Episode 267: container food growing
Container gardener Mark Ridsill Smith of Vertical Veg. Photograph: Clare Bowes , Vertical Veg
Transcript
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Mark Ridsill Smith. Photograph: Clare Bowes ,Vertical Veg.
I talk to container gardener Mark Ridsill Smith (aka Vertical Veg) about growing food in containers, both outside and in, plus I answer a question about growlights.
This week’s guest
Mark Ridsill Smith is an expert in growing food in containers, and is known by his website name Vertical Veg.
He lives in Newcastle upon Tyne and has a large container garden in the concrete yard outside his front door as well as an allotment.
Mark’s book is The Vertical Veg Guide to Container Growing and he’s on Instagram as @vertical_veg.
Patreon subscribers at the Ledge End at Superfan tier can listen to An Extra Leaf 112 where Mark and I talk about wormeries.
Check out these notes as you listen…
Beginners often make the mistake of choosing cheaper substrate/potting mix - cheaper mixes are inconsistent in quality, so it’s worth spending as much as you can - you get what you pay for!
Bottle gardens and tiny container gardens are popular on social media, but bear in mind they dry out very quickly. It’s easier to opt for larger containers.
Make sure you feed container plants - you can reuse potting mixes, but you need to add in nutrients, which will have been exhausted in a few weeks.
Plants in containers are like babies - they need looking after! Don’t forgot to water, especially in hot weather. Have a routine of checking your containers daily. Even if it’s rained, containers probably won’t have absorbed much moisture so will still need watering. As plants get bigger, they need more water - sounds obvious but it’s often a point that is missed! For instance potatoes need the most water in the run-up to harvest.
It’s easy to be overoptimistic about how much sun your spot gets. Lots of urban spaces are very shady, so you have to choose your crops carefully - salads rather than chillies and tomatoes.
Picking containers: you don’t have to spend a fortune! Use supermarket crates, recycling bins, plastic boxes, old hot water tanks, washing machine tubs, barrels… if they are “aesthetically challenged” you can make them look nicer by keeping them hidden behind a wooden facade as Mark does.
Save money on buying plants by buying form local plant sales - it’s cheaper than the garden centre, and you can usually get some good advice from the sellers.
Some crops work better than others in containers - grow things that produce a decent yield for the space. Herbs and salads are a great choice. Purple sprouting broccoli and other slow-growing plants that take up a lot of space are usually not great choices.
The Greek runner bean I mention for the dish ‘big beans’ (gigantes plaki) can be found on the Real Seeds website (scroll down).
Container grown plants can be susceptible to pests but do much better if kept super healthy. Mark sprays a weak solution of seaweed feed to help plants grow strong and resist pests.
Microgreens are a great option for windowsill growing, and for people starting out. Mark’s top six microgreens are pea shoots, sunflower, coriander/cilantro, radish, rocket/rucola, and Asian mixed mustards.
Mark grows herbs such as basil indoors as well as a cardamon plant (Elettaria cardamomum) and lemongrass (just buy stems from the supermarket, root them and plant them up).
The other veg we mention are good king Henry (Chenopodium bonus-henricus) and Scots lovage (Ligusticum scoticum) which is a smaller species related to the much bigger regular lovage (Levisticum officinale).
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Mother.life growlights can be set up in a range of different ways. Photograph: Jane Perrone.
Laura wanted growlight suggestions to buy in the UK. I suggested:
Mother.life PlantSpectrum lights - these are really goof quality lights and they can be arranged in different ways using mounts you can buy from the online store. They are based in Belgium but ship across the world.
Soltech Solutions lights are excellent quality and nice and sturdy.
IKEA Vaxxer bulbs - they are no longer available new but you can pick them up secondhand in places like Facebook Marketplace and eBay.
In general terms try to find lights that have a long warranty/guarantee and have parts that can be repaired/replaced. This may mean paying more, but this way you end up getting something that can last for years and years - and is superior from a sustainability point of you.
You can hear more about growlights in my episode with Leslie Halleck.
I also talk about growlights and sustainability in an edition of my newsletter The Plant Ledger.
Want to ask me a question? Email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. The more information you can include, the better - pictures of your plant, details of your location and how long you have had the plant are always useful to help solve your issue.
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CREDITS
This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, The Road We Use To Travel When We Were Kids by Komiku and Dizzy Spells by Josh Woodward.