly. The container gardener must first decide what plants to use based on their needs and preferences to end up with a thriving and successful container. Then and only then, comes the consideration of colour and overall design.

So, by putting first and sorting out the preferences of the plants, with relation to where the container will finally be placed, you will now have the choice of materials for your design.

To find out more about the secrets of container gardening and design visit “Container Garden Secrets” and download your free ebook. Davey Greenjack is an Artist and Gardener living in South West England.

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It’s important when choosing container gardening shade plants to pick plants or seedlings that can cope with a lack of light and warmth.

Before begining on your container gardening adventure it is always a good to flip through magazines and pick up useful container gardening ideas and tips to growing great indoor plants. It’s useful to help choose the right plants, pots and soil for your container garden.

Container Gardening Ideas For Your Home
By Mary Hanna

Many gardeners have given up on the idea of a garden because they lack space, time or lots of experience. But if growing plants is an interest of yours container gardening could be your answer. Container gardens will allow you to enjoy “playing in the dirt” without investing a lot of time or money. You can get very creative in container gardening using vegetables, decorative grasses or flowers and herbs. You can plant a container garden with any plant that would grow outside. The trick is to come up with some creative ideas for your container garden.

You should do some research at your local nursery or on the internet to choose the plants you wish to grow to help you come up with some ideas. Try to use plants that complement each other and have the same basic needs for water, air and light.

A container garden idea that has taken off recently is the landscape container. Some people plant a simple evergreen tree in a container with good drainage to place at their front door. Or you could plant an assortment of flowers for a bright and beautiful vista. If you do plant flowers, add plants that spill over the sides of the container to add more visuals and interest. What ever container gardening idea you can come up with can be placed on a deck, patio, and balcony or by the front doors. Put them somewhere that your family and friends can enjoy.

You can grow vegetables in containers but choose wisely. Vegetables like squash and pole beans need lots of space, while tomatoes need a deep pot. When you grow your own vegetables you will have tasty produce not the bland stuff that is in the grocery store. Nothing tastes better than a tomato right off the vine. There are many chefs and good home cooks that grow their own for just this reason. Don’t forget to pot some herbs, they are pretty plants and add zest to your meals.

But don’t just stick to vegetables and herbs; why not add fruit trees too? Instead of using an evergreen tree, pot a fruit tree instead. There are many dwarf varieties available that work best in pots since with pots there is less soil therefore less nutrients to draw from. If you live in a year round warm climate citrus trees are perfect. In other regions, stick to pear, apple and cherry trees. Another good container gardening idea is to grow strawberries. With strawberries climate does not matter since you can bring the container inside. Fresh strawberries are amazingly sweet and delicious. Imagine how good a bowl of fresh strawberries will be, strawberries that you have just picked.

Remember that container gardens dry out more quickly than traditional gardens. Be diligent about watering your plants if you don’t want your container gardening ideas to wither and die. Container gardens must be fertilized too. Keep a small notebook handy so you can write down the needs of your plant so you will always know when to water or feed. Keep an eye out for pests. If you find a container that has an infestation, isolate it immediately and treat it with a natural pesticide. You don’t want harsh chemicals on fruits, vegetables or herbs. A good natural pesticide recipe is:

In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In an empty spray bottle, combine 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at ten-day intervals (or more often if needed) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests.

So, do some research, come up with your own unique container gardening ideas, gather your materials and get to work. The fruits of your labor will be amazing.

Happy Container Gardening!

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. She has published other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at Gardening Landscaping Tips Gardening Outside and Indoor Herb Garden

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Your container gardening ideas should help build a great container garden design project complete with great health plants, herbs, fruits and vegetables. And all grown at home with love and care.

One of the best things to get right is container gardening design. It is a great skill to arrage container plants in a visually attractive and stimulating arrangement.

Not only can it be visually interesting but great container gardening designs and ideas can enhance the over all look of a home or garden.

