Growing vegetables in containers

Growing vegetables in containers?

I live in South Florida. The ground in my backyard is horrible and will be a real hassle to dig up. I was thinking of growing carrots, tomatoes, beans, strawberries and a few more small things. I want to grow them all in containers. Any advice?

Other Answers:

carrots are no problem growing in containers. tomatoes on the other hand depends what kind you are growing. small varieties you can grow easily in 5gal buckets bigger varieties you will need way bigger containers.

strawberries idk how you would grow those in a container we have some in the container in our aquaponics system and they are not very big at all and their isn't much fruit to begin with. you might have to find a long container or maybe trellis it or something.

what i am growing in my container garden is

1. cherry tomatoes - they are doing great although mines alone has many problems such as aphids and blossom drop it's not due to the container size at all.

2. egg plant- doing great besides the fact it has leaf miners. but it's still a small plant give it a few months it'll be producing fruit.

3. bell peppers- they seem to be doing great in 5 gals. i have some in the garden as well which is like yours horrible as hell and they are doing great in their as well. actually the ones in the garden are doing MUCH better maybe because they are getting watered more often idk.

4. lettuce- grows great in containers had no problem growing them as seeds in containers only thing is if your growing them in containers you want them wide rather then deep.

those are the plants i know and have grown in 5 gal containers besides the lettuce those were in containers only as seedlings. like i said they all do great give or take some killed off by pests or not getting enough water i believe but they are doing wonderful and im fixing them up so they can do better.

i would suggest you fix your garden up though plant what you can and amend the soil. yes it is hard work but gardening in general is hard work. my garden used to be like your and actually still is because it's so horrible but i cleaned it out myself which took about 2 weeks just on 1 section and plants growing good now in their but sadly not my plants -.-" someone planted crap in that section but those plants are doing good. and yes are soil is horrible.

Yes you can but containers can be very expensive and will require a lot more watering. Try raised bed gardening instead. A great solution to poor soil conditions. I actually have good soil but opt for raised bed gardening because I like the look of it, find it easier and less labor intensive to manage and really enjoy the high production from a small space. I have 4 - 4'x4' boxes and produce enough vegetables to feed my family, can and freeze and still have some to sell at the farmer's market. Do include some type of irrigation system either a micro system or simple soaker hoses. I live in zone 9b. If you are in south florida you are probably in zone 10. You can literally have a year round garden. Contact your County Agent and ask for a vegetable planting guide. It is free and gives you planting dates for both seeds and starter plants, plant spacing and days to harvest. I follow my planting guide religiously and have wonderful harvest. Check out this site and see what you think. A better, less expensive and easier care for solution as opposed to container gardening. I do keep my herbs in containers.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com

LOL

Radishes and Swiss chard do well in containers. Try herbs too. They are well suited to containers and add so much flavor to your cooking. If you have a topsy turvy planter you can do cucumbers as well.

The more soil the better your yield. Check with the local nursery for vegetables that do well in containers. Chosing the right plant will make all the difference.