Container Gardening

Moss’ Kitchen Garden Plants (NGA / Moss in the City)

willem van cotthem — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:13:35 +0000

Read at : National Gardening Association

Moss in the City - Gardening in Small Spaces

http://garden.org/urbangardening/index.php?page=kitchen-garden
Moss’ Kitchen Garden Plant

Summer is the season for growing edibles. Producing your own food lifts the spirits and keeps you in touch with nature. On the practical side, growing your own food boosts your nutrition and sharpens your culinary skills.

Most of us can’t expect to be self-sufficient with our gardening. That’s okay, we enjoy visiting the friendly folks at the farmer’s market. But sometimes you need a sprig of fresh parsley, some thyme clippings, or a vine-ripened tomato. That’s where the kitchen garden can save the day.

Whether you have a large space or just a few balcony containers, all you need is sunshine, clean soil, and healthy plants and seeds. The list below features some easy-to-grow plants. You only need a plant or two of each to keep you happy all summer.

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Containers of Colorful Flowers and Foliage (NGA / Moss in the City)

willem van cotthem — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:09:04 +0000

Read at : National Gardening Association

Moss in the City - Gardening in Small Spaces

http://www.garden.org/urbangardening/index.php?page=foliage-flowers-containers

Containers of Colorful Flowers and Foliage

In spring, growing container gardens is easy. Vibrant bulbs and cold-hardy annuals grow easily in the mild, wet weather. Summer is a different story. With baking heat and unpredictable storms, container plants can be stressed by drought, sun, wind, insect pests, and other challenging conditions.

But many plants have tolerant dispositions that make them great additions to city gardens. Below are some of my favorite choices for colorful, interesting, and low-maintenance containers that are showy through the summer months. The list includes annuals, perennials, subtropicals, ground covers, and specimen plants. Check with local nurseries for cultivars that flourish in your area.

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Container Tomatoes (NGA / Moss in the City)

willem van cotthem — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:05:22 +0000

Read at : National Gardening Association

Moss in the City - Gardening in Small Spaces

http://www.garden.org/foodguide/browse/veggie/tomatoes_getting_started/372

Container Tomatoes

by National Gardening Association Editors

Tomatoes will surprise you! They can withstand mighty close quarters and still deliver. If you don’t have space in the ground, but you do have a hanging planter or a bushel basket and a sunny spot somewhere indoors or outside, prepare to grow your own tomatoes!

Container Pointers

Sun. Container tomatoes, like those in the garden, need at least six to eight hours of sunshine a day to produce a worthwhile harvest. If you grow them indoors, put them where they’ll get maximum sunshine, moving the container from window to window if you must.

Soil. For hanging planters and small pots, regular potting soil is fine. With larger containers, you may want to use a lighter-weight, soilless growing mix, such as Jiffy-Mix or Pro-Mix. It retains moisture well, which is important for tomatoes. Garden soil is okay to use, but needs to be lightened with peat moss, vermiculite or perlite to improve its drainage.

The Right Container. Almost anything will do. You can have a great crop from a plant in a five-gallon bucket or pot, a smaller hanging planter or even a bushel basket. Just be sure that the container you choose has holes in the bottom for drainage.

Line bushel baskets with plastic bags or old nylon stockings to keep the dirt in and retain moisture. Poke a few drainage holes through the plastic bags to help drainage. Three tomato plants in a bushel basket, supported by short stakes, look beautiful on a deck.

The Best Varieties. Dwarf varieties are the best ones to grow in containers. If you’re trying container growing for the first time, try a cherry patio type such as Tiny Tim or Pixie II. They need little support (or you can let them trail from a hanging container) and they’ll produce very early.

Container Plant Care

Planting. Choose sturdy, stocky transplants and set them in the bushel baskets, pots or hanging planters up to the bottom set of leaves. For fall pot plantings, take six- to eight-inch suckers or “slips” from tomato plants in the garden (smaller varieties preferred), set them in a deep pot and water heavily for a day or two. They’ll root in one to two weeks and start growing soon afterwards. When you bring these pots or baskets indoors and give them a sunny home, you can extend the tomato harvest for many weeks.

