My potted garden

Letsgokate

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All looks great Andrew. I recently had a bad infestation of Aphids. They destroyed all my bok choy, and some other greens. This was under my netted veggie bed so at first I wasn't sure how they got in there. Due to being netting keeps out the bad bugs but also the good. Next time I see a lady beetle I'll stick it in there.

Like you I took of as many infested leaves as I could and then I sprayed with Eco oil and followed up with Eco Neem at someone's suggestion several days later. You can also hose them off and use soap and water but due to where mine was that was a bit difficult.

I think mine actually got into my covered area from some curly leaf red kale I bought from Bunnings. That was the first plant to be infected and destroyed and it just went from there. When I was at a nursery last week I looked under the leaves of some veggie seedlings and yep there was some eggs. So I think dipping any bought seedlign in some soapy water before planting sounds like a good idea :)
 

Mark

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I take my hat off to you Andrew - what a great container garden and use of space! A fantastic thread also... Terrific pics!

I've been doing some extra research lately on container growing in urban areas for a 5 part video series I'm working on being produced in August and probably released around Nov/Dec this year. I need look no further than our forum for the info I need :D
 

AndrewB

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I take my hat off to you Andrew - what a great container garden and use of space! A fantastic thread also... Terrific pics!

I've been doing some extra research lately on container growing in urban areas for a 5 part video series I'm working on being produced in August and probably released around Nov/Dec this year. I need look no further than our forum for the info I need :D

Thanks Mark, I've been trying to encourage others to do it. When I'm eating a lunch of home grown vegetables, the most common comment I get is "I wish I had the room for a garden".

I show them photos of what I can do in my fairly limited space & tell them they do!

If you read the packaging on food in supermarkets, you will be amazed at how much comes out of China, the organic stuff especially. It make no sense at all for us to eat imported food when it's so simple to grow your own & you know exactly what has gone into it.
 

AndrewB

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Time for another update, spring is almost upon us & the garden is really starting to come to life. There are bees all over the place & lots of flowers to attract them.

Asparagus if flowering. It has only been is a year now & while I could harvest a few spears, I'll let it work on its root system a bit more for now. I do plan to gather the seeds & start a few more off.
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Chinese cabbage turned out to be a great grower, even in tiny little pots. There were a few slugs munching away on them at times, but not enough to compete with the quick growth.
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Yarrow is continuing to grow well & if using it regularly for teas now. I have it growing in most of the pots as a shade layer to stop the sun from drying them out.
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There is a pile of scrap wood that the landlord let behind, so I figured I may as well make use of it.
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I made a basic frame & stapled weed mat to it, then sat it on top of plastic builders sheet to stop the roots from going into the paving. Makes a good, cheap garden bed with lots of room to grow that I can pack up & take with me easily.
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First sweet potato & potato harvests were a little disappointing, there was way to much moisture in the soil. We have had really heavy rains here over winter, so they just didn't grow as well as they could have.
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Spring onions are flowering, so I'll continue to spread the seeds around the garden. Seriously, there should be nobody on the planet buying these more than once, the easiest thing ever to grow.
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Turnips are recovering great from an aphid infestation.
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I used the trees I have growing in pots as something for peas to grow up, which has worked great. When they die back, the roots will break down to add nitrogen into the soil for the tree to feed on. I'll cut up & drop everything else back on top as a mulch.
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12 months after planting, this eggplant is finally fruiting!
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Hydroponics is going well now that the daylight hours are increasing & the water temperatures are coming up. The plants in soil are doing better, but this was more about creating habitat for beneficial critters. The food is just a bonus.
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I'd love to do this as a career, just visiting peoples homes & showing them how easy & cheap it is to grow your own food.
 

ClissAT

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Gosh Andrew, your little garden certainly has done well. Congrats :thumbsup:

Re your potato harvest, I discovered if I planted the white and red varieties in a container on the verandah where i could control the amount of moisture, I got a far better crop.

Currently I have a 'crop' of white and red potatoes in a container almost ready to harvest. Its hard not to ferret around through the light weight medium to see what exactly I will get! :rolleyes:

I have a small bed of sweet red and purple potatoes outside in poor soil which I have been undermining for a root every couple of weeks. Soon I will have to dig them all up before rain comes or they will shoot and go fibrous. They got no extra water which means they got very little water as we are in drought here too.
 

AndrewB

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It's been quite a while since my last update. Work has been super stressful, so I just sleep when I get home. It sucks, but will be worth the sacrifice when I can leave it all behind me!

So the garden hasn't received as much attention as it should. I have added a few new beds in the front garden. Bunnings have these cheap raised beds- $20.00 for 1200x900mm and 300mm high, perfect depth for vegetables if you don't mind bending over. I put down some builders film to stop any staining on the paving, then line the bed with weed mat to hold the soil in. Makes for a good sized, easily removable garden.

