Container Gardening

Container gardening is what you do when you use a container (or a pot) to grow your plants in. Container gardening is widely practiced among people who do not have the space or the open area required to maintain a regular garden. In container gardening, a balcony or a patio that receives enough sunlight is enough to have your own garden boasting a variety of plants. If you live in an apartment, container gardening can be especially helpful in fulfilling your dream of having a garden. Even a window sill that receives good sunlight is enough to start growing your own plants.

Of course, not everybody takes to container gardening for the lack of space. There are various other reasons too. For one, container gardening gives you the option of rearranging your plants every now and then so that your garden always looks different. Also, the mobility that it provides means you can take your plants with you every time you shift to a new place. So if you keep shifting places very frequently, container gardening is a boon. Container gardening is also a big help to people who find it difficult to move around. Having their plants nearby can make it easier for them to tend to them and have them within reach. Container gardening also comes of use when you feel a need to experiment with different kinds of soil and different kinds of watering cycles etc.

Here are some things you will need to know to carry out effective container gardening:

Container Varieties
Obviously, the first thing you will want is a container. These could be clay, plastic or even ceramic. But he container should have enough holes at the bottom for extra eater to drain out. This is a must.

As for the size of the container it will depend on the type of plant you are going to have. For plants with shallow roots such as radishes, lettuce etc, a small pot with a diameter of 6-7 inches that can hold soil 8 inch deep will do. For other plants that will grow long roots, you will need much bigger containers such as a bushel basket.

Soil Types

Do not make the mistake of using soil straight from your garden. This is usually heavy and will not allow proper aeration for the roots. The packaged soil specially available for potting purposes in garden centers is the best. Also, do not compact the soil. Keep it loose and dig it up every now and then to allow aeration. For larger containers, you could mix the potting soil with your garden soil to keep your costs down.

Fertilizer Addition

Natural compost is best. But when you use fertilizers make sure you don't over-use them. The recommended rate of fertilizer addition in often available on the packed in which it came. Make sure you don't go beyond this rate. Also, do not add the fertilizer too close to the roots. It will burn the plant.

Water Requirements
Proper watering of container plants is the key to keeping your plants healthy. Check the soil twice a day for dryness and water when necessary. Don't over-water too. Container plants do not have the luxury of giving away excess water to the surrounding soil. The best strategy would be to add water till it drains out of the drainage holes at the bottom of the container. If you have clay pots, check them more often for drying as the porous clay results in quick evaporation of the water.

Light Requirements
Choose your plants based on the amount of light your balcony or patio receives. Often, you wont have too much sunlight in your container garden owing to nature of places where container gardens are normally maintained. However, this can be remedied to a limited extent by the use of reflecting surfaces such as mirrors, aluminum foils etc.

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