Water. Container tomatoes need watering often because the plant roots can’t reach for extra moisture as garden tomatoes do. In the heat of summer, when the plants are big, water them daily.

Fertilizer. Mix a small amount of soluble, balanced fertilizer into the plants’ water every week or so. Tomatoes like regular feedings of small amounts of fertilizer rather than infrequent, large doses.

Pollination. When the plants have flowered, give them a little shake in the middle of the day to help pollination along.

Pest Care. Whether they’re on the back porch or in the house, tomatoes need protection from insects and diseases just like garden plants.

Starting Your Container Garden (NGA - Moss in the City)

willem van cotthem — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:58:45 +0000

Read at : National Gardening Association

Moss in the City - Gardening in Small Spaces

http://www.garden.org/urbangardening/index.php?page=starting-containers

Starting Your Container Garden

The popularity of container gardening is exploding. Municipalities, park districts, and businesses are leading the way with colorful planters and urns that change with the seasons. The convenience of containers makes it possible for homeowners and apartment dwellers to join the fun, too.

The first step is selecting the containers. Your choices depend on your space and the type of plants you want to grow. Pots should have drainage holes so roots don’t sit in water and rot. Only a few plants (e.g., calla lily, rain lily, water iris) can survive in containers without drainage holes.

Selecting the Right Pot

Terra-cotta, wood, and other porous materials have the best drainage, which has advantages and disadvantages. The better the drainage, the less chance of root rot, but the greater the chance of roots drying out. If you are a forgetful gardener or if you travel a lot during the summer, choose a less porous container.

Ceramic, plastic, and other solid materials hold water much longer. Use this to your advantage. I often plant annuals in a terra cotta pot with a drainage hole and then insert the pot inside a ceramic container. This gives the best of both worlds by greatly reducing the amount of watering yet also reducing the chance of root rot. Plus the ceramic pot is more decorative.

The other consideration when choosing a container is weight. Toting a large ceramic container or wooden barrel up flights of stairs can be tough. Ease of transport is definitely a factor that affects your enjoyment of gardening. Plus, you need to consider the weight limits of your balcony and the strength of the wind. Check with your condo association for balcony limits. As far as wind goes, you have to make an educated estimate. If you have lots of breezes with the occasional gust, you may not want to choose lightweight plastic pots, especially for tall plants, because they may tip over. Heavier pots are better for windy areas.

Choosing a Soil Mix

I recommend a good quality, sterile soilless mix that’s formulated for container growing.

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A Container Veggie Garden (NGA - Moss in the City)

willem van cotthem — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:53:17 +0000

Read at : National Gardening Association

Moss in the City - Gardening in Small Spaces

http://www.garden.org/urbangardening/index.php?page=container-veg

A Container Veggie Garden

Now is the time to plant crops for bountiful harvests this summer and fall. Even small-space gardeners can grow enough nutritious produce to prepare a few meals, supplement your diet, and save some bucks. With a little planning and attention, container gardens can produce like mini farms. Almost any vessel can be used as a container, but it must have drainage holes that allow water to freely flow through the pot. Most veggies only need about 6 inches of soil depth. Trays and smaller containers work fine for lettuce, radishes, spinach, and peppers. Root crops like carrots and onions, and large plants like most tomatoes and squash, require half-barrels, grow bags, or some other large (larger than 16 inches in diameter) container. As a general rule, bigger is better for root growth and overall vigor.

When growing veggies in containers, packaged potting mixes are typically the best choice. Using garden soil in containers is never ideal. In urban areas where there is a potential for contamination, filling a container for edibles with city dirt is out of the question. Packaged potting mixes are lightweight, moisture retentive, and well aerated. Plus they do not harbor any fungi, bacteria, insects, or weed seeds that would cause problems later.

Where to Grow?

Sunlight — not space — is probably the biggest limiting factor in urban environments. Without at least six hours of sun a day, it’s going to be tough to grow quality veggies. Crops need a lot of solar energy to make nutritious fruits, seeds, and leaves. Southern exposure is best, but six hours from any direction should be sufficient. To avoid leaning or uneven growth, rotate the containers weekly.

