Want to bloom your terrace, kitchen, or balcony? You're in the right place!
Almost anything can be grown in a container, even many trees! But, before you rush out to the nursery to buy whatever suits your fancy, take a moment to think about what you want your container garden to achieve.
– Are you looking to grow foodstuffs such as vegetables or herbs?
– Do you want to add color to a drab garden?
– Does your yard need height and texture?
– Is your growing season short and you are looking for something that can come inside?
The pot gardening field is wide open and some plants are better suited to pots than others.
These include:
Vegetables - Beans, Beets, Cabbage, Carrots, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Kale, Lettuce, Onions, Bell peppers, Radish, Spinach, Squash, and Tomatoes.
Flowering plants - Alyssum, Begonia, Calendula, Candytuft, Chrysanthemum, Columbine, Cosmos, Fuchsia, Geranium, Impatiens, Lupine. , Marigold, Morning Glory, Petunia, Roses, Rudbeckia, Shasta Daisy, Snapdragon, and Zinnia.
Herbs - Anise, Basil, Borage, Caraway, Catmint, Chervil, Chives, Cilantro/Coriander, Dill, Fennel, Hyssop, Lavender, Lovage, Marjoram, Mint, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Stevia, Summer Savory, Tarragon, Thyme, and Watercress
Fruits - Apples (dwarf), Blackberries, Blackcurrant, Blueberries, Cherries, Figs, Gooseberries, Plum, Peaches and Nectarines, Raspberries, Oranges (dwarf), and Strawberries.
If you’ve ever thought about planting a container garden but didn’t know where to start, this guide will give you a jump-start. Whether inside or outside, container plantings have many benefits. They add visual interest, you’re less restricted on where you can place the plants, and there's a wide array of pots and planters available in which to plant.
Easy Steps To Pot a Plant Perfectly
1. Find a place for your plants:
Select as brightly lit a spot as possible and see what can fit there. All plants, even indoor ones, need light for photosynthesis – or they’ll starve. Ignore this tip if you're using grow lights.
2. Choose your containers:
Size Matters. increase the pot size by one to two inches in diameter for plants that are growing in pots 10 inches in diameter or less. For larger plants, those growing in pots greater than 10 inches in diameter, increase the pot size by two or three inches in diameter.
Drainage is key. Always choose a pot with drainage holes, which also ensures potting soil doesn't stay too wet after watering your houseplants. The excess can freely escape out the bottom of the container, allowing oxygen to make its way to plant roots.
If you happen across a beautiful planter that doesn't have drainage holes, use it as a catch pot.
Keep them clean. Keep pots clean to prevent disease. If you plan to reuse a pot, clean it well both inside and out. Clay pots often get a white crust on them after prolonged use, caused by mineral buildup after the water evaporates. To remove this crust, scrub it off with a steel-wool pad or stiff bristle brush in a vinegar and water solution.
Find your style. Planter size and available drainage are the two most important factors in selecting a pot for your houseplant. After satisfying those two needs, choose a pot that has a look and feel that you love. Ceramic pots are the most popular type of container for houseplants today. You'll find them in all kinds of styles, colors, and sizes.
3. Choose your plants:
Whether it's a question of space or interest, there are no "rules" for designing a container garden, except to give the plants what they need to thrive but here are a few design principles: Simple plants show off an ornate pot, flamboyant plants are showcased by simple pots. Have at least one tall plant, one filler, and one trailing plant in a pot, or simply one plant per pot.
4. Prepare your potting medium:
Here’s the slightly tricky part. Your soil or potting medium has to have a judicious balance of organic matter, minerals, air, and water. Compost generated from your home waste can easily provide the organic matter that your soil needs, while sand and cocopeat – sourced responsibly, are great soil aerators.
Keep reading or skip to this section to learn how to make your own potting mix.
5. Fill your pot:
Aerate your planting medium by raking it, or even tossing it in the air until it becomes light and crumbly. Fill your container up to the brim, leaving about 3cm from the top for watering
6. Plant away:
Plant your sapling firmly in the center of the pot. Press the potting medium firmly around the base of the plant and water the pot lightly until you see the water draining out at the bottom.
