Starting my first garden using containers.

[tulsanurse1]

Starting my first container garden-Vegetables and flowers?

I am going to attempt my first garden and will be doing container gardening on my apartment balcony. I live on the top floor. I want it to be organic. I live in Oklahoma and am facing South. This is what I have so far:

Three 22 gallon High-Density Resin Planters for vegetables and strawberries Dimensions 19.5"Wide/High 12"
One 26" hanging planter box for my flowers
One 3 1/2' Tomato Cage (looks like a long cone sort of)
Two 24" Metal Plant Props
One 4lb. bag of "High Yield" Dusting Wettable Sulfur-90% Sulfur for dusing potatoes.
One large bag of mushroom compost-*was this a good idea? I can take back.

After reading here, I am wondering if I purchased containers that were to big. The 22 gallon ones I bought were 15.00 a piece from Lowe's. I was going to try and put 2 tomato plants and 1 cherry tomato plant in one planter but then I read where that was to much in one plant. So my question is: Could I plant 2 regular tomato plants and 1 cherry tomato plant into one 22 gallon pot. Also, how can I get cheaper pots that are big? or smaller?



Plants
1 Bonnie Grape Indeterminate Tomato 5"
1 Red BeefSteak Indeterminate Tomato 5"
2 Red Bell Sweet Red Pepper 3"
2 Quinalt Strawberries 2" (Container is full of leaves already)
1 Daisy plant
2 Dahlia plants
1 Borage plant to deter hornworms
1 Spicy Basil to plant with tomatoes



*The plants all came in recyclable pots

1. Can I add one cherry tomato plant into the barrel of one of the pots with a tomatoe plant. What if anything could I grow with the other tomato plant? plants? Would it be a good idea to plant both tomato plants in one container since its 20.5" X 12"?

2. What fertilizer do is a good oneI am considering Spray-N-Grow Micronutrient Concentrate. It supposed to have 17 micronutrients and gets rave reviews.

3. Do I need mulch? What kind and how much do I put in?

4. Will the red or black grower plastic help to keep the pot from drying out so fast?

5. Do the barrels need to sit on bricks or something else?

6. Should I use marigolds with the tomatoes?

7. Do I need to use limestone for added calcium or should I use eggshells (how many would I need)

8. Do I need soil? I'm pretty sure I do but I have no idea what to buy. If I need it what kind do I need. I will be using a spray fertilizer with 17 nutrients.

9. I saw these white beads in a bag at a nursery and was wondering if I should have gotten them. I think they get mixed in the dirt for some reason.

10. I've seen where some people lay a cloth in the bottom of the container. Why is this? Do I need?

I am not sure what I left out. I tried to be through. Again, I have never done this. I am not sure how much soil or how much of anything else, but I am so excited about doing this, I will listen and research. Thanks for all your help in advance.

[sprtsguy76]

1- I would probably stick with one plant in that size container.
2- fetilizer choices are abundant, if it sounds good, if you have heard good things about it and it meets your organic criteria why not try it. I like to stick with synthetic ferts in containers because they are in a ready to use form for the plant, jmo.
3- I think mulch is good even for containers, straw, bark mulch etc. will work fine
4- I've never used a plastic mulch/ moisture barrier for standard containers, I usually use them for my swc's. They would probably be fine.
5- I always try and keep my containers off the ground because of heat, too much heat is not good for roots. So if you have a balcony floor thats made of brick, asphalt etc., it would probably be a good idea to prop them up on a wood pallet or stand of some kind.
6-Never tried the marigold thing. But if your up on a sencond floor or higher, pests may not be much of a concern, or maybe they would, not really sure.
7- As a general rule of thumb for me, I add 1 tbs of dolomite lime for every 1 gallon of mix, unless your potting mix contains a good Ca. source.
8- Yes you need soil, lol, I like to build my soils from scratch, its more affordable for me and I have control over what goes in my mix and what doesn't. Its a bit of work though. That being said I think anybody can have good success in potting mixes such as Pro-Mix, Miracle -Grow etc.
9- the white beads could have been anything, a good chance though that it was some sort of fertilizer, maybe a time release fertilizer, which I think is good for containers.

Good luck

Damon

[sprtsguy76]

Oh, and welcome to TV!

[tulsanurse1]

Wow, thank you so much for commenting so thoroughly on my post. It will certainly help me on my journey to gardening. I have a question though, what is SWC's?

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

Welcome to Tomatoville!! SWC= Self Watering Container.

Craig

[tulsanurse1]

Thank you Craig for the welcome. Ok well I kept questioning the soil I chose to buy. Now after researching it, I found out that it wasn't compatible for container growing. Sure enough, right down in the corner of the bags it said so. To bad they didn't make the print large enough so I wouldn't have purchased 3 large bags, cart them up the stairs to my apartment, and then have to take them all 3 back down to the car for return to the store. Oh well, live and learn. Now I am not sure which soil I should purchase for container with both flowers and vegetables. I am just now learning about this gardening stuff and I'm not taking anything for granted, just taking my time and making sure I get it right.

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

I use miracle grow potting "mix" the green bags. I would not recommend the mix with moisture control as I used that last year and did not like the results.

There are allot of my experienced growers here that make their own mixes or have tried more mixes but currently for me I just use the miracle grow potting mix.

Craig

[tulsanurse1]

I am not going to be purchasing any soil with moisture control as I am using Spray-N-Grows Gro Bric's made from coconut husks. Does Miracle Grow make soil without fertilizer?

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

Originally Posted by tulsanurse1

Does Miracle Grow make soil without fertilizer?

Not that I am aware of but anything with "mix" not "soil" in the name is what you want for containers.

Craig

[tulsanurse1]

I went to Miracle Grows site and was looking for a green bag for vegetables & fruit compatible for container growing. Almost all the bags were green. Can you tell me what wording I should look for on the bag?

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

A picture is worth a thousand words this is a 2 cubic foot bag I have out in the garage just make sure it does not say with moisture control on the bag.

Craig

[tulsanurse1]

Thank you for taking the time to snap the pic, save and post. Now I know which one it is. Thanks again.

[tulsanurse1]

Is Dolomite the same thing as organic calcium?