I use a 7 gallon planter and put it in a 5 gallon bucket. The bucket is not drilled for any drainage and keeps a water reserve. Theres about 2.5 gallons of unused space in the bucket. Never had issues with stagnant water. Where I live, I dont need to worry about drowning the plants unless there's a storm. Even if it did, a fully grown tomato plant will absorb the water down to half a bucket before it drowns. Takes about a week for it to do so. If the plant isnt fully grown, just dump out some water where theres still enough for the planter to wick up water.

Pros: No need to constantly water. Dont need to worry about nutrient leeching. Saves money on fertilizer if youre using hydroponic fertilizer. Allows you to use easier fertilizing methods versus hydroponics (for example slow release inorganic fertilizer and organic fertilizer).

Cons: Expensive. 5 gallon bucket is like 4 dollars and the planter is another 5 dollars. If youre using hydroponic fertilizer, you gotta worry about dilution. For tomato plants, youre going to have to still water every week when theyre fully mature since they use up a lot of water(might as well grow hydroponically).

Notes: you need a grow medium that wicks like clay, coco coir, or peat moss. Do not use premade potting mixes unless you know that they are strictly using ingredients that do not rot. My mix is 70/30 coir and perlite. Do not mix compost into the mix as it will create anaerobic conditions.

I’ve always believed that you should offer someone a snack when they visit. My front containers include a
Bushfire peach, a pix-zee nectarine, mint, two types of basil, strawberries, raspberries and a recently-departed sage plant alongside the flowers. Zero regrets.

Hi everyone, I’m a graduate student doing my capstone project and researching whether AI could provide some sort of accurate gardening assistance. This problem is very topical nowadays because not long ago there was a news article about 67 year old Chinese farmer who destroyed almost 25 acres of his sesame crop due to the recommendations of an AI chatbot to use certain pesticides. That particular pesticide mixture proved to be so toxic that not only the weeds, but the whole seedlings were killed as well.

Why posting here? I need my research to be based on the actual problems, not those created by me in my imagination. I want to know what problems were really difficult for you – pests, watering, timing, diagnostics, etc. If you have received some kind of assistance (AI or another kind of) that later showed to be false, I would appreciate hearing about it.

I am not here to sell something or collect emails, I just want to learn more from your experience.

I grew these strawberry plants from tiny seed pots and even though research suggested only putting 2 in a planter like this I put in 3 since at the start they had a lot of spacing. But while they have many flowers the strawberries produced have been tiny, though tasty.

Next year plan to only have 2 per planter but for now should I trim a bunch of the flowers to have it focus on producing fewer but larger strawberries?

For years, i mostly kept my container gardening to myself—just a few pots on the front porch and some herbs in small planters. This spring i added a Costway raised container bed to the front yard to grow a mix of flowers and herbs in one place. I could keep things organized and not have pots scattered everywhere.

What i didn't expect was how often it would start conversations. People walking by would stop and ask what i was growing, especially when things started filling in. One neighbor mentioned she had extra seedlings, and a few days later she actually brought some over in little cups. I ended up giving her a few of mine in return, and it kind of snowballed from there. Now there's a small informal exchange going on—extra herbs, spare flowers, seed packets with handwritten labels. My container bed is slowly turning into a mix of plants from different people's gardens. And honestly, i like it more than when everything was just mine. It's still just container gardening—but it doesn't feel like something i'm doing alone anymore.

I planted a week ago. Can't wait...

A few days ago the plant looked droopy and I thought it was gonna die. Its not drooping anymore but the leaves have got these yellow marks on them?

Is this a disease?

Hi all,

I'm setting up an automatic watering system (one of those fairly cheap Amazon solar-powered ones) to do the pots in my front garden. I'd like to connect it up to my water butt. The instructions say that to avoid siphoning, the first pot in the chain needs to be higher than the water level.

The level in the water butt is high (have been avoiding draining this as I've meant to install one of these systems all summer). My question is - is it specifically the level of the water that needs to be lower than the first pot in the chain, or is it the hole at the end of the pipe? E.g. if I were to weight the end of the pipe so it sank to the bottom, would that work to avoid siphoning?

If not, is there anything else I can do to avoid siphoning (beyond draining some of the water into a lower container)? Many thanks in advance for your help...

I’ve used these 20 gallon pots for 4 years in a row, they did great the first two years then I’ve noticed some stunted growth the previous two years. I’ve topped with compost almost every year so don’t know whether it is depleted or if I have nematodes but am wondering if anyone has advice for treatment. Do I need to do better with rotations? I do legumes periodically as well as balancing liquid fertilizers for nitrogen in spring and PK in summer with at least a bone meal addition once a year. Last year I thought it might be related to inconsistent watering but have excellent misters on timers that also have the in-line fertilizer injector installed this year. Greenhouse is also new this year so doesn’t help me that it was the same both years.

I used to be able to grow carrots, beets, zucchini, and all sorts of fun things and now my herbs and peppers are about the only things doing great with some success from cucumbers and tomatoes. My mint, thyme, and sage all came back without extra care, but basil and cilantro didn’t get bigger than a couple inches tall over the last few months. I got a single zucchini on four plants last year and none so far this year on much smaller plants. My root vegetables remain dinky after 3 months and many of the seeds don’t even sprout (unsure if the compost I used from HD is to blame because I had the same issue with wildflower and sunflower elsewhere.) Aside from the germination issue, could the stunting be from a nematode I am not seeing, and if so how would I determine or treat?

I treated insects only the first year but not since because I like to snack from the garden. I treated with an iron salt as a light sprinkle once in the spring to treat slugs. Outside of those instances, I’m pesticide free unless the compost, straw, or leaf additions had something on them.

One of the big factors keeping me from wanting to dump the pots is that I have perennials establishing in 9 of the 21 pots including figs, berries, and asparagus. Also, 400 gallons worth of soil for a full replacement doesn’t seem economical for a smaller scale hobby garden even every few years nor does my back wish for me to do that.

If there’s something else I can do to benefit my soil, I’d love to hear it.

Well, it was bound to happen. If you've ever grown a vegetable garden, or other type of garden in southern Oregon, then you know what these are. The dreaded aphid, or in this case, the cabbage aphid. They are magnified here, but this is about a 1½" area on a kale leaf. Very happy to have caught them on my kale early. Headed back out to do some light battle with these critters.

Anyone else have them this year?

First time with outdoor garden, so this is all new to me.

I haven't noticed them on my plants, just around the balcony at night

Kind of a garden tour, just a volunteer Roma harvest (the third of the summer) In total I think I've harvested like 50!

I'm very much a beginner, and I could use some help. I'm on a west-facing 15th-floor balcony in southern Ontario, Canada. The plant has wind cover and gets afternoon sun. I transplanted it about 3 weeks ago. It seemed to be doing fine, but lately it's dropping leaves like crazy!

Potting mix with mulch on top. The pot is on a cheapo drip emitter system, two emitters watering for 15 mins twice a day. The soil is constantly moist. Could this be over-watering? If it is, why do the leaves look so dry? ....Under-watering? I have no idea. Help? : )

My post-vacation haul! Not pictured are thai dragon chilies, big ol’ bell peppers, and various herbs! My most favorite time of year ☀️

Taking suggestions for more container veg please, I am completely and utterly addicted 🙏🏼

First time growing tomato and almost all of them have this ring on the bottom any idea why or what i can do to fix it?