I am not too pleased with my new exploration of the world of container gardening. I thought it would be convenient to be able to have fresh tomatoes, sweet peppers, and cucumbers growing on the sunny porch right outside my front door, and yes, I am only a couple weeks away from my first harvest, but I recognize that there is vast room for improvement.
Growing in two to five gallon containers of varying shapes and materials, the plants are water hogs. Or is it that the soil that I used--a mix of native dirt and mostly decomposed food waste compost--simply doesn't hold water very well? Or did I choose the wrong variety of tomato and cucumber? Or the wrong type of container?
As a self-described haphazard gardener (I cook the same way, sometimes with more success than others), I used the materials that I had on hand, and I think I will have moderate success. I also tried to duplicate the photo on the Renee's Seed Packet, which was a mistake (Where's the trellis? Is terra cotta the best choice?. . .)
For a more serious container garden, I would advocate for the large wine barrels, nursery-recommended potting soil, vegetable varieties bred specifically for containers, drip irrigation on a timer, and for the advanced horticulturalist, a means to capture and reuse water that drips out the bottom of the container.
Sometimes gardening isn't as simple as I would hope, but I'm working on it.
About Me: Jeremy wears many hats, including substitute teacher, school garden educator, hike leader, youth group advisor, Gardener's Swap Meet coordinator, husband, and father. His lifelong quests include the search for the perfect burrito, and more recently, how to sprout an avocado tree from a pit.
Terra cotta is lovely, but it retains too much heat, which leads to quick drying. Wine barrels are a good choice, and I wouldn't give up on the local soil/compost mix. You can rig a pretty simple drip line that would keep your plants moist without all the run-off overwatering of containers causes.