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Growing Vegetables in Self-Watering Containers
It's so easy to grow vegetables in containers. To get started, use 50% compost and 50% peat/perlite for the soil or a specially formulated soil mix that contains peat and perlite. Place the soil mix in the container and add plants. You can start seeds in seedling trays, or buy young vegetable plants from your local garden center. Then just water once a week and watch as the vegetables grow, grow, grow!
There are several advantages to growing vegetables in self-watering containers, such as:
- You don't need to add fertilizers, because frequent watering does not wash away the nutrients in the soil,
- You don't need a lot of space,
- You can have different types of plants in one container,
- Vegetables grow better in self-watering containers than regular containers, and
- You will have higher yields from vegetables grown in self-watering containers than traditional gardens planted in the ground.
Remember, certain vegetables will need extra support, such as a trellis or ladder, which can easily be added to the container. Vegetables that can grow upwards include cucumbers, tomatoes, beans and peas. If you do plan to grow these vegetables, it is a good idea to add the trellis support before adding the plants. Also, growing vegetables vertically rather than horizontally saves space and that's a good thing no matter how much or how little space you have for your garden.
So, why do self-watering containers have higher yields than traditional gardens? That's due to the way plants grow – by bringing water up through the plant's roots, up the stems and out through the leaves. This is called a "transpirational pull". When a plant has constant access to a water supply that will never run out, the plant can grow continuously. It will never have to pause it's growth stage while waiting for more water and nutrients. No pauses means more growth and more yields for you, the gardener. Plus, the plants are healthier because they do not become stressed or weakened from the lack of moisture.
Ready to get started? Start by selecting the self-watering container. Here's a few to choose from:
The next step is to add the soil. Here's a soil mix that's just perfect and ready to go! Field tests prove that this soil is the best! In self-watering planters, this lightweight mix works better than conventional potting soil. Its coarse, airy texture acts like a wick, carrying water from the planter's reservoir to the root system.
The result is:
- Vigorous root growth,
- Better aeration,
- Amazing wicking action to bring water to the plant's roots, and
- No waterlogging.
It's also an ideal mix for standard pots and planters. This mix contains sphagnum peat, perlite, vermiculite and limestone.
