laceblade: (FF7: Aeris fist)
laceblade ([personal profile] laceblade) wrote2012-03-05 01:19 pm

Container Gardening: Give me all of the advice

One of my resolutions after visiting Japan for the second time in 2012 was to grow more plants. In Japan, lots of houses/apartments don't have yards, but people still had potted flowers/vegetables/herbs all over the place, and they were beautiful & I loved walking past them.

I bought a bunch of plants when I came back in July, but most of them have since died.
At the moment I have a fading African violet, an almost!dead but then revived ivy (which looks more like a sickly baby tree at the moment), and a robust spider plant. I got the spider plant as a cutting from one of my friend's spider plants, so I take a lot of pride in that one. It's even spawned a baby spider plant, which I hope to break off and start in its own pot once it gets warmer outside!


What I want:
--I'm not so ambitious as to plan to grow all of my own vegetables herbs, or etc. It would be neat to eat things from my own garden, but it's not a necessity. The cost of growing/maintaining plants needn't be less than the money I save by eating food I've grown.
--"Useless" plants that are pleasing to the eye are fine with me, too.
--I'll ignore advice about tomato and pepper plants for now. At the moment, I can't eat them. If it turns out that I can later in the season, I'll buy plants that's already started.
--I would like to try growing some plants from seed. But I recognize that this can be especially frustrating for beginners, so I'm okay with buying some plants that are already started, too.
--Assume that my budget is fairly liberal, but I'm not going drop like, $50 on a single plant (is that possible??). Thus far, I think all plants that I own have cost me less than $5. If I can re-use common household items like food containers, I would like to. But I don't mind buying pots if I need more than the few hand-sized ones I've got.

Internet resources I'm planning to start toying with right now:
This post about using toilet rolls as seed starters.
This PDF of a seed-starting plan so I know when to start growing shit.

Specs of my growing environment:
Inside: I have a sliding door/window that floods my apartment with light. I keep my three plants on top of a bookshelf next to the top of the door/window. The floor in front of the door/window is bare. I don't have a shelf or anything to set plants on, at the moment.
When it's not freezing, I like to set the plants outside.

Outside: North-facing balcony, measuring at dimensions forthcoming [in August, I'll be moving to a different apartment, and the balcony dimensions may increase.]
--The balcony has a guard rail. The balcony also has three wide beams in its "ceiling," supporting the floor of the balcony above me. With effort & assistance, I could probably hang some stuff from these beams.
--Birds like to nest on top of the beams. There's still an empty bird's nest there from last summer.
--The bottom of the balcony has slotted wood planks. There are gaps between each wood slot, & a balcony down below mine. So I have to be careful not to spill dirt/etc. down below! I do live next to a bike path & fields, though, so I could easily plant stuff on a ground/etc.
--I live in Wisconsin, so we're still a ways away from being able to set plants outside. This past Friday, for example, we had a blizzard.

Starting questions:
I think that at the moment, most of what I'm looking for is really basic advice, like what types of plants are fun to grow; do you use fertilizer and what kind; is it good to start plants growing inside before I set them outside; advice for frequency of watering, etc. I will take any advice!

ETA: Also desperately seeking advice on how to know when to re-pot plants.
sasha_feather: colorful water lily (electric water lily)

[personal profile] sasha_feather 2012-03-05 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
You can take the spider plant baby off and stick it in water to encourage rooting. When it gets some roots, then put it in dirt. I reuse old yogurt containers/other plastic food containers a lot for plants. I use a knife to put some slots/holes in the bottom for water drainage (to prevent mold in the soil). Then I put the lid of the container underneath to catch runoff water. Fill it up with soil and stick the young plant in. Later if it lives, I'll invest in a real pot, or maybe I give the plant away since I have so many spider plants in yogurt containers!

I find seeds to be kind of hard, in that they need to be babied along. It's easier for me to get young plants. Herbs and houseplants are fun. :) You can also put a spider plant in your cube!

My favorite greenhouse is Johannsen's which is on Todd drive exit off the beltline.



wrdnrd: (Default)

[personal profile] wrdnrd 2012-03-05 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
A couple of quick things for now:

- If you want to move indoor plants outside, you should do that in stages. I know you've put plants outside in previous summers, but i can't remember if you've mentioned doing this step! This is to help the plant build up the proper resistance to being outside in sun and wind.

