Tips to Start Organic Container Gardening

If you want to grow fresh, healthy vegetables but are limited on space, organic container gardening may be the answer. This type of natural gardening can be done almost anywhere, and it's even often easier to maintain than a traditional garden plot. Just as the name implies, container gardening means you grow your plants in a ceramic planter or other types of pots. Container gardening allows you to incorporate vegetables and herbs in various pots. This type of gardening doesn't require you to grow plants outside; you can bring them in and grow your plants indoors as well. Here are a few tips to help you get started with simple organic container gardening.

Organic Soil

Unlike a regular outdoor garden that relies on the dirt or soil already in the ground, successful organic container gardening starts with using a quality organic soil. Using regular ground soil means you would need to add organic materials in order to increase the nutrients, so starting with organic soil puts you one step ahead of the game in growing organic plants. One of the most commonly encountered problems with container gardening is excessively wet roots. The best way to correct this problem is to use peat moss, which can be used alone or added to the organic soil and compost. The combination will result in an excellent soil mixture for organic container gardening.

Creative Containers

One of the best things about organic container gardening is that you can use almost any type of container from fun, colorful ceramic planters to food-grade, five-gallon buckets. Let your creativity choose the containers. Just keep in mind that when choosing the container, it must be sturdy enough to hold soil and water while allowing the excess water to drain from the bottom. If the containers you choose do not have holes in the bottom, be sure to drill holes in the bottom of the container. Also, any container you use should have a thin layer of gravel added to the bottom of the container before the soil is added. 

Plant Your Crops

When doing organic container gardening, you can plant the same vegetables that you would plant in a traditional garden plot. The only difference is that you will need to use a container that is appropriate to the size of the plant. For instance, if growing vine plants, such as squash, be sure to have something for the vines to attach to, such as a wood trellis. When choosing the plants, look for dwarf, compact or bush plants as these types of plants are generally easier to contain.

One of the best things about an organic container garden is that you will usually have fewer problems with garden pests that you would normally have in a garden plot. If you do notice pests, be sure to use an organic product, such as diatomaceous earth to get rid of them.