Container Gardening Design – Color That Communicates
By Virginia Slachman

Flower pots filled with color make feel something, from happy and energized to calm and soothed. And since container garden design is the uber small space design, it’s essential to understand the power of color.

Why? Because whether you’re patio gardening or glancing up at your window boxes or hanging planters, what you see should reflect decisions you make and not appear random. Or even worse, convey a busy, harried look when you were going for elegant and refined.

The container gardening design help below will show you how to achieve just the feeling you want, using color alone.

Strategic Color Choices

• Green will always be present. And that’s great because it functions to absorb and soften some of the stronger colors. It also presents a calming presence since the deeper shades are very soothing.

• Monochromatic: To create a soothing, restrained statement, pick a monochromatic scheme of one color and its variations (with limited spots of accent if you wish).
  Gardening Help Tip: Try using different leaf textures, flower shapes, and color shadings to create a lovely, sophisticated outdoor planter. For example, a summer flower palette in white might include tall ‘Casablanca’ lilies above non-trailing petunias. The surface of the pot will stack upward. You can add trailing bacopa (with its tiny white flowers) to complete the display.
• Complimentary container designs are striking and bold. Since yellow and blue are directly across from each other on the color wheel, this color combination is considered complementary. A spring example of complimentary colors would include yellow daffodils combined with blue hyacinth and bi-colored pansies or crocuses.
  Gardening Help Tip: Alter the impression of this color scheme by softening to or away from the pastel. Delft blue hyacinth, for example, would blend well with a small, softer-colored jonquil (a smaller flower size than the daffodils) to make a less-assertive impression.
• Analogous, blending colors: If you prefer a softer look and feel, plant flowers with colors next to each other on the color wheel. Green, yellow-green, and yellow would make an analogous planting. In fall, your container garden design can include analogously colored chrysanthemums in yellow, gold, rust, and burgundy. Be sure to select hues carefully so your container design doesn’t appear haphazard.

Emotional Effect of Color

We know color makes us feel something. But what, specifically?

Generally, blues, and purples recede, or seem to be farther away from the viewer, and present a cooler, more reserved presence. Yellows and reds come forward and are much more assertive, creating a “hot” emotional climate.

Gardening Help Tip: To warm up a cool color, move it toward the red or yellow shades. Blue becomes warmer as you move it toward the lavender shades, for example. The opposite is also true. Cool down hot colors by moving them toward their opposites-yellow becomes cooler as you move toward the yellow-greenish tones.

Also, try using these two container design rules:

Repetition. Repeat colors and flower shapes, types, and forms. Repetition is soothing, and very easy to achieve. Plant a flower pot with trailing variegated ivy topped by white calla lilies. In a container garden display, repeat this bi-colored palette or use the ivy in two other clay flower pots.

Odd numbers. For some reason, we humans like odd-numbered groupings. They’re much more satisfying than even-numbered ones and send a message of “completeness” to the viewer. Make sure your container gardening design includes pots in numbers of one, three, five, or seven (etc.) for best effect.

And finally, to add color and light to your shade garden, try these two easy tips:

Use variegated foliage (ones that contain shades of white). They really stand out in semi-or full-shade locations. Also try planting impatiens (especially in the pastel colors). They almost glow in the shade, are very easy flowers to cultivate, and best of all, they thrive in shade.

Think of your overall container gardening design as another “room” of your home. It’s an extension of your interior décor (including your color choices and style) and how you’ve landscaped and designed the outside of your home. Remember, color communicates–make sure it conveys exactly the look and feel you want.

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For lots more container gardening design information, plus how to select, plant, and care for your flower, herb, vegetable, or container water garden, visit [http://www.container-gardening-made-easy.com].

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If you’re looking to add value to your home or garden that container gardening design ideas will be a great place to start. By choosing the right colors and designs you can enhance the look and feel to any area.

Garden With Planters and Window Boxes

Important elements for a project of type are containers and plants. You can use almost any container size, so it is big enough to hold the ball of the plant with room to grow. Do not try to cheat and grow your plants in a container that is only just big enough to hold, believe me, that’s not well in the long term.

