My potted garden

OskarDoLittle

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Dogs are the best people!! Nah the other half reckons I've already made the house look crazy with the veggie patches and fruit trees in pots rather than specimen trees. We're still hoping to buy a property by the end of the year to do the self sufficient thing "properly" so it's probably a lot of work only to dismantle it in a few months. So I get where he's coming from. (But I'm still thinking about covering a north facing retaining wall with wire to grow a passionfruit!!)
 

DarrenP

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You can stop mozzies with a couple of fish.
 

Bea

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OMG this is wonderful. thank you for sharing and I hope you continue to do so. BUT< I swear you could pay for your garden with a blog on container gardening. I had a roof top garden for about 18 months so everything was in containers and I built three wooden planters, with floors of the same wood so they would drain ok. the roof could flood int he rainy season . A rose was growing in one along with some compatible herbs. it was beautiful! i grew carrots in ordinary large plastic pots and I just saw a blog post about growing leaks in a pot. I will try this. I even had three smallish garbage pails with holes all round and lids that i used for compost. I am the opposite of you in that i moved from the rooftop containers to a yard. i still grow ginger and curcumin in containers as well as sweet and hot peppers ( I use the dog food bags) and tomatoes in shopping bags in shallow dishes.. The ground here is horrid - mountain rock so it is very difficult to dig. However, i had someone come in to dig holes for the roses and a monster flowering bush and I have managed myself for some other smaller stuff like horseradish, small fruit tree saplings and a shrimp plant.. But always with a shovel full of compost, finished or not. I also built 3x3 wood planters and in the old coop area I just laid out the boards on the perimeter, left the rocky soil as it drains beautifully and filled each bin with compost. so, yard or not I am still a container gal. I also love the green grow bags and use for potatoes. If people want to know how to get these bags cheap cheap cheap just go to aliexpress.
 

AndrewB

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Thanks Bea. Yes, Leeks grow great in pots, here are mine, they are probably the healthiest hings in the garden at the moment, a very dark green.


The Nasturtiums I planted in all the pots are growing well & starting to flower.


The shed is also about to flower, it will be covered in bright orange flowers in a few weeks time :)


I also managed to find a Comfrey plant randomly at bunnings on Friday (It's a very rare plant in WA) & have planted it in a moist part of the garden under a huge gum tree. I have another in a grow bag that I was hoping to get seed from, but after it flowered the seed pods just didn't develop. Maybe I'll have more luck next year after it's had more of a chance to establish itself.
 

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Bea

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the blog post that i looked at used cardboard rolls from, you know, TP, paper towels etc to provide more height for blanching leeks in the pots. I have been collecting these and will try that out. clever idea, eh?
 

DarrenP

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You were lucky to find a comfrey plant at Bunnings, AndrewB. When I asked at our nearest Bunnings, they had never heard of it, let alone stock it. Luckily I found some seeds online. Just waiting for them to germinate now.
 

ClissAT

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You were lucky to find a comfrey plant at Bunnings, AndrewB. When I asked at our nearest Bunnings, they had never heard of it, let alone stock it. Luckily I found some seeds online. Just waiting for them to germinate now.


Check any local permaculture or local herb group or local organic grower group for comfrey. They all use lots of it.
Comfrey was outlawed several years ago & not available commercially due to it's medicinal qualities & capacity to kill or maim if irresponsibly used.
This is why it is so hard to find at the retail level. Most garden shops cant be bothered keeping a pot plant that may or maynot sell when they can sell heaps of oregano for example.
 
