If space in your yard is limited or if you live in a flat it is still possible to produce some food by growing vegetables in containers. My brother grew tomatoes , onions , lettuce , silver beet , broccoli and cabbage on the balcony of a one bedroom flat in Cabramatta. His main problem was lack of sunlight due to the position of his flat on the block. If you have any reasonable access to direct sunlight you can grow vegies. My daughter and son-in-law also grow veggies in the miniscule back yard of their town house in Emu Plains. They grow lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, onions and even watermelon, all in homemade containers. His experiences will be covered in a different article
THE CONTAINERS
There are many containers that can be used to grow vegies , the main considerations in their design are –
1. The container should be deep enough for the crop to be grown, preferably 20 centimetres minimum.
2. It should be strong enough to hold the mass of soil, water and vegetables and not fall apart. Needless to say it must also withstand being regularly watered so waxed veggie cartons won't work but polystyrene foam ones will.
3. There should be holes in the bottom to allow drainage. Although self watering containers called Earth Boxes can be made that will allow water to be added to a reservoir which keeps the soil moist and the veggies happy. Earth Boxes are the subject of another article.
Some examples of potential veggie planters ( some requiring drainage holes to be drilled ) are -
-Plant pots, preferably 14 cm in diameter or larger .
-20 litre steel or plastic drums.
-Home made wooden boxes, or any other wooden boxes for that matter.
-Empty food tins.
-Garbage bins, plastic ones are lighter, cheaper, won't rust and will absorb some heat from the sun (Good in winter, bad in summer).
-buckets
THE SOIL
The soil used for container growing must retain moisture while being well drained and be fertile , if you don't want to have to keep feeding your plants with fertilizer . To obtain the best results any old soil is not good enough. Rich, friable garden soil is a good base though ,to which coarse sand and compost can be added. Try mixing together one part each but experiment to find the best mix for your situation. Other additives available from nurseries such as perlite for drainage and aeration or vermiculite for water retention can be incorporated as required. Cocopeat (horticultural coir) also helps with water retention and keeps the soil friable and free draining too.
If after all this effort , you do need to feed your vegies to get the best out of them , the best way is with small regular additions of liquid manure. Liquid manure is made by soaking chook, sheep, horse or cow manure (or a mixture)in a hessian bag in water for a couple of weeks in a closed container (think of it as an enormous tea bag!). The resulting brew is then diluted to the colour of weak tea, and then applied to the plants in your container garden and watered in . As previously mentioned the rule is : a little and often .
THE VEGIES
Most vegies can be grown in containers and half a dozen two metre high
corn stalks on your balcony could look very decorative , but some varieties
put up with it better than others . As far as possible only open pollinated (ie non-hybrid) varieties should be used otherwise you cannot grow from your own seed. Following are vegetables and varieties suitable to container growing.
CABBAGE - Earliball ; Sugar Loaf ; Golden Acre
CAPSICUM - Most varieties can be grown in containers and are non-hybrid.
CARROT - Baby carrots are most suitable eg. Baby Pak , Baby , Amsterdam Forcing or Thumbelina.
CHILLI - As for capsicum .
CUCUMBER - Bush varieties eg. Spacemaster
EGG PLANT - Most varieties eg. Short Tom or Long Purple.
LETTUCE - Cos eg Romaine or Cos Green
- Butter Head eg Buttercrunch or Green Mignonette
ONION - Any spring onion ( shallot ) variety.
PUMPKIN - Bush pumpkin eg Golden Nugget or Bush Butternut.
RADISH - All varieties are OK.
SILVERBEET - Fordhook Giant
SUMMER SQUASH - Bush varieties such as Early White Bush or Marrow , long white
TOMATOES - Small bush varieties eg Tiny Tim or Small Fry and "Egg" Tomatoes eg Roma.
ASIAN VEGETABLES - Many of these also lend themselves to container gardening for example Adzuki Beans; Pak Choi; Chinese Mustard; Mizuna; Mibuna and Chinese Broccoli.