Wind exposure is another factor to consider. To prevent desiccation and damage from the wind tunnel effect, urban gardeners should place large plants in sheltered locations. Avoid narrow alleys or any other spots where wind is funneled directly towards the plants. If the only options are exposed balconies and terraces, use wire cages or other sturdy supports to protect large plants like tomatoes, beans, peas, and squash.

Mix veggies and flowers for an ornamental edible garden in a pot.

Container Veggies Need Attention

Regular watering is crucial when you grow in containers because there’s limited soil mass for storing water. During the peak of summer heat, gardeners may need to water daily to keep plants growing at full potential. A drip irrigation system allows you to water automatically, and with a timer you can even water containers when you’re away. However, the best option for vacation watering is always a reliable neighbor. (And if they happen to be a master gardener, then your karma’s working overtime!)

Vegetables grown in containers also need regular fertilizing. Follow the label instructions and make sure the container is well drained or plants may suffer from high salt levels due to fertilizer buildup. Some gardeners combine the two tasks and simply water with a quarter-strength fertilizer solution once a week.

If plants don’t appear vigorous and healthy, check them closely because disease and pest infestations can quickly get out of hand. If caught early, most are easy to treat. Check the undersides of leaves for insects. Many of them can be picked off or sprayed off with a strong stream of water. Some pests require other treatments. Natural insecticides and biological controls (ladybugs, parasitic wasps, predatory midges, etc.) are very popular with home gardeners. Always read the label to make sure the product is compatible with food crops, and follow the directions carefully.

Getting Off to a Good Start

Try growing grape tomatoes in a half-barrel with bamboo stakes for support.

When selecting plants, look for vigorous young seedlings with bushy growth. Plants that are lanky or already flowering are not good choices. Check to make sure each seedling is securely anchored in the six-pack or pot, which implies a well-established root system. Dip the seedling in a bucket of water to moisten the rootball, tease out any circling roots, and plant it at the same depth it was previously growing. (Tomatoes are an exception because they can be planted with the bare stem several inches below the ground and roots will form along the stem.)

Some crops, like lettuce, beets, and carrots, are best grown from seed. Simply follow the instructions on the packet. Be sure to thin sprouts to the recommended spacing. Thinning is a ruthless task, but fortunately most veggie sprouts can be used in salads and other dishes for an early-season treat.

Varieties for Small Spaces

The crops and varieties listed below are good choices for containers.

(continued)

For more info, check out the following NGA articles and visit Edible Landscaping with Charlie Nardozzi.

Starting Your Container Garden

Moss’ Kitchen Garden Plants

Container Tomatoes

Container gardening on Chicago windowsill (H. HOUGH / Willem)

willem van cotthem — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:27:16 +0000

A nice message from Heidi HOUGH (Chicago) :

“I’m delighted to know that our little synopsis was helpful. We continue to enjoy your site and send grateful thanks for including our project, which is just getting underway in year two. In the meantime, I’ve got some cool-weather greens growing in plastic boxes (with drainage holes) up on our second-story window sills. Arugula, spinach, chard, French breakfast radish, and lettuces. I like to eat them right out of the box (like a grazing animal–I am shameless).

Click on the picture to enlarge it.
Chicago second story windowsill container with fresh vegetables.

Vegetables in plastic trays high above the street

Young lettuce grown in the city

French breakfast radishes close to the kitchen

Lettuce on a windowsill can be decorative like flowering plants

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MY COMMENT (Willem)

On May 5th I posted the following message :

“Some weeks ago I discovered that people in Chicago were growing plants in buckets. Bruce FIELDS, Heidi HOUGH and their friends developed a very interesting system. I asked them to receive more information on it and to be enabled to publish some of their marvelous pictures. Heide came up with a splendid solution : THEIR FLICKR PAGE. Here is her message :

“I have finally set to order my flickr page. I hope this helps you and others see how we set up our growing buckets. You may freely use any of my pictures at your site.

Here’s the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1904grg/sets/72157603959350377/

We are excited that it could be useful to people whose water supply is not as bountiful as our own, 20 blocks from Lake Michigan.

