Advice on growing produce in buckets

[locke2121]

Here is a cool old timer's trick. It take patience though. It takes advantage of the fact that like tomatoes, potato plants can send out roots from the stem. Cut the bottom off the bucket and plant a potatoe in the ground inside. Every couple of weeks, clip the bottom leaves off the potato and put a few inches of dirt in. Keep doing this till the bucket is full. Then just make sure the soil is kept moist...buckets do dry out quick! When the plant falls over at the end of the season...kick the bucket over....it'll be full of potatoes that forms from the roots!

 

[gramakoko]

Try this site for tips...She posts alot of videos for beginners. She is the Garden Girl, Patty Moreno. She also has a video on making a chicken run... good site.

http://www.gardengirltv.com/

 

[SunnyAlberta]

I'm growing potatoes in buckets, zucchini and bush beans in plastic totes, and radishes, salad greens and beets in old kitty litter pans. This is my first time and the season is new here, so my fingers and toes are crossed that my garden will be productive. Growing in containtainers allows me to put them where the dogs can't get at them.

 

[jvls1942]

I just found this thread.
this year I am planting in 5 gallon self watering buckets for the first time.
At my present condition , need both hips replaced, i can't handle the traditional garden.
I have a couple of different kinds of self watering set-ups.
I started out with 8 tomato plants in non self watering buckets. Long story short: I have 60 tomato plants in various bucket set-ups.
all are doing quite well.
I also have green bell peppers.
had one buttercup squash, but I killed it by moving it too often.
my one cherry tomato produced over 150 tiny tasty tomatoes..
I am never going back to conventional gardening.. except for swee corn..
......jiminwisc.....

 

[jvls1942]

here is a follow up with pictures of tomatoes and bell peppers in buckets.

this is some of the 60 tomatoes.
I experimented with different kinds of stakes.
the white ones are 1'' thin wall pvc.
the buckets are spaced about 3 feet apart.
Next time they will be much farther apart just for ease of walking between the plants.. I have to use a plastic chair to sit on when pruning and watering.

.
+

these are the four buckets of green bell peppers.. one bucket has two plants in it.
they are only 3 gallon buckets, but seem plenty adequate for peppers. when I moved these buckets from the grassy spot to where they are now, the roots had grown down through holes in the bottom of the bucket and into the ground..
I also have lemon grass, oregano, basil and rosemary..
I have three grape cuttings that are ready for transplanting into their permanent spots.
I have elderberry cuttings and apple cuttings in a bucket in the garage out of the sunlight.. they are due to be checked for roots any day now.
I am trying to find rhubarb crowns, divisions and seeds. Not having much luck..
If you have a rhubarb flower, let it go until it turns brown and dormant. that is your seed pod. do not pick it early.
.....jiminwisc.......

 

[Backyard Hencam]

Thanks for the inspiration! Going out now to get some geranium cuttings, harvest some worm castings, and redo a Earth box that has been emptied. Wondering why dirt or native earth did better than potting soil?

 

[jvls1942]

I never had any good luck with garden soil in pots. It always got crusty and hard.
I happened upon a good supply of plant starter soil. there is no nutrition in it. It drains like pure sand would. it holds moisture. I add Tomato Tone to it for nutrients. Later I feed the plants with fish emulsion.
of the four different types of bucket set=ups I have, I like one better than all the rest.
It is very inexpensive to set up and seems to stay wet longer without as much watering..
I can share pictures of this bucket.
and how I make it.
I sure would like to see this thread come alive.. I have lots of gardening tips I can share
.....jiminwisc.....

 

[jvls1942]

today I found time to weed the 3 one year old grape vines. they are looking real good.
then I potted six elderberry green cuttings in individual one gallon pots. If they root, I will not have to replant them until I set them out into their permanent places..
Yesterday I made six pots of grape cuttings..
I have a bucket in the garage with apple cuttings .. I will be checking them any day now for roots. it has been about three weeks.
BIL called today. He might have found some rhubarb divisions for me..
I have a place all rototilled up and waiting.
......jiminwisc.......