Growing in pots! Hi everyone :)

Kimky374

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Hi from North Macksville!
Have been following Mark for the past 4 years and as a result Ive become obsessed with growing my own food. Currently Im growing in pots only as we are renting while we look for our forever home. Its a little trickier growing in pots but I love a challenge, and this constant rain we’ve been getting makes it a bit harder! It is fun being in a subtropical climate and having a 9 month growing season. We moved from Sydney a year and a half ago so its fun getting tk know a new climate. I cant wait for the day that I have my own property and lots of raised garden beds. The knowledge and experience im getting living here and from Mark and these forums will allow me to really hit the ground running when I have my big garden beds! Currently Im growing in pots: peas, beans, 3 varieties of cherry tomatoes, 4 varieties of mint, oregano, chives, garlic chives, rosella, kent pumpkkn, gramma, cucamelons, bok choy, silverbeet, lettuce, 2 varieties of sunflowers, 2 varieties of spinach, 2 varieties of rosemary, thyme, basil, sage, stevia, beetroot, 3 varieties of radish, shallots, snow peas, 2 varieties of carrots, 2 varieties of chillies, a lemon tree, a bay tree and 2 black sapote seedlings. I also have lavender and other flowers spotted around to encourage the native and honey bees that are on the property. Happy growing everyone! X
 
Haha you’re right! They are just supersized pots! I guess the biggest issues are watering and drainage. All this rain we’ve been copping down the east coast just decimated alot of vegies like zucchini and squash, I was shocked that my tomatoes survived it! But in my tomato pots I did like a mini hügelkultur style situation in the bottom with some cut up logs and bark so maybe that helped get rid if alot of excess water out of the soil!
 
I did a lot of my container gardening during the drought and I found everything flourished. My pots took a hit when the heavens opened and I discovered how containers prefer less water falling out of the sky!

Yes, I used to bulk up the bottom of my pots with compostable materials which worked really well. Everything got a feed while the compost was breaking down.

The biggest difference you'll notice with raised garden beds is drainage. Yay for drainage!
 
I'm currently growing out of pots too and I actually love it! It's a very controlled environment, which suits learning to garden really well! It allows me to adjust how much direct sun they get, whether I want them under cover to protect from wind and weather, etc. I've actually cut the bottom off of a (broken) pot and put it like that right in my yard (after digging away the weeds). My mint flourishing now and it being a mini raised bed means drainage is great, it's still controlled, but the roots can go deeper and spread there!

I have noticed that my herbs often prefer being in pots (perhaps because my soil is mostly clay). And I prefer having them up higher so I don't have to bend over to reach them, I've actually hung a pot off of a fence with ropes (as to not drill holes) and it works a charm :D
 
I'm currently growing out of pots too and I actually love it! It's a very controlled environment, which suits learning to garden really well! It allows me to adjust how much direct sun they get, whether I want them under cover to protect from wind and weather, etc. I've actually cut the bottom off of a (broken) pot and put it like that right in my yard (after digging away the weeds). My mint flourishing now and it being a mini raised bed means drainage is great, it's still controlled, but the roots can go deeper and spread there!

I have noticed that my herbs often prefer being in pots (perhaps because my soil is mostly clay). And I prefer having them up higher so I don't have to bend over to reach them, I've actually hung a pot off of a fence with ropes (as to not drill holes) and it works a charm :D
Hi Mandy! Your container garden sounds awesome and great idea with cutting a hole out of the bottom! I agree about the herbs, my herbs seem to love it and having them higher is a bonus for sure! But my lavender is not at all happy and struggles all the time, Im not surd if its lacking something, been hit with too much rain or just hates being in a pot - or just hates me 😂🤣. So glad to hear that someone else is enjoying growing in pots, thanks for replying!
 
Welcome!

hehe sounds like we're alike! once I stumbled upon Mark's videos I realized what was possible and I've been obsessed with learning and practicing ever since. Post some Garden (pot) progress videos!
 
Hi Mandy! Your container garden sounds awesome and great idea with cutting a hole out of the bottom! I agree about the herbs, my herbs seem to love it and having them higher is a bonus for sure! But my lavender is not at all happy and struggles all the time, Im not surd if its lacking something, been hit with too much rain or just hates being in a pot - or just hates me 😂🤣. So glad to hear that someone else is enjoying growing in pots, thanks for replying!
I haven't had any luck with lavender myself either, it's the one plant I will kill without fail! I must be doing something wrong; my guess is probably using the wrong kind of soil and/or watering too much/little. I haven't invested much time in them yet as I just drifted towards growing other plants instead. Curiosity makes me try new things non-stop!

One of my absolute favourite things to do is to take cuttings from my plants and repot those and grow more plants from them! It makes me feel like a true crazy plant lady. On top of that I can gift the cuttings to friends or leave them at the community stall for others to enjoy :D

I have actually got a pineapple growing in a pot right now for the very first time and I was surprised on how well it's doing. I've grown it from a store-bought pineapple of which I kept and replanted the top. It's so hardy even with the neglect I gave it especially in the first couple months to a year. I repotted it when I started growing it somewhat ornamentally (weeds don't see to grow in that pot at all even though it's on the ground), and now it's actually fruiting!