Heidi Hough & Associates Inc
1904 W Division
Chicago IL 60622

Text going with the Flickr Page :

“Our homemade earthboxes–really earthbuckets–were created from food-grade buckets we had left over from the leaky roof years. We’ve shown a very rudimentary step-by-step series on how to build these buckets. This link is far more comprehensive:
www.seattleoil.com/Flyers/Earthbox.pdf

Here’s a good video that shows the process:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZUCxBHeq04& eurl=http://www.h…

Art built the trellis, which worked beautifully for tying up the climbing cukes and tomatoes. With neighbor Bruce down the street in Wicker Park, Chicago, we had a lot of fun during this first year growing veggies on our rooftops. Go see his pix and descriptive text for more on this Year One of the rooftop garden experiment.

And our supportive friends helped us cook and eat the bounty.

MY COMMENT (Willem)

I strongly recommend all the visitors of my blog to have a look at that wonderful series of pictures, explaining how the Chicago team build their bucket system.

My sincere congratulations to Heidi, Bruce and their Chicago team.”

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Today, I received Heidi’s magnificent pictures of her “windowsill garden” (above). I believe that just a look at them will convince a lot of people to follow this splendid example, showing how simple and easy it is to produce fresh food in and around the house, even on a windowsill in a city like Chicago.

Did I recently hear food crisis ? Did someone mention high food prices ? Anyone of us, wherever we live, can partly solve that problem. Just grow your own vegetables and herbs (and some fruits) in containers in any location : balconies, terraces, windowsills, patios, platforms, open spaces around the house, flat roofs, etc. Even the cheapest containers, like plastic or PET bottles, yoghurt pots, buckets, sandwich boxes etc. can be transformed in mini-gardens or mini-greenhouses (see former postings on this blog). Give it a try and become a skilled gardener like Heidi HOUGH or Bruce FIELDS (see my former postings on their successes).

Container gardening (Google / Herald&Review)

willem van cotthem — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:32:08 +0000

Read at : Google Alert - gardening

http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2008/05/11/columnists/plant_palette/1032422.txt

Container gardening

By JENNIFER A. NELSON “ For the Herald & Review

Hopefully, you’ve already figured out a gift for mom this Mother’s Day. If not, consider creating a container garden for her. While bouquets of flowers are nice, a pot of colorful annuals should last well into the summer, if not longer. Mother’s Day, or about May 15, also is considered the safe “frost free” date for the area.

Choosing plants for a container can be intimidating. You may think you’re not creative enough or that you don’t know enough about plants. But with a few tips, you will be designing container gardens in no time.

First, choose a container. Consider where it will be in your landscape. You may want a pot that coordinates with your house or looks good in a particular corner of the garden, but it’s also fine to just pick a pot for no other reason than it appeals to you. Whatever you choose, make sure there is a hole in the bottom for drainage.

If you are going to place your pots in a sunny location, remember that unglazed clay pots dry out fast in the sun. You may wish to choose a glazed ceramic or even plastic pot for a very hot, sunny location. It also may be a good idea to go with a pot on the larger side, as a larger volume of soil will dry out more slowly than a small volume of soil in a small pot.

The down side of larger pots is buying enough soil to fill them. Most annuals develop a fairly shallow root system, around 6 to 8 inches deep. So it’s really a waste to have soil 2 feet deep in a pot! Instead, place inverted plastic pots, large Styrofoam packing pieces or a plastic bag of Styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of your pot to act as filler.

One of my favorite tips in designing container gardens is that there are three types of plants in a container garden: the thriller, the filler and the spiller.

The thriller is the tallest plant in the bunch. It grabs your attention in how it stands above the other plants. The filler is a medium-size plant that dominates the center area of the pot. The spiller cascades down the side of the pot, drawing attention downward.

In my experience, container gardens look best when you have at least one of each of these plants in the mix. Also, odd numbers of plants tend to look best. The pots on my front porch demonstrate this idea. Each pot contains three plants: ‘Tricolor’ geranium (thriller), Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’ (filler) and bronze sweet potato vine (spiller).

