Serious Efforts: Planting a Deck Veggie Garden
I have decided to do a very modest veggie/herb garden on my deck this year. I am thinking of starting really small, with perhaps 2 tomato plants, 1 jalepeno pepper plant, and a window/deck box with some herbs (cilantro and basil).
I have a huge yard which would be perfect for a big garden, but I know I won't get out there to weed it, and we have LOTS of deer, so I don't want to have to built all sorts of fencing, etc., I just want to start with a deck garden this year, and see how I do.
I found some really nice deck boxes which are wrought iron and have that lining of stuff that looks like a bird's nest/burlap sack. Would I just fill that up with potting soil and plant my baby herb plants or seeds? Would that work? Or is there a better way?
Also, I was thinking of planting the tomato plants and pepper plant in barrel planters. Any suggestions on how best to make sure they do well? My deck gets direct morning sunlight (until around 2 pm) and I live south of Atlanta. Thanks for your suggestions!
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10 Comments:
Your herb containers sound just fine (the coco liners), and neither cilantro or basil should crowd each other out. Both do best with frequent snipping....don't let the cilantro leaves get to a feathery stage, and don't let the basil bloom.
Check the material of the barrel planters before planting veggies....treated woods, walnut, and some others can adversely affect (kill) tomatoes, and may leach unwanted flavors into the soil. A sturdy plastic or glazed ceramic might serve you better. Look for bush variety tomatoes...you will still need a stake and a little twine for support, but they only get to about 5-6' tall, perfect for containers.
Both containers should have regular potting soil, not garden soil.
Your light sounds fine....herbs like to be drier than wetter, tomatoes in containers need lots of moisture....letting it go to extremes of wet and dry is tough for it and encourages Blossom End Rot. (Yuch)
But it is not as hard as it sounds.....definitely go for it!
I work at a garden center, and do the website: if you want an overview of tomato and pepper types, you can see our selection here ( be sure to click the links beneath the tomato and pepper galleries to see descriptions and photos of lots of different types), and although we are in Ohio, you will see many of the same varieties down south, or at least have somewhere to start!
Cary at 2:24PM on 03/18/09
This will be my second year of planting a garden. I had decent luck with my herbs last year that I grew in pots on the deck and so so luck with my tomato plants. Tomato plants take work and some skill to maintain so don't be discouraged if you aren't making marinara sauce right away! Good luck! Oh and read everything you can for tips, etc.
arm1970 at 2:59PM on 03/18/09
Good point arm1970: One or two bush-type tomato plants in containers will rarely produce enough tomatoes ripened at one time to make quantities of sauce. Great for salads, sandwiches, or a soup/sauce for a generous family meal. One or two plants keep the two of us in my household very happy. If you want to can or make sauce in bulk for the freezer, you'll have to dig up that yard and plant more!
Cary at 3:15PM on 03/18/09
This might seem a silly comment, but it was news to me. I am a BLACK thumb, but tried to start an herb garden and was most excited about having a constanc supply of cilantro. However, I didn't realize when I tried to grow it that it doesn't grow like a bush. You can't simply snip off a few leaves like a basil plant and let it continue to grow and flourish. You just sort of use it up and then ahve to start over. It was more of an effort than I really had the will to put in and it ended up with me having too much cilantro for a short period of time, followed by none at all.
Perhaps i'm wrong and there's a way around this, but I was a bit surprised. Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining about it...it's not theplant's problem Just a word to any other newbies/black thumbs who were dreaming about an effortless supply.
BananaMonkey at 3:24PM on 03/18/09
@bananamonkey, cilantro and parsley both tend to "bolt" (go to seed.)
The best way to ensure an ongoing supply is to reseed every 6-8 weeks or so, more often as the weather gets warmer.
As far as juliebug's tomatoes go, the bigger the container, the better. Half barrels are good for a single plant. Also you can increase your yield by using red mulch, check out Gardener's Supply Catalog for that and lots of other great tomato growing ideas.
LauraJ at 3:46PM on 03/18/09
Thanks for the tips -- I didn't think about the treated wood on the barrel planters. Thanks for the heads up.
Keep 'em coming -- I need all the advice I can get!
juliebugsmama at 3:59PM on 03/18/09
If you're going to be doing some container gardening, I recommend getting a copy of McGee and Stuckey's Bountiful Container. In addition to general advice on gardening, containers, soil, etc. there is a long section devoted to entries on specific fruits, vegetables, and herbs with tips on how to grow each particular plant. The focus is all on edible as opposed to decorative plants.
finn at 5:03PM on 03/18/09
@juliebugsmama~ i can grow anything but a spider plant. i've done the container thing, i prefer the yard. i have a large garden that i hardly ever have to weed. sometimes around the base of a plant, but that's about it. i do this after i watered or it's rained out. the weeds pop right out. i spread my grass clippings around all the plants. this keeps the weeds out. gives you paths to walk on and keeps the veggies clean. also the clippings add nutrients to the soil. you never have to worry about muddy anything. try it.
dearrie at 7:14PM on 03/18/09
The bigger the container, the happier the tomatoes will be. Even so, shop for the ones that suggest they're good for container gardening. And get a good fertilizer for the potted plants. You might do better with cherry tomatoes than the bigger ones.
Peppers seem to do really well for me in pots, and I bring some indoors over the winter. Some make it, some don't, but the ones that survive have a jump-start on the next year. Right now, some have already started to bloom, and they won't be going outdoors until May.
Many of my herbs are growing in an old wheelbarrow, and they come up every year, either from the old roots or from re-seeding themselves. The rest of the herbs are planted in spaces between rocks along the fence. Since most of the ground is covered in big rocks, there's not much space for anything to come up, so it's just a matter of making sure it's the herbs that come up first, and they tend to crowd out everything else. Unless something tree-like sprouts there, I don't need to do much weeding at all.
Just about the only thing I have consistent trouble with is rosemary.
dbcurrie at 7:59PM on 03/18/09
Two years ago I tried tomatoes in pots and had minimal, success. Herbs did okay in pots for me, although not as good as in the ground. Last year I had hot peppers and tomatillos in pots and the tomatillos did well and the peppers did as well as could be expected- it was a bad year for hot peppers all around and they didn't get hot at all.
The big thing I've learned about container gardening is that it doesn't take long for the plants to use up the nutrients in that containter. Regular fertilizing is a must. Unfortunately, I don't have any good recommendations there, in the next few weeks I'm hitting my garden center to look for something organic to use in my containers.
ErikaWaz at 9:50AM on 03/21/09