GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Advice on growing vegetables in containers

Gill Matthews · 19-04-2007, 07:47 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

In article , says...
Hi,

I have been trying to read up on how to grow vegetables outdoors in
containers, most of the advice I have found is a bit general though, as
a beginner I guess I need someone to spell it out to me!

Questions:

1. I live in central Scotland, I would like to grow peppers, chillies,
cucumber, potatoes, asparagus, lettuce, tomatoes, garlic. That's what I
would like, could someone comment on which of these vegetables I can
realistically grow in containers, in Scotland? Should some of these
(chillies/tomatoes) be grown on windowsills? I have seen seeds for most
of these in the local garden centre, but I'm not taking that as gospel.
out doors you could hope for lettuce. Garlic & potatoes too but you are a
bit late for this year. Tomatoes and cucumber maybe. When are your
latest frosts? you might give yourseld a better chance if you buy
in plants for those two. Asparagus I doubt will grow in a pot and
if you start from seed you are looking at 3 or 4 years

2. I have no idea about potential yields of the above vegetables,
unfortunately I am from the supermarket generation! How many plants of
each kind do you think I would need to provide for two adults for the
duration of the growing season of each vegetable? What size of
container would you recommend and should it be one container per type of
vegetable?
yield is very variable see some later suggestions

3. Are the quality of seeds sold at garden centres acceptable or is it
better to buy mail order (or other?)? Could anyone recommend a source?
Garden centre seeds are fine so are their tomato etc plants. mail order
gives you more choice but you might need to buy more than you can use
4. This is probably a completely stupid question, if I buy the seeds to
start the plants off is it feasible to gather seeds that they produce
later in the year and store them somewhere to use again the following
year? I say a stupid question because I assume the answer is of course
I can - but are there particular storage considerations?
It depends some seeds of F1 hybrids are likely to be disappointing some
plants like garlic are biennial and take 2 years to produce seed, potatoes
dont grow easily from seed. you can of course save some of last years
potatoes but they are more likely to become diseased and you wont have
many any way if you grow them in a pot
5. If I buy a pack of seeds, can I sow them directly into the intended
containers or do they need to be sown into a small tray and then
transplanted at some other date?
It depends. Read the instructions on the seed packet

6. Could someone recommend a soil/compost that should be used to fill
the containers, as I understand it is not a good idea just to use soil
from the garden?
Have you though of using grow bags? or do they look too naffin any case
compost from them will do the trick so will compost designed for containers

7. It is now mid-late April, could someone recommend some varieties of
the above crops that I could realistically sow now to give me a project
and some experience this year?
I would try cut and come again mixed salad leaves and I would try buying
in some tomato plants and possibly a couple of cucumber plants

As I'm writing this I can see that I am expecting answers to a lot of
questions, perhaps someone could recommend a book or website that may be
helpful?
There is a good section on the bbc website for growing veg
Thanks in advance for your time,

GC