7. Watering:
Water your plant only when the top surface of the pot looks dry. Give the drain hole a poke with a pencil or stick to check for stagnating water. Don’t overwater your plant, though, especially if it’s a succulent or a cactus. You only need to water succulents a couple of times a month at the most.
8. Fertilize:
Give your pot a pinch or two of home compost or vermicompost every three months or so. These super lightweight composters are perfect for home gardening and composting. Get some today!
9. Aesthetics:
Use your landscape space more efficiently.
Containers can be spaced closer than plants in the ground, allowing you to create a lot of impact with less space and expense. Containers may be grouped for intensified fragrance.
Consider a portable garden.
Use containers indoors or out. Move them to the patio for your garden party. Move them inside for protection against extreme weather. You can also rotate plants to showcase what's in bloom.
Rotate them to the background as blooms fade.
Plant rotation gives your garden a more balanced look and helps with the symmetric and aesthetics of the plant
6 Simple Steps to Repot Your Plant
1. Remove the plant from its current planter or grow a pot
Turn your plant sideways, hold it gently by the stems or leaves, and tap the bottom of its current vessel until the plant slides out. You might need to give it a bit of help with a couple of gentle tugs on the base of the stems.
2. Loosen the roots
Loosen the plant’s roots gently with your hands. You can prune off any threadlike roots that are extra long, just make sure to leave the thicker roots at the base of the foliage. If your plant is root bound—the roots are growing in very tight circles around the base of the plant—unbind the roots as best you can and give them a trim.
3. Remove the old potting mix
Remove about one-third or more of the old potting mix surrounding the plant's roots. As it grew, your plant removed some or all of the nutrients in the current mix, so you'll want to give it a fresh potting mix or soil.
4. Add new potting mix
Pour a layer of fresh potting soil into the empty planter and pack it down, removing any air pockets. If your planter doesn’t have a drainage hole, layer the bottom with lava rocks or similar (rocks, gravel, etc.) before adding the potting mix. The goal is to create crevices for the extra water to pool into, away from your plant’s roots.
5. Add your plant
Set your plant on top of the fresh layer of mix in the planter, making sure it's centered, then add more potting mix around the plant until it is secure. Be sure not to pack too much soil into the planter: you want the roots to have space to breathe.
6. Water and enjoy
Even out the potting soil on top and water well! It's worth noting that a freshly repotted plant does not need to be fed fertilizer.
Pro Gardener's Recipe for Potting Soil Mix
Making your own potting soil produces better results than commercial mixes. If you have plenty of good soil in your backyard, you should have no trouble making this traditional potting medium. It features a mixed bag of ingredients. Plants, like humans, benefit from a varied diet. This mix can support plants for a year or two without additional fertilization.
Mix 2 gallons each of:
peat moss
perlite
compost
garden soil
With 1/2 cup each of:
dolomitic limestone
soybean meal
greensand
rock phosphate
kelp powder
Place a ½-inch mesh screen over your garden cart and sift the peat moss, compost, and garden soil to remove any large particles. Add the remaining ingredients and turn the materials over repeatedly with a shovel, adding water if the mix seems dry. After a few incantations, the stuff is ready to work its magic on everything from tomato seedlings to weeping figs.
Make your own soilless mix
Cornell University scientists came up with a formula for a soilless potting mix, which forms the basis for many commercial potting mixes on the market today. By following this recipe, you can easily replicate what is sold in bags at the garden center.
Ingredients
1-bushel peat moss
1-bushel perlite or vermiculite
½ pound dolomitic limestone
1 pound 5-10-5 fertilizer
1½ ounces 20% superphosphate fertilizer
Mix the ingredients thoroughly. The mix is initially hard to wet, so moisten it as you stir it. This saves the trouble of doing so each time you remove some for use.
Where to Buy:
Peat Moss
Perlite
Dolomitic limestone
Soybean Meal
Greensand
Rock Phosphate
Kelp Powder
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