- Potting soil! You, um, probably know this, but my own mother didn't, so i don't assume anything anymore. Don't just dig up dirt and plunk it in a pot.

- Fertilizer: We have a worm composting bin, so i largely use the vermicompost on my plants. I use fertilizer only on specific fruit-bearing plants -- tomatoes, strawberries. I also use fertilizer on plants that have specific pH requirements in their soil -- tea plant (Camellia sinensis), Meyer lemon tree, blueberries [note that all 3 of these have died because i'm still having trouble gauging the fertilizer, but i am going to try again this year!].

Some plant suggestions:
- Basil. It's not terribly complex, tho' a little fussy, and i LOVE fresh basil in the summer.

- Rosemary. Fairly low maintenance; tasty; GREAT for running my hands over for the scent.

- Strawberries. Also fairly low maintenance, and with tasty rewards!

- Mexican sour gherkins! (I have seeds for this.) Tho' you'll need to provide some kind of trellising for it, even if it's just a piece of string or 2 that you tie to your railing and anchor on the beams on the deck above. It needs to climb and will attempt to latch onto anything (i regularly train its tendrils onto my trellis). But it's fun to grow and the wee adorable gherkins are EXCELLENT. EDIT: Ooops! This will be hard to move come august. Sorry!

I mostly grow things because they're food, so i'm not going to be much help on suggestions for fun plants that don't also go into my mouth. ;)

I do also grow African violets, and could possibly give you advice on yours, if you'd like. What's up with it?
Edited 2012-03-05 20:04 (UTC)
wrdnrd: (Default)

[personal profile] wrdnrd 2012-03-05 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm going to reply to my own comment to thread my stuff.

Edamame! Another seed i have is a dwarf variety good for growing in pots. I also have a dwarf pea variety good in pots. Y'know, if you want more seeds.
wrdnrd: (Default)

Re: *will reread advice for hours*

[personal profile] wrdnrd 2012-03-05 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll take a pic of my trellis. It's a homemade affair in a pot on wheels, so fairly movable! I love those gherkins. They're gone in a bite! And they really DO have a slight tang to them, like they're pre-pickled when you pull them off the vine!

More later. Gotta (pretend to do) work!
littlebutfierce: (food)

[personal profile] littlebutfierce 2012-03-05 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Definitely start off plants inside before moving them outside -- generally I think you're supposed to harden them off for a week or two first, ie. take them outside for a few hours on a sunny day (say a weekend) & try to do that as much as possible before you leave them out all day (while at work, etc.) & eventually move them out for good. Oh, & when you start off seeds inside, it can be good to put some plastic over them -- not covering them completely w/no airflow (they'll get moldy), but say... I dunno, like I've used plastic bags that Ikea stuff came wrapped in to cover trays (by which I mean margarine containers) filled w/toilet paper roll seed pots. You could fasten 'em down at one or two corners to keep them on but not make them airtight. Helps keep the moisture in/keep the seeds a little warmer.

Marigolds were pretty easy for me. I am totally blanking on the names of the other flowers I've grown, though. ;___; Lots of salad greens & herbs are pretty easy -- I like sorrel a lot, & have grown basil & stuff. Um, chives are really easy, but I assume you can't eat those either (though the blossoms are super-pretty, & then you could give them to friends to do something w/maybe?).

String beans are supposed to be pretty easy, too -- I've grown some -- & you can get varieties especially for small spaces. I had decent luck getting edamame to grow, but I dunno how well it's suited for your climate.

Um. More if/when I remember useful things. ;___;
jesse_the_k: Lucy the ACD snuggles up against the edge of her cozy dog bed, nose under her leg (LUCY snuggles)

[personal profile] jesse_the_k 2012-03-06 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
There are definitely lots of edamame at the farmer's market. In general, you'll be able to buy little seedlings of a variety appropriate to the railroad corridor at the farmer's market, coming remarkably soon to a capitol near us.
wintercreek: Bare feet in the grass. ([misc] summer is not a season for shoes)

[personal profile] wintercreek 2012-03-05 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
On the fertilizer topic, I want to say: worm bin! Mr. Creek and I had one for a while (it didn't make the move with us last summer; we should really set up a new one) and made it ourselves following the Seattle Tilth guide (Off-the-Shelf Worm Bin (link is to PDF)). It gave us rich soil for growing things in, and even before the soil is ready the liquid that drains out of the bin ("compost tea" or "worm juice") is a great fertilizer for plants potted in other soil.

