If you don’t have room to start a vegetable patch or you’d prefer to create something portable, growing vegetables in pots and containers is easy and affordable.
And while polystyrene and styrofoam boxes – like the ones you see at the fruit and vege shop – are known for causing havoc on the environment due to how difficult they are to recycle, one thing they’re ideal for is building into vegetable and herb gardens. While you can grow vegetables is most containers, these boxes are light, easy to manage, and the foam actually helps insulate the roots.
Use deep boxes to give your vegetables plenty of space to spread their roots. This is particularly important for larger vegetables. If you can’t find a really deep box, cut the base off one and stand another in it to give you the extra depth needed for a tomato or cucumber plant.
What you’ll need
Foam box
Trowel
Potting mix
Bricks
Seaweed plant tonic
Mulch
Water
Shade cloth
Add holes and elevate your boxes to promote drainage.
Step-by-step
Step 1: Make six holes in the base of the box, three on each side. These provide drainage.
Step 2: Use a good-quality potting mix to fill the box. Mix well-rotted homemade or bought compost or aged cow manure into the potting mix. Compost or manure helps the mix hold water and provides nourishment for your vegetables. Around 10-30 per cent compost or manure is beneficial.
Step 3: Elevate the boxes slightly by placing them on bricks to help them drain. Select a spot for your vegie boxes in full sun or with morning sun and afternoon shade. Now you’re ready to plant.
Step 4: For fast results, use some advanced lettuce or other seedlings. If you’re willing to wait a bit longer and want to save some money, sow some seeds, planting just a few at a time. Reseal the seed packet and keep it in a cool dry place so you can gradually plant the remaining seeds.
Sow spinach seeds thinly in rows spaced out approximately 45cm apart. Cover lightly with soil, firm in place and water well.
(Photo: Getty Images)Less is more
The key to success is not to over-plant. Restrict yourself to four soft-hearted lettuces, or a couple of herbs, or one tall tomato or cucumber per box. If you want more produce, start more boxes, but plant gradually so there are always some crops coming on. This way you avoid a glut.
Water in new plantings with a seaweed plant tonic then spread some mulch such as pea straw, sugar cane or lucerne around the plants. This helps keep the roots cool and moist. Spread the mulch loosely so that water can still penetrate easily.
BEST VEGETABLES TO GROW IN POTS
Most vegetables and herbs will grow well in pots. Avoid root vegetables that require plenty of room and opt for climbing plants, like beans, peas, cucumbers, and vegetables that grow above ground, such as kale, spinach and tomatoes, instead.
Kale
Chillies
Herbs
Peas and beans
Silverbeet
Zucchini
Nutritious and easy to cultivate, kale is a winter vegetable that thrives in cool climates and is made sweeter by frost.
(Photograph: Scott Hawkins / bauersyndication.com.au)Regular care
Vegetables in containers should be inspected and watered daily – more frequently in very hot weather. Use a watering can on non-watering days. Try to recycle clean wastewater from the house to water the vegies. Add a little liquid plant food to their water every week.
Vegetables also need lots of sunshine but new plantings can be burnt by really hot sun, so it’s a good idea to shade them until they are well established. Either keep them in a sheltered spot for a couple of days or cover the containers with some shadecloth. Also shade your crop on heatwave days.
Silverbeet grows great in a foam box, and will be ready to harvest in Spring.
set it up to self-water
If you think that all still sounded like a lot of work, we’ve got a solution. Foam boxes are perfect for creating a self-watering wicking bed. The concept was first developed in Queensland, where the climate is hot year-round. By creating a reservoir at the base of the box, your plants to draw water whenever they need.
What extra things you’ll need
The lid of your foam box
Three x roughly 100mm lengths of PVC pipe
One piece of PVC pipe that is 5cm taller than the box
Knife
Step-by-step
Step 1: In your empty box, evenly space out the three short PVC pipes. These will act as columns to hold up the sub-floor of your planter.
Step 2: Trim the lid of your box so it fits snug inside your box, and rests on the PVC pipe columns.
Step 3: Using your knife, carefully punch small holes in the subfloor for airflow.
Step 4: Your long PVC pipe is going to act as a funnel to get water into the reservoir below. Measure and cut one corner of your subfloor so the pipe can fit snug, and floats just above the bottom, allowing water to get through to below.
Step 5: With your knife again, punch a small hole in the side of the box, just below the subfloor, to allow for water overflow.
Step 6: Once everything is in place, you can fill the rest of your box up with potting soil, and follow the planting instructions above.
Then all you have to do is remember to top up the water as needed, which will be far less than a usual garden!