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AndrewB

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I bit of an update on how everything is growing:


I picked up some more Comfrey from Bunnings. I have 4 planted around the place now. All too small to split yet, but a good start. I spoke to one of the ladies in the garden section & she said they order them each monday, but they go pretty quick. So just ask the question is you are after some :) They are in the Renaissance herbs section.
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Seeds are coming up in the large hydroponic bed. I transplanted a couple of capsicums that were not doing so well in the pot. I have a lot of varieties of Spinach, Chard & Silverbeet in here, as well as a few radishes & strawberries.
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The smaller system is a little further along. This has Basil, Kolrabi & a big transplanted Eggplant that is flowering now.
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I picked up a Papaya/PawPaw today that looked very healthy. I haven't had a lot of luck with transplanting these so far, so took a bit more care with this one.
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Everything is taking off in the garden bed. I don't even remember all of what I planted. More Chard, Carrots, Peas, Kolrabi, there is a couple of Fennel as well. This is the bed that my dog jumped on this week. I though I was going to lose a lot of it, but it seems to have bounced right back.
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The big potato bag is going well. I'm seeing if building the dirt up as the plant grows will cause it to send roots out from the stem like so many people say it does. I'm using just compost, with perlite added for drainage.
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And finally, my super productive Capsicum. There are about 8-10 fruits on this one at the moment.
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We've had a very warm & sunny Autumn so far, so things are growing pretty well despite the shorter sun hours. Even the Okra is still flowering & fruiting, which is great, as it has become one of my favorite ingredients to cook with.

I also planted 60 seeds today of Okra, Chinese cabbage & leeks and sat them in my little greenhouse to get started. I feel like winter is going to be pretty short this year & before we know it, spring will be upon us again.
 

AndrewB

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Lots of growth happening at the moment. We had a heap of rain this month and plenty of sunny days between, so the plants are happy, even though the daylight hours are short. The winter solstice is almost here, so things will only get better!

I don't really know for sure what is growing in here. I did plant in rows, but everything has just exploded. I think I got around 200% germination.. Parsnips, Kholrabi, maybe some radishes, a few carrots & fennel buried under there. This garden bed has worked out way better than I expected.
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Potatoes are doing great. I topped it up with more compost & perlite today. Will do that once more in a week or 2, then let it grow out.
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Broccoli is making a comeback after spraying it with eco-oil to stop the damn caterpillars eating it.
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Carrots doing well, should be a few ready to harvest soon.
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Volunteer lettuce has taken off. These grew from the seeds that fell from another pot into this one.
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I also have paving lettuce growing all over the place, much better than trying to fight the weeds!
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Hydroponics is going slowly, as the water temperature is a bit cold right now & I don't want to waste the power on a heater. I do have a few thoughts on solar & compost heating, but am saving my pennies for a house currently, so have to resist the temptation to spend money on experiments.
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Tomatoes are still growing, all be it slowly at this time of year. This plant is around 8 months old. I'm interested to see if it will bounce back in spring time.
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The hanging basket tomatoes are growing really well currently.
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And finally, this little chilli plant. Almost 12 months old now & has fruited continuously over than time.
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ClissAT

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Wow, Andrew everything is doing really well, congrats!

200% :hysterical: but yes I get your drift! Those lettuces in the paver cracks will be the tastiest.

re the tomato plant. I have 3 that are into their 3rd season(cherry & full sized), just cut them right back after most of their fruit has ripened;
wild birds eye chillies that are more than 2yrs old, again cut them right back;
just got rid of a broccoli that was over a year old which I harvested for 'broccolini after the main head was done;
beetroots that I harvest the leaves off that are over a year old & at some point I will pull them & boil or grate & fry.
I have my own varieties of lettuce, rocket, shallots, capsicum, tomatoes & a few other things.
So I am always letting those go to seed so I can harvest the seed.
There are always volunteers coming up plus I actually spread the seed in the wider garden to ensure vigour as only the strongest seeds will come up 'in the wild'.
 

OskarDoLittle

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Andrew that's impressive! You obviously have quite the green thumb...what kind of mix do you use in your pots? I'd assume as you're renting it's commercial as I guess it'd be hard to have a compost heap if you're having to move a bit. I often find the commercial mixes "run out" of nutrient after a season so I chuck them in the composter, then back on the garden . I'm so incredibly jealous as I'm having to wait now for my patch to get adequate sun to plant. Honestly I think the soil would be so cold due to shade (from neighbour's now 4-5m hedge) that nothing would grow...oh the sweet potato is going OK and rocket/lettuces are OK (but who eats salad in winter...bbbbbrrrrr)
 

AndrewB

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I've experimented with a few different mixes, but the best has also been the cheapest.

