The 3 Step Container Garden

Here are three easy things to do to guarantee a successful container garden - no matter the plants you're growing.

Here are a few tips for creating a wonderful hanging basket or container garden this summer.

1. The first is to use a purchased soil composed mostly of peat moss. Experts recommend  soils such as Fafard or Pro-Mix use perlite, peat, and other ingredients to produce a soil that will not compact over the summer. Real garden soil compacts and turns into concrete under the pressure of regular watering. And when it does, plant roots stop growing because they require good open spaces to move into and absorb nutrients. Hard, compacted soils do not grow good plants so do not use real soil in your containers. I re-use my artificial potting soil from year to year. I dump it out of the pot. Chew it up with a shovel to cut up all last year’s roots and add approximately 10 % by volume of compost. The compost increases air spaces and gives plants a boost in healthy nutrition.
2. Feed your plants weekly. Nitrogen, the engine of plant growth, is water soluble and as you water your containers from the top the dissolved nitrogen is leaving from the bottom. I use a fish-emulsion liquid feed with seaweed to provide all the trace nutrients my plants require and recommend it highly. Hint: Read about Squanto. You can use any liquid plant food (like Miracle Grow or Shultz) to promote growth. Compost tea is the Cadillac of liquid plant food and if you make your own compost tea, your plants will respond with bigger and better blooms as well as increased vigour.
3. And finally, no matter the size of the container, it is important to soak it all the way to the bottom at each watering. Make that plant diaper full :) Continue watering until water emerges from the pot bottom. This ensures the roots can reach all parts of the container and grow properly.