But just because you have a thriller, filler and spiller doesn’t mean they look good together. You still have to pay attention to color. This is where many people get frustrated. You will have the best results if you keep your color choices simple.

The easiest method is to choose shades of one color, such as red. Another choice could be a palette of warm colors, which includes red, orange and yellow. Green, blue and purple are the cool colors. Warm colors suggest excitement and energy; cool colors evoke peaceful and calm feelings. Choose your favorite.

Complementary colors are those which lie directly across from each other on the color wheel. These colors bring out the best in each other, and they “pop.” Red/green, orange/blue and yellow/purple are the basic complementary color pairs. Choose plants with these color pairings, and you will be very pleased with the results.

(continued)

Jennifer A. Nelson is a unit educator in horticulture for the University of Illinois Extension.

Addicted to Pots (Dave’s Garden)

willem van cotthem — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:14:53 +0000

Read at : Dave’s Garden Weekly Newsletter

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1101/?utm_source=nl_2008-05-12&utm_medium=email

Addicted to Pots

By Carrie Lamont (carrielamont)
May 6, 2008

We each have our own secret addictions. This is my confession: I am addicted to pots. Plastic, clay, terra cotta, stoneware, even the styrofoam ones look pretty good to me.

When you look at the picture on the right, you might see any one of a number of things. You might see that the garden hose has been carelessly left in the picture, and that the pot needs to be washed off and you would be right. You might notice that those impatiens really aren’t happy in that much sun, and you’d be right again. You might be able to tell that the picture was taken at a funny angle - right again. You might even think the impatiens should be healthier and flowering more. When I look at that picture, I only see one thing, my beautiful old blue pot.

I used to do ceramics as a teenager, and the one pot I was always trying to throw was a pot for plants. The one glaze I was trying to mix was the perfect blue glaze. I never did manage to throw the perfect pot for plants, drainage hole, matching saucer and all. (I think my dream pot was a little bigger than my talent.) Nor did I ever find the right recipe for any one of my favorite colors of blue. But I started collecting pots.

Now I’m older, much older. I know that good pots are expensive. Every once in a blue moon, I’ll splurge and buy a new blue pot.

Some years it will be a heavy, stoneware pot like this one, to the left, which has weathered many New England winters without complaint. Last year I went crazy and bought a whole bunch of beautiful blue pots at a local craft supply store. Although the pots were very pretty, they were not weatherproof. Some even had blue stripes, which I liked, although not everybody was fond of them. The seams between the stripes were the first things to go when it froze.

I even painted some pots blue. First I tried spray painting some plastic pots blue. But I did it quick and dirty, not carefully, the way Melody recommends in this article about refurbishing old pots. As you can see, that didn’t work very well.

But then I swiped some blue latex paint on a plain clean terra cotta pot with a sponge. I liked the way that came out, and since there’s a tender plant in it, it comes in for the winter anyway. Someday soon, I’ll paint its sibling, the bigger matching plain terracotta pot.

Once I got to thinking about blue pots, I started thinking about the some of the blue pots my friend has. These lucky pots are never subjected to freezes and thaws, because they’re in California.

I like to think that having so many blue pots gives my container plants a unified look, but maybe not. There are still a lot of motley other containers mixed in, mostly because people give them to me. I know I shouldn’t admit this here, on Dave’s Garden, but some days the plants are just there to fill up the pots. Of course that doesn’t explain all the plastic pots overflowing with plants; there it’s the other way around. As long as they are blue plastic, of course!

Here are some more shots of my blue pots…

About Carrie Lamont

Carrie has two teenage daughters, which is exhausting all by itself. She has been married for seven delightful years to her husband, who works for an airline, facilitating Carrie’s frequent need to travel. She is forever coming up with crazy and irreverent schemes and trying to get others to do it her way, but is learning to be humble as she ages. Carrie has a masters degree in Music, and sings as she gardens a small urban plot from her wheelchair.

