Container Gardening – Feb Update

I started container gardening a month ago and it’s time for an update and some new photographs. It’s been an important first month! During this time I’ve made some interesting errors of judgment and all in all it’s a positive move forward. I’m not a gardener and know very little about growing vegetables (or growing anything for that matter) but I’m determined to learn and to make a success of this.

I discovered a problem after a short period of time, pests! Something was eating holes in my brand new plants – how dare it! It must go!

So, after much searching on the internet I found information on an organic pest product called Neem. I felt like a detective, I found something that is organic and is supposed to work well. With a degree of excitement I hunted some down and went and purchased the product.

Initially I found it for just under $10 at the local Mitre 10 but it wasn’t until I was reading the label properly, after paying for the item, that I realised it was not for use on food bearing plants.

Feeling somewhat confused after all the positive reviews I had read about it I took it back to the helpful store guy who went through other products I could use. He mentioned my predicament to a colleague and reported back that the Neem product is highly toxic. Huh? That’s not what I had read on the net this very day.

In the end I brought some Derris dust as it appeared it was the only organic pest product available. However I didn’t get to use the Derris.

After leaving the store I went to the nearest garden center and lo and behold they had Neem for food bearing plants at $20 a bottle. (It’s concentrated so it should last a long time). I don’t usually purchase from this garden center as they are on average 25% more expensive than the Mitre 10 and other stores that sell veggies and gardening products. However, I’m glad that I did as it appears it’s the only place in the area that sells this product for veggies.

On reading the label it mentioned that there is no withholding period on it at all, which for those that aren’t aware (I wasn’t) means you can eat it the same day you spray it. So, figuring it was safe I thought I’d better get a handle on the annoying bugs in my container garden. Primarily Passion Vine Hoppers and an unidentified creature laying it’s eggs on the underside of some of the silver beet, capsicum and broccoli leaves.

I made it up to the correct proportions but evidently used too much as within a day or two the leaves of my treasured plants were dying and looking blight stricken on the edges!. Oh no! So, after another couple of days I pinched off the leaves in question which left me with a pretty pathetic looking container garden, where once fine leaves had been.

Wellll, I’ve learned from that lesson that’s for sure! I’m going to spray some on tomorrow (it stops the life cycle of the bugs in question) but I’m going to use it in much smaller quantities and keep a wary eye on the results. Interestingly enough the overdose of Neem that I gave my plants affected some but not others. The Capsicum is still very healthy, as is the Tamarillo and the herbs! There appears to be no rhyme or reason for this!

Here are some photos of the current state of my container gardening plot. I realised that I probably should have separated the perpetual spinach plants as they didn’t seem to be doing much bunched together in one pot. So, after dividing and repotting I have some rather sorry looking spinach plants, however I’m hopeful that they will pick up over the next couple of days.

I’ve also planted some new tomato plants as the Neem had obviously damaged the original ones I planted beyond repair, one died and two didn’t grow at all for three weeks. I am going to need to support the new ones with a stake as soon as they grow larger. I’ve been collecting sticks and branches from dead trees for this, after purchasing a few bamboo stakes and realising that was probably a waste of money. One has to be frugal of course!

This is my herb garden – it’s coming along beautifully, the herbs are growing more each day, although the Oregano is a little stunted in it’s growth, maybe it just grows slower? That’s something I’ll have to check out.

These are my dwarf beans and snap peas. The peas were probably not a good idea as according to the packet they require support. But, as the packet was from my last failed attempt at planting some veggies (at an old residence which I moved from quite suddenly) I felt compelled to try them so they don’t go to waste.

That rather large plant you can see just in the right area is my Tamarillo – it’s grown so much! It really seems to like my garden. If it continues at this rate it will be massive before I know it!

This is my potting area. I decided to make use of the old barbecue area as I probably would never use it and the barbecue itself was rusted out. The area to the left is ideal for potting and to the right for my herbs. They appear to be doing well there too!

There are lettuce plants on the wooden chair and capsicum below the herbs. They are doing well too, the capsicum fruit grows quickly I’ve noticed. There’s a lemon tree (that’s ideal for containers apparently) to the right of the chair.

I’m looking forward to tasting the first fruits of my garden, that’s for sure!

To end on a frugal note I’ve managed to get all these pots (apart from four very large ones that are obviously brand new) through freecycle. I have 70 pots now with veggies in them and a few more ready to go when the seeds I’ve planted today are ready. What a substantial saving this has been! I’m making plant identifiers from cut up opaque plastic milk bottles too, and using a permanent marker which does so far seem to be permanent.

Although initially this project has cost me about $140 the next growing season will necessitate buying only seeds. The compost has been expensive, I’ve brought 7-8 bags of it so far but as I don’t have a compost heap I can’t do much about that.

I am however going to look for one of those cement mixer type compost bins as they are compact and they don’t smell. I’ll post about it here in due time. Thanks for reading and if you have any information to share please do, the more the merrier!