wilkes

Here is a solar powered self watering strawberry planter made from 5 gallon buckets: http://www.flickr.com/photo...hotostream

if you have room do a raised bed. with the above soil advice. build a frame with wood and fill it with soil.

http://www.sunset.com/garde...000039550/

sorry for your loss allen. nothing stops you from putting some tulips in those tires as a memorial. speaking as a woman, she might like that.

My wife used to plant tulips and other flowers in old tires she found in garage, The tires are still there with noone to tend them. She earned her angel wings been almost 2 years...Sorry guess I got off what we were talking about.. Can you plant squash and cucumbers in a tire?

I find that the tires work best if you're planting rubber trees.

not to hijack this thread, but truthseeker reminded me of days gone by. remember the tires that were cut to form a tulip for planting? not really possible to do with with steel belted. i always liked those.

Wouldn't tires have chemicals that could leach into the soil?

Thanks Casket.. I am planning to use 5-Gallon buckets because I have a surplus of them destined to the trash.

I forgot to mention, don't buy potting soil with slow release fertilizer if you plan on growing totally organic tomatoes. Most of that crap is just chemicals and could burn your young tomato plants if you're mixing all those other organic ingredients.

I saw a neat idea for a "pallet" garden on facebook. Talk about straight rows!

Get the cheapest potting soil you can find (Dollar General) add bat guano, crushed dolomite lime, extra perlite, along with worm castings. You need at least a 4 gallon container for each tomato plant.

Use something with moisture control. It has ingredients that absorb water. Put 3" compost on top and use miracle gro for tomatoes, it has the calcium and magnesium that they and peppers need.

If you have any room, get you some old tires. Put two or three high, fill with good top soil, mixed in some fertilizer, Epson salt, tomato plant or whatever veggie you desire. I never could do any good with pots. Get you a couple large plastic barrels from Frank's, sawed them in half, drill holes in the bottom for drainage, add a little gravel in the bottom and filled with top soil. This will work pretty well also.

Find you some big containers. Things you may have lying around, like old washing tubs, etc. Make holes in the bottom for drainage. You can even use big card board boxes. To make them stronger, put a smaller one inside a bigger one. Buying containers can get expensive.

Smash some milk jugs, drink bottles or cans,put those in the container. Buy some good potting soil,(you can find it with Miracle grow at Lowes), Pour that in the tub. You will need less soil because of the bottles and stuff. You will only need soil down to about 5 inches. Just cover the bottle stuff good. They will also help with the drainage.

This method is good for tomatoes, cukes, squash etc. Don't try to plant corn. You will likely have to water every day,. OR.. save some more bottles, or milk jugs, put a couple of small holes in them with straight pins, fill with water, and set the holey side next to the plant, and let it drip during the night while you sleep, and repeat as needed. About one a week, mix some "miracle grow" with the water.

You can buy it in a box that cost about 3.00. It will last all season, and several more. It has a spoon in it. Take a spoon full, and mix that in the milk jugs with the water every couple of weeks.

You can't use anything like compost in a container, it will become compacted no matter how good it is.
You need potting soil.
Happy growing.

Thanks for the info, just looking for a good growing media. I did see some at Home Depot in Winston, I think it was Miracle Grow Organic with a peat moss base and some chicken litter in it.

You can buy potting soil that does not contain any synthetic fertilizers if you look around a little. You may even be able to use the bagged top soil although it may be too heavy for your container. I would shy away from the compost/peat moss mixture unless you had excellent drainage in container. You also have to realize that most of the additions you mentioned (fish fertilizer, kelp, etc.) are fairly low in nutrients so you will need to add them continuously throughout the growing year. Manure has some nutrients in it but composted manure is mainly used to improve soil structure. I would not use fresh manure on your vegetables as you run the risk of disease contamination (Ex. E. coli).

Maybe just buy organic compost and peat moss? That mixture by itself might make a good growing medium.

Hi, I moved last year and was thinking container gardening may be better than trying to fix the hard soil where I live. Last year, I dug four planting holes for tomatoes and the ground is so hard I broke my shovel haha and the plants did not do well even by adding soil amendments.

Can somebody tell me what kind of soil to use in containers that Lowes may carry? In the past I used potting mix from Southern States and my plants looked sick all the time due to the added chemical fertilizer.

I normally use fish fertilizer, kelp, manure and worm castings in addition to some other natural amendments. Chemical fertilizer is not desired due to added stress that promotes disease.