I have planted onions, Jerusalem & standard artichokes, and a number of different peppers. I also covered one in mosquito netting in an attempt to prevent pests getting at my cabbage/pak choi. It's so time consuming removing all the critters when I use them.

The jerusalem artichokes are looking great & I have planted more all around the garden, as it seems like they will give a great yield.
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Chili from last year going strong still.
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Okra are taking off.
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Already fruiting, even though they are still quite small. I would love to have planted more, but it always comes back to not enough space!
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This bed is quite shady during summer, so things are growing pretty slowly. It should be ok once they get a bit of height I think, The corn, okra & jerusalem artichokes should all grow tall enough to reach the light.
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Bea

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It's been quite a while since my last update. Work has been super stressful, so I just sleep when I get home. It sucks, but will be worth the sacrifice when I can leave it all behind me!

So the garden hasn't received as much attention as it should. I have added a few new beds in the front garden. Bunnings have these cheap raised beds- $20.00 for 1200x900mm and 300mm high, perfect depth for vegetables if you don't mind bending over. I put down some builders film to stop any staining on the paving, then line the bed with weed mat to hold the soil in. Makes for a good sized, easily removable garden.

I have planted onions, Jerusalem & standard artichokes, and a number of different peppers. I also covered one in mosquito netting in an attempt to prevent pests getting at my cabbage/pak choi. It's so time consuming removing all the critters when I use them.

The jerusalem artichokes are looking great & I have planted more all around the garden, as it seems like they will give a great yield.
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View attachment 3464


Chili from last year going strong still.
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Okra are taking off.
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Already fruiting, even though they are still quite small. I would love to have planted more, but it always comes back to not enough space!
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This bed is quite shady during summer, so things are growing pretty slowly. It should be ok once they get a bit of height I think, The corn, okra & jerusalem artichokes should all grow tall enough to reach the light.
View attachment 3468


andrew this is just so impressive and gorgeous! i think i was on the way on my roof garden, but then I moved. it always takes a year or two to get it going again when you move, eh? i really like the raised bed system and wish i could get this here. take care. keep at it
 

ClissAT

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Well Andrew if that's your no-care garden, then why would you bother with more?
Its doing very well with all your lack of care!
Keep up the good work! Oh and at work too, I hope the pressure eases off soon enough.

I did see those garden beds at Bunnings and wondered how I could make them higher for me. Then realised I was getting over committed re water volume anyway so I didn't buy any.
 

AndrewB

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A small update, it's been quite a while!

I'm starting to pack things up here, I've been offered a new job on the other side of the country, so will have to leave my little garden behind. I'm giving most of it away to friends who also enjoy gardening.

The town I'm moving to has cheap houses on large blocks, so I'm looking forward to buying a place & making a great garden from what I've learnt here.

I figured out hydroponics for leafy greens, so will be expanding on this once I'm set up.
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I also just harvested my first Jerusalem artichokes, 1 tiny little piece turned into 1kg in under 4 months!
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My mega Chinese cabbage is almost ready to pull up too, I'll leave it as late as I can so I can turn it into Kim Chi for the long drive over. That is a 1mtr x 1.2mtr garden bed & it takes up almost the entire thing, it would have if I had planted it in the center. Thanks to mosquito netting for keeping it moth, grasshopper, slug, snail & caterpillar free :)
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ClissAT

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Andrew, Congrats on beating the beasties, growing a great garden, finding a new job in your chosen field, having everything fall into place!

I hope you find a nice little house with good water and excellent soil.

:twothumbsup:
 

OskarDoLittle

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I gave away the garden bed that the Chinese cabbage was growing in today. It weighed in at just over 3kgs. It's so big that the leaves can't support their own weight when I pick it up! Turning it into Sauerkraut tonight.

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I love sauerkraut but haven’t ever bothered to make it (probably don’t eat enough of it to warrant using the space for cabbages) - does it taste more or less the same with Chinese cabbage? (I presume these are a bit quicker to grow)
 

AndrewB

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This batch tasted pretty bland, as it was late on a weekend & the shops were closed to get extra ingredients. It's great with some beetroot, carrot, garlic, chilli & ginger.

Normal cabbage gives you more of a crunch than the Chinese version, but both taste great.
 

OskarDoLittle

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This batch tasted pretty bland, as it was late on a weekend & the shops were closed to get extra ingredients. It's great with some beetroot, carrot, garlic, chilli & ginger.

Normal cabbage gives you more of a crunch than the Chinese version, but both taste great.
How’s the long awaited move to more land going Andrew?
 

AndrewB

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I head off in under 2 weeks now. I found good homes for all my plants thankfully. A couple of people from work took most of them & a neighbor grabbed what was left.

I'm just going to rent a small unit in Albury for 6 months while I look for a place with a nice size block to buy.
 
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