I'm now using the Richgro Organic compost you can get from Bunnings- it's made just around the corner from me here. I mix perlite through it to help drainage.

For mulch I use Lupin.

I do have a compost bin, but yes, renting makes it difficult to get a decent heap going. I'm growing the Comfrey to help get nutrients back into the pots. I just drop a few leaves on the top as they become available.

You are right about salads in winter. My lettuce couldn't handle the heat during summer, but is growing happily now I don't want it as much.
 

ClissAT

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In winter I make vegetable hot pot in the slow cooker. (& you could add some chunks of meat if desired)
Just a heap of colourful veg cut into big chunks & tossed into a lot of broth & cooked on low for an hour.
Don't stir it. That way the broth remains clear & the veg stay in nice chunks each with their own distinctive flavour.
I make enough for about 4-5 helpings & leave it on the counter on the 'warm' setting.
At the end of cooking when I dish up a bowl full while it is steaming hot, I toss into the bowl first a big handful of sliced up green leaves like outside lettuce leaves & rocket.
I roll a bunch into a log & slice it up about 2cm thick then pour the steaming hot broth over the top.
You can also use celery, beetroot, young broccoli leaves, etc.
Or add sliced up cabbage leaves near the end of cooking. But while left on 'warm', the cabbage does go too soft & change colour.
 

AndrewB

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A small update. I took a few pictures today, but it started pouring with rain almost as soon as I got out there!

I have a bit of an aphid infestation in part of the big garden bed, which seems to be restricted to the radishes. The weather isn't great for beneficial insects right now, so i'm just manually removing the badly infested leaves. I don't really want to just pull everything out, as they will just move onto eating something else.

I do have nasturtium going crazy & yarrow is popping up all over the garden from seeds I harvested in summer, so come spring time, I should see a big jump in predatory insects.

Aside from the aphids, everything is growing really well. I'll try & get a few more pictures tomorrow if the weather is more pleasant for gardening.

Purple cauliflower.
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Turnips in the front box, then lettuce, carrots, chard.
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Yarrow seedlings popping up.
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Potatoes & random turnips growing in the paving in the background :)
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Bea

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yeah, aphids! I gave my roses and hibiscus a thorough anti-aphid bath with the hose and the little bug...s are back within 24 hours. Found a lady bug (yaaay) and tons of aphids on my lime sapling this morning. time to get out the neem. I love the photos Andrew and dont you just love those potato bags? I picked one up on AliExpress for a bout 4$. Cant remember if i had to pay shipping (mostly I look for stuff with free shipping) but will be ordering more. they are wonderful. Question: is that a papaya growing in the middle of the yarrow pot? And if you have grown yarrow before did it flower? Mine has been in situ for over a year and has spread out and is a beautiful green patch in a corner of my garden. But it doesnt bloom. I just pulled up several of the rooted patches around the outside and gave to a friend two days ago.
 

AndrewB

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The bags are great, I wish they made a short wide one, something like 600mm x 200mm. The big bags are just too deep for most things, and you can just roll the sides down, but that creates a hiding spot for snails & slugs. I think the company that makes these ones is in my city, so I should see if they will make some.

Yes, that is a Papaya, I've had a few of them, but they didn't survive transplanting into larger pots. This one is doing well so far.

The Yarrow growing in the pot with the Papaya were planted from seeds from an existing plant. I planted 3 of them initially in different spots.

One was in full sun in the garden, we don't really have soil here naturally, its just sand. This did ok, but had to be watered quite a bit, even with mulching. It has a compost bin blocking the worst of the sun now, so is much happier. It has not flowered yet, but I expect it to this summer.
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The second was in a shadier position is an established bed. It struggled to compete with existing roots of other plants, so is still very small & has not flowered.

The third was planted in a pot with some chives & has done really well. It has flowered a few times now & pretty much taken over. This is the one I got the seeds from.
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Breakfast salad from the garden:)
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