Container Gardening
Growing vegetables does not necessarily require a country side space or a garden. It can be done in the city also. In fact it can be grown in a very limited place, it can be done inside the homes as well. This concept of growing vegetables with a very little requirement of space is container gardening. The only essential requirement is of sunlight. Ample of sunlight is required as it is the basic necessity for plants to grow. This can be done in balcony, roof top, terrace, pathways, window sill, etc. requirement of sunlight again depends on the kind of vegetation or the crop. And so care should be taken accordingly. For example, the need of sunlight for fruit vegetables is around 7-8 hours daily. For leafy vegetables, it requires about four hours a day and root vegetables needs sunlight for 6 hours a day. Container gardening requires a little care and effort and one can have a beautiful garden in their home.
To produce good vegetation, one has to take a little care. One can produce vegetables in their homes in a safer manner. One can minimize the attacks of insects, pests and diseases with a little care. The condition of soil can also be improved by adding some compost, manure, and other nutrients that are essential for a plant to grow healthily. These amendments in the soil improve the condition of the soil and help plants grow well. Most of the materials that we consider as waste or garbage can be used to make compost that can be very useful for the plants to grow. Also, the waste water in the household can be used for the plants. This makes a good irrigation to the plants. Container gardening can be considered as the way of using household waste to make use of it in growing plants.
The containers that can be used to grow plants in our homes are the materials that we normally consider as garbage and tend to throw. These could be plastics, cement bags, split vehicle tyres, plastic water bottles, buckets, milk containers, etc or anything else that we normally do not use and consider s waste. Sometimes coconut shells etc can also be used to grow some of the seasonal plants like mustard etc. these plants are short seasoned. The containers that we choose to grow plants have to be of a certain type. Firstly, they should be proportionate to the plant size. It should be able to support the grown plant. Secondly, they should have proper drainage or pore so that the excess water can drain out easily. Thirdly, they should not contain or have had contained any toxic which is harmful to the plants or even humans. Proper drainage has to be taken care otherwise container gardening cannot be successfully done. And so the containers have to chosen properly and also care must be taken towards the drainage. The containers must be placed in such a way that the excess water should be able to move out freely. This is the reason why it is idle to place the containers above the ground level so that the containers are raised. Depending on the size and type of plant the container must be selected. For bigger plants big container has to be chosen and for small plants small containers has to be chosen. Small containers can be used to grow plants such as spinach, pepper, mustard, carrots, beans, radish, green onions etc. Medium sized containers can be used for a little larger plant. These containers can be used to grow cabbage, tomatoes, and cucumbers. For many plants, the containers should be a minimum of 15 cm deep. These are normally required to grow shot seasoned vegetables. To grow carrots it requires at least 30 cm deep container.
Soil composition is also a factor that decides and contributes to the growth and development of a plant. It depends on the soil mixture as to how well the plant in the container will grow. The soil composition will decide the plants productivity. And so it is important to supply the finest soil composition. This will ensure good results to your hard work. If sufficient nutrients are not supplied to the plants during their growth stage then the plants will not be able to grow healthy. Improper supply of nutrients will lead to poor growth and small plants. A good soil mixture or a good soil composite must have certain qualities. An ideal composition should not have more weight; it should be light and spongy in nature. It should be a porous and a good absorbent. It should be able to drain out the excess water. The composition should not contain any insects or pests; it should not contain any soil borne diseases and nematodes. The plant should get a proper supply of nutrients. The composition should be able to supply the right amount of nutrients to the plants. Another superb medium for the plants to grow well is compost.
Special attention has to be given while selecting the seeds. The quality of the seeds has to be good in order to have a good fruiting plant. One can identify the good seeds by observing certain characters of a seed. A good seed is one that is not damaged, it should not contain mixtures of other variety seeds, a good seed will not have any kind of seed borne disease, and should have good germinating capacity. Good quality seeds can be bought from certified seed suppliers. One can get good seeds from the nurseries and gardeners. A good soil composition can be made by mixing one part of sand with one part compost and one part of soil garden. All in the ratio of 1:1:1. All micro organisms should be killed before sowing the seeds. Once the soil media is ready the seeds can be sowed. There should be sufficient light available to support the growth of a plant. Some plants require more light and some require partial shade. Plants like beans, cucumber, tomato, carrots, cabbage etc it is necessary to them in the sun. And plants like onions, radish etc is required to keep in partial shade.