Make sure there is at least one or two inches of space in which to place compost. The only thing you want to remember is that over the pot, the more often he will need to be watered. Be especially careful to keep an eye on small pots in sunny locations. You can be flexible with the type of container used as well.

It’s fun to find items to recycle that container plants. Decorated boxes of instant coffee, old pots or bowls, or even an old kitchen sink can become a home for plants. If you are looking for large pottery or terra cotta pots, glazed pots are best to maintain hydration. However, if you’re willing to water more often, clay pots are unglazed to look beautiful and inexpensive.

There are many plants that can adapt well to life in a container. Shrubs or dwarf fruit trees such as limes, blueberries and oranges, can do wonders in containers with due attention and care. Strawberries can do well too! Bamboos and grasses are hardy, easy maintenance, and they look great in a large pot. You can also cultivate and train vines up a trellis boy! You imagination is the limit of what you can do with a container garden.

However, do ask your nursery for advice on species and varieties are best for containers. Even if a dwarf orange tree will do well in a pot, a full sized one will not. The type of soil you use in your container is very important. Do not use the dirt you dig up your garden, it will just dry up and compact when used as compost. I found the commercial compost works well, but most people recommend using only real ground.

Either can be found at the nursery or at most hardware stores. Potting Soil is specially formulated to retain moisture and keep its structure in a confined space. This is very important for the health of your plant. While container gardening is relatively easy, they have some special needs.

You’ll need to water your plants with more often than if they were planted in soil. A pot, however great it is, it has much less water holding capacity of soil in the ground there is simply less space. Be especially careful to check your containers frequently during the hot containers, especially small ones, can dry out quickly in the heat.

If your pots have good drainage (mostly ceramic or terra cotta, have a hole in the bottom), it is difficult to overwater. However, a good rule of thumb is to only water when soil is dry, more than an inch deep. It is easy enough to check this with your finger.

Find More Blueberry Container Garden Articles

photo credit: grongarGrowing herbs indoors i.e. organic herb container gardening requires the right tools, soil and seeds. Anf if you’re not starting with the right seeds, it’s important to get the right seedlings or herb plants.

Start by choosing herb plants with rich green leaves. Make sure that the soil is moist, and choose plants that have a strong herb smell. This ensures that hey are are fresh.

Organic Container Gardening For Herbs

By Clint Sidney

The definition of an herb varies but broadly it is a seed plant that usually has a short life span of a season, and is a plant that is valued for its medicinal, savory or aromatic qualities. The range of plants which come under this term are numerous and there are perennial ones, but the most commonly grown include Iris, sunflowers, lavender and marigolds in the flowering group and basil, thyme, sage and rosemary in your kitchen herbs group. The best thing about herbs is that they lend themselves well to organic container gardening.

Organic growing is primarily intended to help produce herbs for the food table, as a healthy and pure ingredient. Herbs which are mostly grown for aroma and find use in making pot-pourri do not have to be organically grown. Therefore when growing organic herbs in containers, the choice is between medicinal or savory plants. The latter is grown as a kitchen culinary item.

The choice of the plant can be from among the popular ones such as mint, thyme, basil or oregano. Growing herbs in containers is ideal for those with small garden spaces, as a row of potted plants either in the garden or on your window sill can present a very charming picture. The fantastic smells that these plants give off can make your gardening efforts worthwhile.

The method of cultivation depends on what herb is grown. A combination of sunshine and slightly lean soil that appears to increase the oils, which give off those wonderful flavors and fragrances. Ideally the plants need to be well watered with pots that have a good drainage system. For this use pots with drainage holes at the bottom on a tray to ensure water does not spill out.

Organic container gardening requires that plants get at least six hours of sunshine everyday. A sunny spot should therefore be chosen before planting them. Ensure that the pots are organically manured. Space the plants out to allow them to grow freely. Keep the plants tidy and send out new growth by pinching and using them regularly.