The options with pots seem near-endless and to me it's such great fun.
 
I haven't had any luck with lavender myself either, it's the one plant I will kill without fail! I must be doing something wrong; my guess is probably using the wrong kind of soil and/or watering too much/little. I haven't invested much time in them yet as I just drifted towards growing other plants instead. Curiosity makes me try new things non-stop!

You might have a humidity issue. One of the links I posted stated English lavender doesn't like humidity.

My next *coughs* "adventure" is trying to grow lavender from seed. I bought some seeds not realising I had to plumb the depths of cold stratification. :eek:
 
You might have a humidity issue. One of the links I posted stated English lavender doesn't like humidity.

My next *coughs* "adventure" is trying to grow lavender from seed. I bought some seeds not realising I had to plumb the depths of cold stratification. :eek:
Thank you for letting me know! :D
 
Welcome!

hehe sounds like we're alike! once I stumbled upon Mark's videos I realized what was possible and I've been obsessed with learning and practicing ever since. Post some Garden (pot) progress videos!
Im new to forums so wouldnt know where to start with posting videos on here lol. But if I ever work it out I definately will! Mark was my saviour during lockdown, I found something I could focus on and fell in love with gardening! Thank you for replying :)
 
You might have a humidity issue. One of the links I posted stated English lavender doesn't like humidity.

My next *coughs* "adventure" is trying to grow lavender from seed. I bought some seeds not realising I had to plumb the depths of cold stratification. :eek:
Oh god I recently bought lavender seeds online without looking into it. Are you telling me I cant just throw them in the garden?? Maybe I should just read them their death rites now lol
 
I haven't had any luck with lavender myself either, it's the one plant I will kill without fail! I must be doing something wrong; my guess is probably using the wrong kind of soil and/or watering too much/little. I haven't invested much time in them yet as I just drifted towards growing other plants instead. Curiosity makes me try new things non-stop!

One of my absolute favourite things to do is to take cuttings from my plants and repot those and grow more plants from them! It makes me feel like a true crazy plant lady. On top of that I can gift the cuttings to friends or leave them at the community stall for others to enjoy :D

I have actually got a pineapple growing in a pot right now for the very first time and I was surprised on how well it's doing. I've grown it from a store-bought pineapple of which I kept and replanted the top. It's so hardy even with the neglect I gave it especially in the first couple months to a year. I repotted it when I started growing it somewhat ornamentally (weeds don't see to grow in that pot at all even though it's on the ground), and now it's actually fruiting!

The options with pots seem near-endless and to me it's such great fun.
I love what youre saying about cuttings. I need to do that too. I have really old thyme and rosemary plants and have been looking in to how to propogate them to ensure I always have newer plants around. I love the idea of gifting cuttings to people what a great idea for gifts. I do some canning as well so a little plant would be nice to give with some pickles and jams!
I have a pineapple plant in a pot too. Its two years old now and I had to pot it up about a month ago. Im hoping it wont be long before i get my first pineapple. It has been so neglected, it was under the house for 6 months lol and it looks great now - they are so hardy!
 
Oh god I recently bought lavender seeds online without looking into it. Are you telling me I cant just throw them in the garden?? Maybe I should just read them their death rites now lol

I did the same thing! :oops:

Well, you can, technically just toss them in the garden... but have a read of this first:
https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/How-Cold-Stratification-Gives-Seed-Germination-a-Helping-Hand

As you're in the sub-tropics I think you're going to have to put them in the fridge.

I don't have the space here to toss them in the ground so I'm going to have a crack at putting them in punnets over the winter to see if they'll germinate in spring.
 
I did the same thing! :oops:

Well, you can, technically just toss them in the garden... but have a read of this first:
https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/How-Cold-Stratification-Gives-Seed-Germination-a-Helping-Hand

As you're in the sub-tropics I think you're going to have to put them in the fridge.

I don't have the space here to toss them in the ground so I'm going to have a crack at putting them in punnets over the winter to see if they'll germinate in spring.
Interesting! Cant hurt to try a few seeds like that and see how they go! Its all a learning process and experiment after all. The seed collection where that article was posted is actually where i buy most of my seeds, I’ve had great results with all their seeds. Thanks for the link, great info!
 
Interesting! Cant hurt to try a few seeds like that and see how they go! Its all a learning process and experiment after all. The seed collection where that article was posted is actually where i buy most of my seeds, I’ve had great results with all their seeds. Thanks for the link, great info!

SNAP!! :D

Until I joined the Diggers Club I bought all of my seeds from them. Now I split between the two. I bet we've got the same lavender seeds ;)
 
SNAP!! :D

Until I joined the Diggers Club I bought all of my seeds from them. Now I split between the two. I bet we've got the same lavender seeds ;)
I think I bought just the English Lavender
 
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