PRACTICAL TIPS
MULCH PLANTS IN POTS. But always make sure the soil in the pot is moist before you lay mulch, and if it isn’t, water thoroughly first.
Soil in pots dries out quickly, so staying on top of watering is key to success with container crops, says Papakura gardener RAFE ANSARI. “Pot plants need plenty of water.”
JILL REESBY, who grows “everything from blueberries, strawberries, peas, carrots, parsnips, toms, beans and lettuce” in containers – including 14 bathtubs – in her Christchurch garden, says there’s no limit to what you can grow. “All crops can perform well providing you keep an eye on watering,” she says.
Once plants are established, give them a fortnightly feed of a suitable liquid fertiliser. And remember a fertiliser suitable for lettuces can be used on any leafy crop like spinach or herbs, and a tomato fertiliser on any fruiting crop such as chillies or eggplants. CHRISSY SCOTT in Oamaru got great results feeding a potted capsicum with liquid tomato food.
ANITA KUNDU, in Auckland, recommends mixing in a bit of blood and bone, and superphosphate fertiliser into the mix prior to planting.
WINGYA SU from Johnsonville says her family gets more out of their crops by dividing suitable edible plants and placing the divisions back in the garden where they establish as a whole new plant. This way, “we get more silverbeet than we can eat, even from one plant,” she says.
Starting with small seedlings? LIZ PARSONS says to cut off the bottom third of a used paper coffee cup and use it as a biodegradable wind shield.
LYNNE DOWNING from Hastings has horseradish, ginger and galangal in potting mix in buckets. Dig up the roots, cut off what you need, repot the rest – a constant supply of fresh flavours for cooking.
Kerikeri gardener CHRISSY SMALL swears by wicking gardens which are self-watering containers with containers with water reservoirs at the base.