Clint Sidney is an expert of organic gardening and enjoys sharing information about Organic Container Gardening. You can learn more about gardening at GreatGardener.eHelpshome.com. Have fun and enjoy reading!

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Growing herbs in doors is quite a skill, but one that provides a great bounty. Not only are herbs good for you, but they can liven up any food or recipie.

Gardening is becoming increasingly popular even as people’s lives get busier and it’s no surprise why; a garden offers people many great perks, after all. They offer a bit of relaxation even to people with hectic schedules and they ensure a way of keeping fresh vegetables in the house. But for people who live in small spaces like apartments or who just don’t have the space for a full-size garden there’s another option: container gardening.One of the geotechnical engineers who also delt with flowers Auckland and compost provided the useful info.

Container gardening is exactly what it sounds like–growing plants inside of containers instead of the in the ground. Nearly anything can be a container that’s perfect for gardening, whether it’s a hanging wire basket, an old ceramic pot or even, if you really want to make it work and be outside the box, an old boot. All you need is a container that will hold soil and plants and you’re officially container gardening–all you need are some good container gardening ideas.

Container gardening works pretty much the same way ordinary gardening works–you need the same basic materials and the plants require the same amount of time devoted to them as plants grown in the ground. Of course, a container must be chosen–as said before, anything will do in a pinch but if you can be picky angle for containers that are a good size for your space, will look good with your plants and is likely to last awhile. Hanging baskets are especially popular when it comes to container gardening because they maximize living space as are grow poles which also hold the container up off the ground.

Boxes used for container gardening are usually made of wood or plastic–make sure it’s high quality wood if you choose a wooden container and make sure you finish the wood with special plant preserver so that they don’t die prematurely. Don’t get containers with narrow openings and use ones that have between 15 and 120 quarts capacity. Also ensure that there are drainage holes in your container–they should be at least ½ an inch across. If you choose a clay pot remember that your plants must then be watched more carefully and watered more often because moisture escapes from the sides much more easily.

You can grow anything in container gardening whether you decide to go with plants or some types of vegetables. Container gardening is perfect for someone who wants to develop a green thumb but doesn’t have access to real space to do it in.

As container gardening becomes more and more popular for people who have limited access to soil or growing space, more and more container gardening ideas are starting to emerge as people develop creative ways of using their space to grow flowers and vegetables. These container gardening ideas come in all shapes and forms about all manner of things–what type of plants to grow, what types of containers to use, even how to best show off your little tiny container herb garden.One of the florists who also delt with potting mix and supplies of Bark provided the useful info.

There are literally thousands of container gardening ideas to choose from when it comes to picking an actual container to do your growing in. People have chosen to use all kinds of different objects, in fact, because container gardening offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to things like that.

The most popular container gardening idea is, of course, the placing of a garden into wooden boxes. These boxes offer a simple look that really highlights the plants–especially if they are vividly covered flowers–as well as the functionality people really need.

Another extremely popular container gardening idea is the idea of a vintage container. These containers can be anything that’s aged–whether it’s a very old wooden box or even an old style watering pail left over from your mother’s garden–as long as it will actually allow plants to grow!

And then you get to the container gardening ideas that are really out there–such as the growing of plants in things like wagons, boots or other unexpected places. People use things like very old statures or fountains and other conventional places

One of the undeniable perks of container gardening is the mobility that having the plants in a small container actually offers. When it comes container gardening ideas many people choose to do things that will highlight and show off their beautiful plants. One of these container gardening ideas is a plant stand. These sturdy stands are designed to draw people’s eyes to the plants on top of them so if you’re growing some particularly gorgeous flowers or if you want to show off some perfectly ripe vegetables before you pick them, a plant stand is a great container gardening idea.

Container gardening ideas comes in all shapes and sizes–and most of them turn out fantastically. You don’t need to a gardening expert to come up with a great one either–some of the best ideas actually come from amateurs who look at things with a fresh set of eyes.