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Container Vegetable Gardening For Kids

Container Vegetable Gardening For Kids. Healthy Harvests from Small Spaces Kent Phillips kent.a.phillips@gmail.com. Container Vegetable Gardening. Let’s Start. Growing Vegetables in Containers is Easy Fun Can be done anywhere Great way to start growing vegetables

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Container Vegetable Gardening For Kids

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  1. Container Vegetable GardeningFor Kids Healthy Harvests from Small Spaces Kent Phillips kent.a.phillips@gmail.com

  2. Container Vegetable Gardening

  3. Let’s Start Growing Vegetables in Containers is • Easy • Fun • Can be done anywhere • Great way to start growing vegetables • Vegetables taste great and are good for you

  4. Why Containers? • No digging • Weed free • Cheap to start up • Grow vegetables from April until December

  5. Getting Started What Do You Need? • Sunlight • Container(s) • Growing medium • Water • Nutrients • Tender loving care

  6. Container Location • At least 8 hrs. sun for fruiting season crops (tomatoes, peppers, etc.) • 4-5 hrs. sun for leafy crops (lettuce, kale, etc.) • Level space

  7. Container Types • Plastic • Wood • Clay • Free • Recycled • Paint them

  8. Bag Container

  9. Swimming Pool Container

  10. Self-Watering Containers • Self-watering containers conserve water and nutrients • You can make your own from a 5 gallon bucket. See HGIC publication HG600 • Or you can buy a commercial self-watering container but they can be expensive

  11. Self Watering 5 Gallon Bucket

  12. Homemade Salad Table™ • The Salad Table™ HGIC pub 601 • Great for growing shallow rooted plants • Build it deeper for plants like beans, beets, kale

  13. What’s the “Dirt” on Growing Media? • Supports plant’s root system • Holds water and • nutrients • Permits drainage • Need to be light and fluffy

  14. Growing Media • Commercial Soil-Less Mix • Excellent • Lightweight • Drain well • Holds water and nutrients • Proper pH • ProMix™, ReddiEarth™, Jiffy Mix™, and Sunshine Mix™

  15. Stay Away From • Garden Soil • Heavy • Brings in weed seeds and soil diseases • Doesn’t drain well in containers • Don’t use bags of • Top soil • Planting soil • Planting mix • Potting soil

  16. Adding Compost to Media • Highly recommended • Adds additional slow release nutrients • Increases water and nutrient holding capacity of media • May have to add perlite to lighten mix • If you don’t have compost, LeafGro™ is the next best commercially available product.

  17. Media Mixtures • Some good media mixtures for container vegetables are: • •100% soil-less mix • • 75% compost or LeafGro + 25% perlite • • 50% soil-less mix + 50% compost

  18. Happy Roots • Watering needs vary depending on • container size • ambient temperature • wind • sunlight • humidity • type of plant and its size • Media in container should be kept moist at all times but not soggy • Test growing media using your finger • Most containers will need to be watered daily in the summer • Use a water breaker or watering can for soft flow

  19. Fertilizers • Containers require regular fertilization • Water soluble fertilizers • Every two weeks • Immediately available to plants • Organic varieties are ready available • Always follow label instructions

  20. What Can I Grow • Just about any vegetable or herb! • Lettuce • Peppers • Eggplant • Tomatoes • Beans • Cucumbers • Broccoli • Potatoes • Sweet potatoes. • Look for “bush” or “dwarf” varieties , esp. tomatoes, cucumbers, squash. • Have fun

  21. Size Matters • Match container depth to plant size • 4-6 inches: greens, small herbs • 8-12 inches: beans, beets, large herbs • 1-3 gallons: green onions, chard • 4-5 gallons: cucumber, eggplant, beans, broccoli, patio tomato, pepper • 15 gallon full size tomato

  22. Planting Time • No pebbles, gravel, or rocks unless you need the weight to prevent tipping. • Cover drainage holes with fiberglass screen or other material • Thoroughly work water into the growing medium • Fill container to inch or so of top of container. • Don’t compact media • Follow seed packet directions for planting, spacing, and care. • Plant seedlings (except tomatoes) at same level as they were growing in pot or six-pack. • Tomatoes can be planted deeper, for stronger root growth.

  23. Make Attractive Containers • Paint them • Mix herbs and annual flowers in with the vegetable plants. • Keep containers together to increase humidity and water retention

  24. Keep those plants growing! • Succession plant • Spring - lettuce or spinach • Summer - pepper, beans or cucumbers, tomato • Fall - kale, lettuce or broccoli • Don’t forget to continue to fertilize each crop! • Trellis tall or climbing plants • indeterminate tomatoes • pole beans • cucumbers

  25. Plant Care Diagnosing Plant Problems • BUGS • Wilted leaves – not enough or too much water - How do you tell? • Yellow leaves/no growth – fertilize? • Inspect your plants daily • Go to plantdiagnostics.umd.edu for additional help in diagnosing vegetable problems.

  26. Season’s End • Discard the plant and soil from the pot. • Do not reuse the same soil for a second season • Infected soil or mix will spread disease into the second season unless it is properly composted • Properly composted planting media can be reused. • Store pots to prevent freeze damage

  27. This program was developed Maryland Master Gardener Program University of Maryland Extension Baltimore County and modified for this presentation by Kent Phillips

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