You can feed fruit and vegetable peelings and crushed egg shells to the worms. The bin can live inside, if there's room in your apartment; ours lived at the edge of the kitchen for easy disposal of peelings. We never had a problem with odor - the bin isn't supposed to smell - but I can say from experience that if you suspect something is on the verge of molding, don't put it in a worm bin: you may get mold growing all over your bin. *facepalm*

Once you're past the set-up costs of bin, bedding and worms, this is a way to get fertilizer and rich soil from things you'd be throwing away anyhow. And this would be something you could start now, if you wanted.
wintercreek: Grapes on a vine. ([misc] home in the vineyard)

[personal profile] wintercreek 2012-03-05 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Outside is fine once it's nice! I think you can even put it outside once it's not too cold anymore (but you should check this with some other source), but cold temperatures make the worms sluggish so you couldn't put as many peelings in it.

If you can get a hold of a copy of Worms Eat My Garbage, that's the book we started with and it's written by a woman from Michigan, iirc, so there's probably better information in there about when you could put a bin outside.
wrdnrd: (FML [Sherlock])

[personal profile] wrdnrd 2012-03-06 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
Also: Andy is as great a resource on vermicomposting as he is on video games. He's been running our bin for going on 9 years.

One thing i do know is that you shouldn't dump old flour in the worm compost bin. :o
wintercreek: Woman doing a cartwheel in the g ([misc] the joy of being young in spring)

[personal profile] wintercreek 2012-03-05 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Also, unrelated to previous comments I left: I have an aloe plant, which is pretty hardy (being a succulent) as long as it has good drainage and doesn't get overwatered. I mixed some medium-sized garden gravel in to the potting soil for the drainage, and I water it no more than once a week in the winter (often less - basically, I wait for it to get dry and then water). In the summer, when it's outside soaking up the sun and growing like crazy, it gets watered more like twice a week. And then I have aloe on hand for minor burns!
sasha_feather: Retro-style poster of skier on pluto.   (Default)

[personal profile] sasha_feather 2012-03-05 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
If you don't want to do worms, you can also just buy some Miracle Grow for fertilizer.

You might do well with a fern since you have a North facing window.
opinion_rush: (Default)

[personal profile] opinion_rush 2012-03-05 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Plants! this post makes me so happy! I have very little practical advice re seeds, but I have a collection of houseplants that I've managed to keep alive for over a year now without undue strain, if you want the varieties I can yank them out of their pots and let you know. (this includes a collection of succulents that, while inedible, are fun and can live in all kinds of odd containers).
kal: (Default)

[personal profile] kal 2012-03-06 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
I'm with [personal profile] sasha_feather on growing from seed. I've had little luck doing that. You can get good seedlings at the farmers' market, including of interesting plants you might not find otherwise. One trick a friend who worked at a greenhouse showed me was, when you move the plant from the tray to a pot, give the roots a squeeze or two to loosen them up.

There's another good greenhouse south of town, Kopke's. They sometimes come to the market too. If you want a great selection of perennials go to the Flower Factory but be warned, everyone I know who has gone there ends up spending more $ than they planned. They also are at the market but I hear the selection and variety at their site is amazing.
sasha_feather: Bright green grass (green grass)

[personal profile] sasha_feather 2012-03-06 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I was thinking about this today, and if water runs through the pot really fast-- ie, the soil can't hang onto the water-- then it is definitely time to replant and upgrade to a bigger pot.
sasha_feather: Retro-style poster of skier on pluto.   (Default)

[personal profile] sasha_feather 2012-03-06 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
It is ok! you can probably wait until Spring to repot them, when you can do it outside; that's what I usually do. I have been known to repot in my kitchen sink with newspaper spread all around, but it's a pain. I potted some stuff today because it was nice out! :D