Mark wrote:
I have some questions:

I have planted tomatoes, cucumbers and watermellons.


Here are other little details.
1. I plant on a slope.
2. I plant in a plastic 5 Gallons containers, I buy from Home Depot.
(Will it be big enough to grow the plants? Or should I cut out the
bottom of it.? Or buy bigger containers?)
I feel container 50% with dirt 50% with compost. Dirt is from the slope
where I plant. Compost is from the city dump. They sell it to you at
$8.00 per cubic yard. Very good deal. If I buy from Home depot in
plastic bags, it will cost me about $200.00 per cubic yard.


Perhaps the problem overall is the soil you used in the containers. You
can't put regular soil from the ground into a container. It becomes too
compact and won't hold moisture or nutrients. You have to use potting
soil because it won't compact under the weight and holds both moisture
and nutrients. You use it for one season, then dump it and use new
potting soil the following year. I often cut it with some peat for added
moisture retention and organic matter. You can certainly add compost to
the potting soil as well (perhaps 1/4 compost, 3/4 soil or 1/5 compost,
1/5 peat and 2/5 potting soil).

Right now, I'm growing cucumbers, celery, cauliflower, corn, tomatoes,
peppers and potatoes in 30 L containers (which I believe works out to 5
gallons). They're all doing fine. I also grow potatoes in half barrels.
I put one seed spud in the 30 L ones and three in the half barrels. So
far, everything is doing great.

I can't see anything wrong with the mulch unless it was diseased or had
been sprayed recently with something.

Container gardening also requires that you water daily. The container
will dry out faster than the ground. Don't wait until you see it dry on
the surface - water evenly every day. And you should also have drilled
three holes in the bottom of the containers. Without the holes, the
water would simply rot the roots.

..

Zone 5a in Canada's Far East.