Polymer moisture crystals and the TerraCottem soil conditioner (Dave’s Garden / Willem)

willem van cotthem — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:05:49 +0000

Read at : Dave’s Garden Weekly Newsletter

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1092/?utm_source=nl_2008-05-12&utm_medium=email

Polymer Moisture Crystals: Magic for Your Garden and Your Containers

By Jill M. Nicolaus (critterologist)
May 8, 2008

Friends see the lush green plantings at our house and exclaim, “Oh, you have such a green thumb! What’s your secret?” I say, “I water them,” and they look at me in disbelief. But watering – not watering enough, or watering so much that plant roots get soggy – may be the biggest issue for those who think their thumbs are black. Fortunately, it’s often an easy problem to solve. Polymer moisture crystals are one of the best watering aids I’ve found.

Polymer moisture crystals are like magical little garden helpers. They mop up little puddles of water around roots so plants don’t drown. They release the water back to the roots as the surrounding soil dries out, keeping plants from wilting between waterings or rainfalls. If you price them by weight or volume, they seem expensive, but a little bit goes a very long way. They take about 3 years to break down, so they’ll last a while in your garden, too.

Polymer moisture crystals look like coarse salt crystals. They absorb up to 300 times their own weight in water, until they look like little cubes of jello (see photo above). They then release the water slowly back to the soil, keeping it evenly moist between waterings. Good drainage is still important, but by absorbing excess water the crystals help guard against the “wet feet” that make many plants unhappy.

Polymer moisture crystals are a boon to container gardeners.
Without moisture crystals added to my potting mix, I could water containers on my sunny deck twice a day, and I’d still have drooping, thirsty plants. By using the crystals, I can even skip a day once in a while, especially if it’s not really hot outside. I always add them if I’m planting a container for a non-gardening friend. Since they help protect against both overwatering and underwatering, the crystals allow for beginner inconsistencies.

Garden transplants benefit from polymer moisture crystals also.[1] You can till them evenly into the top 6 inches of the garden bed, or you can sprinkle them down into planting holes. In a few seasons, according to the manufacturer, they will break down harmlessly into nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water. They are nontoxic and safe to use on food crops.

The crystals are also helpful for putting in new lawns or areas of ground cover. When I plant creeping thyme along the edge of a bed or a walkway, I scratch a sprinkling of moisture crystals into the soil around the plants. The extra moisture held by the crystals encourages runners to root and form new plants for additional coverage. If you’re putting in a new lawn, adding polymer moisture crystals before broadcasting seed or laying sod will provide an extra moisture boost for the first few years and get your new turf off to a great start. Be sure to water long and deeply, so water gets down to the roots and so the crystals have a chance to soak up some extra moisture.

I add polymer moisture crystals to my potting mix for starting seeds or propagating cuttings, where keeping an even moisture level can be crucial. A smaller size crystal is nice for shallow seedling trays, and you can break the crystals down to a finer texture by putting them in a propeller-type coffee grinder.

Sifting afterwards to remove any finely powdered crystals is helpful.

Powdered moisture crystals have their own uses, and you can purchase powdered polymer or reduce regular crystals to powder in a coffee grinder (take care not to ingest or breathe in the powder). Rehydrated into a slurry, powdered polymer makes a great root dip for bare root transplants. When I wrap bare root plants for shipping, I put a slap of rehydrated polymer onto a moist paper towel and wrap it around the root ball before wrapping the roots in plastic.

How much should you use? When you’re adding polymer moisture crystals, it pays to follow package directions. More is not better! Adding too many crystals to a pot can result in plants heaving right out of the container as the crystals swell with water. Add enough of them, and after a good rain you’ll see a “snowfall” of jello cubes spilling from your containers out across your patio. Even without overdoing it, you may see a few swollen crystals on the surface of your soil or potting mix. If you don’t like the way that looks, just use a couple inches of plain mix to top off your pots.

Both SoilMoist and Watersorb post application rates on their websites. It works out to about 2 teaspoons per gallon pot (less for a “trade gallon”), or 2 rounded tablespoons per 5 gallons of potting mix. With transplants, I sprinkle about 1 tsp. in the planting hole for a 6 inch pot or for a tomato seedling. When planting out from 2 to 4 inch pots or for smaller plants like peppers and basil, I sprinkle about ½ teaspoon in the hole. The application rate is roughly the same as for pelleted, time-release fertilizer (such as Osmocote or Dynomite). In fact, I often mix a jar of half fertilizer pellets and half moisture crystals to use when I plant out seedlings.Where can you buy polymer moisture crystals? Nurseries, home improvement centers, and mail order companies carry 8 to 12 oz. jars of brands such as SoilMoist. For great prices on 2 pounds or more, check out Watersorb.com. There have also been DG co-ops for Watersorb.

