Container Garden Guide

You only need basic gardening skills to have a successful container garden. Let’s start with the containers. Make sure that if your garden pots are made from a porous material such as wood or terracotta, that they are properly sealed on the inside with a quality water sealant. If not, a lot of the water that is meant for the plants will be soaked up by the pot causing them to dry out sooner than expected.

Proper Watering

It is just as important not to over water as it is not to underwater. Most garden pots will have a saucer or bowl underneath to catch any extra water and keep it from rotting your patio or deck. The best way to water your container garden is by filling the saucers up with water. This helps you avoid over watering and the water from spilling over the top of the saucer. The water will seep up through the hole in the bottom of the pot feeding the roots of your plants.

Watering your plants on the top surface of the soil is another way you can water. However, if you do, avoid over watering by filling it a little at a time (about a cup or so) and be sure to keep an eye on how much water seeps into the saucer. Try not to overfill the saucer. Use a hand sprayer to spray your houseplants with rain or bottled water. This will keep calcium from forming on the leaves.

Plant Food

Since pots are generally small, the nutrients in most potting soils don’t last much more than five or six weeks. Therefore, you will need to replenish the soil with vital nutrients. Plant food generally comes in liquid or granular forms. Slow-release granules are recommended as they last a long time and keep a steady supply of food going to the plants.

Pest Control

Systemic and Contact are the two main types of insecticides. Systemic is poured right onto the soil and is then absorbed into the soil to the root system of the plant and right on up through the leaves. This type of insecticide works best for bugs under the soil that are hard to get to and for leaf eaters as they ingest the poison when they eat the leaves.

The other type, contact insecticide, is sprayed directly on the pests. You may need to repeat this method depending on how much infestation there is but contact insecticides work rather quickly.

With loving care (and sufficient monitoring), you are sure to have satisfying results with a thriving container garden.

David Haines has been working in gardens since his early childhood and has always been interested in educating others about gardening and landscaping techniques. If you’d like to know more container gardening, visit AllGardenPots.com

Similar Posts:

• Caring For Your Container Garden And Garden Pots
• How To Care For A Container Garden With Garden Pots
• Keep Your Kids Busy Gardening With Garden Pots
• Top 10 List of Tips for Container Gardening Using Garden Pots
• More Easy Tips for Successful Container Gardening