Newbie to gardening

Tue May 19, 2009 7:36 pm

Hi everyone,

This site is so informative!! As you can see in the subject I'm new to gardening. I live in a condo and want to start a tomato and bok choy garden. Since i live in a condo i want to grow them in a container. What do i need to start my garden (ie: soil). What size container should i use? Any do's and don'ts? Thank you.

Tue May 19, 2009 11:09 pm

If you want to grow tomatoes/vegetables rather than just have some pet plants I suggest looking into this inexpensive DIY design

http://www.earthtainer.org/About_Us.html

Tomatos are for the most part huge plants that suck up a lot of water and if the container goes dry it sets them back so you may find yourself watering once or twice a day if you just use a regular pot, especially if it is undersized.

We stick spare plants into a number of drilled 5 gallon buckets every year (much too small). They grow and we get a handfull of fruit, but it is not really any fun trying to keep up with their needs. Diligent people get better results.

Thu May 21, 2009 6:17 pm

Thanks for the link TZ. Have you heard of the Earthbox gardening system? It's the same concept and all you need to do in snap it togethe. It's more costly since i'll be purchasing it ready-to-use. Thoughts?

Thu May 21, 2009 8:12 pm

This is a do it yourself version of the Earthbox design, which is an upsizing of your basic misco self watering houseplant pot design. I'm pretty much against paying alot of money for something I can make just as well myself on the cheap. The guy who does the earthtainers hangs out on a number of tomato forums.