Pt 1 Container Gardening Tips for Beginners

My First Seedlings - Spinach

Well, it's been about a month since I started my first Container Gardening venture and just wanted to share my first baby steps in hope that I may help some other newbies along the way. I will probably edit this as I learn more, but here are my tips for now:-

1) Decide what you would like to grow i.e what you like to eat or see/smell in the case of flowering plants

2) Carry Out Initial Research on your chosen veg/fruit/flowering plants and see whether a) your growing space has adequate sunshine for their needs and b) whether you will have adequate physical space to accommodate the fully grown plant. It is possible to buy dwarf varieties for growing in containers but they can still grow to a reasonable size. c) whether you would feel confident in trying to grow them - some veg/plants are easier to grow than others.

3) Decide what equipment you need to buy: I kept it simple but here are some ideas for you

FOR GERMINATING SEEDS
**Peat pots (I will be using coir pots next time as I soon learnt that peat based products are not environmentally sound) for seedlings which resent being transplanted, this way I can just place the peat pot and seedling into the next pot size up and the peat pot will eventually just dissolve into the compost.

Note: whilst peat pots are useful for direct sowing, their composition can mean that they stay damp after watering the seeds/seedlings and more prone to grow the mould which causes "damping off" which can kill seedlings :0(...I am not aware that the coir pots do this so this is another reason for using these next time

**Plastic party cups (snip the bottom with a pair of scissors for drainage)
**Seed tray with individual slots
**Bleach and Hot Water to sterilise the plastic pots, use 1 part bleach to 9 parts water, swill and then rinse, leave to dry. This reduces the risk of disease. Some people also sterilise their soil, but to be honest, I couldn't be bothered.

**Labelling - Cocktail sticks and address labels cut up and wrapped around the stick. I just wrote on the individual plastic cups with a permanent marker pen

**Bag of multipurpose Compost (with 4 to 6 weeks fertiliser in it) suitable for sowing and potting on

**Cling Film/Saran Wrap or just one piece of clingy plastic to cover the germinating seeds - makes it easier to water them when you use one piece as it saves time taking the cling film off and on individually

**Seeds!

**Plastic Box for placing the seedlings, makes it easier to carry them around if you need to move them

I did not use a heat mat for germinating, just placed the plastic box with the seeds on it on a rug in a warm place in my home.

4) Sow your Seeds - water them, keep them nice and warm and cover with plastic (remove this on germination) to retain humidity

5) Keep A Diary

Yes, I used to be an Administrator and love being methodical and organised. So I have kept a diary of all the key stages, again in an Excel Spreadsheet using the horizontal rows for each veg/plant and the vertical columns for the information.

Sowing Date       How Many Sown      Compost Type    etc

Tomato

Cucumber

etc

My main headers are: Sowing Date, How many seeds were sown, Container used, Compost used, When fertiliser in the compost will run out, Whether it is best to direct sow, Date of Germination (for the first one to pop out!), Date of Transplanting and Date of Harvest, plus a column for notes. But feel free to experiment with what works for you

As I have a memory like a sieve at times, I have also done a separate sheet for my Fertiliser Record so that I can make a note of when I have fertilised each plant throughout the Growing Season (March to Sept/Oct). From what I understand, veg/plants grown in container need more fertiliser and water than those grown in the soil, but still, over fertilisation must be avoided as it can be detrimental to their growth and can even kill them. For this reason, it is important to find the right balance. Most composts will contain some fertiliser, check the label to see how long it will last e.g 4 weeks, once your seedlings as this old, you will need to take over. Make sure you use the appropriate fertiliser and in the correct dilution.

This recording of info is a little laborious but once it's done, it's done and can be used for future reference.

Lastly, I have my DIGI CAMERA for a photographic diary of my first year of Gardening

6) Find Out how to Care for your Seedlings so that they reach Maturity

It is best to do this before your seeds germinate, so you are more or less prepared and ready for their arrival!

**Research, research, research! from gardening forums, blogs, online garden shops...alas you will more than likely find a lot of conflicting information, in which case I have decided to lean on good old instinct

**I printed some information and then took the most important bits and put them into a spreadsheet in Excel, recording information on each veg/plant seed I purchased...for example... When to seed for your local climate (I started indoors), Spacing for Seeding, Depth for Seeding, Approximate Germination Time and Temperatures required, Transplanting Times and Final Spacing between plants, When it is safe to place young plants outdoors, Light and Temperature Needs of the Young Plant, Fertilising and any other pertinent information to that individual plant.

**Other useful information to find out is
a) How to Deal with Diseases, Insects etc
b) Companion Planting - which veg/plants grow well together if you choose to mix a few in one pot
c) First and last Frost Dates for your Area - very important info for plants which are not hardy
d) How to harden off your Young Plants - to prepare them for life in the big outdoors!
e) How to fertilise your soil - big topic, various materials can be used and different plants have different needs :0)

See Part Two for Tips on Growing Your Seedlings Pin It