The single best thing you can do for your plants is to give them enough water. Adding polymer moisture crystals is an effortless way to give your plants an extra water supply. I’ve used them in potting mix, in my clay soil, and in my in-laws’ sandy soil. Of all the gardening aids and culture techniques I’ve tried, using polymer moisture crystals has made the biggest difference to the vigor and success of my plants. If you don’t use them already, I hope you’ll give them a try this summer. They really work!

[1] University of Florida studies in 2000 and 2001 showed that the addition of Watersorb increased yield and net revenue for tomato crop by 5%, peppers by 24%. See this summary by Polymers, Inc.

About Jill M. Nicolaus

Better known as “Critter” on DG, Jill gardens in Frederick, MD. We’ve had some delightful weather lately, and I’ve started some spring gardening projects. My winter sowing containers are popping with green sprouts, and I’m starting to move seedlings from my light shelves to my patio to harden off. I’m overhauling and expanding a few little garden beds — I’m going to need the space! (Images in my articles are from my own photos, unless otherwise credited.)

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MY COMMENT (Willem)

I agree fully with Jill that polymer moisture crystals can play an interesting role in gardening. When I started my research work on soil conditioners in 1983 with my team at the University of Ghent (Belgium), we first screened most of the available polymers. We found that not all polymers are really “safe”. Some contain too high a dosage of “dangerous” monomers ! Therefore, we rejected all those not conform with the international safety rules. Only the fully safe ones were used in the later research work. We discovered that a mixture of polymers is better than one single brand.

Soon we mixed mineral fertilizers (macro- and micronutrients) and organic fertilizers with the polymers and registered far more better results for biomass production. Towards 1990 we also mixed powdery root activators in the compound and finally used granules of volcanic rock (lava) to stock the powders in the micro-cavities of the lava, enabling homogeneous distribution of the powders over the granular mixture.

Finally, we obtained the universal soil conditioner TerraCottem (see www.terracottem.com), which is produced by a spin-off company of the University. It shows the benefits of the “best” polymers, stocking water like Jill described above, the benefits of a complete set of mineral and organic fertilizers, delivering all necessary nutrients, the ones of root activators, stimulating the development of a mass of absorbing lateral roots, and the benefits of porous volcanic rock, enhancing aeration and setting free additional nutrients.

A complete soil conditioner like TerraCottem cannot be compared with one single water absorbing polymer. It’s like a huge full buffet for all plants.

Gardening in a washing machine (Dave’s Garden)

willem van cotthem — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:17:39 +0000

Read at : Dave’s Garden Weekly newsletter

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1114/?utm_source=nl_2008-05-12&utm_medium=email

Planting Container (with nice pictures !)

A good planting container for a greenhouse can be had by dismantling an old washing-machine. The stainless steel or aluminium basket in which the clothes are washed has an open top, is rust-resistant, drains well & filled with soil, provides a decent anchor. It is a good idea to put bolts in opposites sides & toward the base of the container, before adding the soil to get two solid points.

Picture 1 : Here is Common Ginger growing in a disused washing-machine basket. The basket is perforated with hundreds of drainage holes that eventually the ginger rhizomes will sprout through. There are many plants that could be used to get this effect.

Picture 2 : This is mint sprouting through the sides of a washing basket containing a peach tree. Eventually it will cover the basket completely. Sooner or later, the peach tree will need lifting so I can prune its roots & change the soil. With a wide, open-topped basket, this becomes relatively easy to do.

Picture 3 : Here is an example of a learning mistake. This mango tree is in a basket salvaged from a discarded clothes dryer. These baskets have a partly-enclosed top which will make it impossible to lift this tree later on. I will have to transplant it to an open-topped container before it grows much larger.