hi all, i would like to grow cucumbers in a container, could someone tell me if a big flower pot would work. or if i should use some other container type. i am new to the gardening and not sure, i would also like to try one of the upside down tomato planters, any ideas there.  thanks to all mispie

Hi mispie. I have grown cucumbers successfully in a plastic storage container with holes drilled in the bottom, so I don't see why they wouldn't grow in a large flower pot. I will be planting a couple of cucumbers in flower pots myself this year. I find that fertilising regularly is a must with any container growing because the nutrients tend to get leached from the soil as containers need a lot of watering as they dry out quite quickly.

I haven't tried the upside down method of growing tomatos but I have seen it advertised a lot. I have a feeling there may be a photo in the photos section on here of an upside down system - although being quite ancient now, I may be mis-remembering lol.

Good luck with your container gardening. I have been doing this on and off for the past few years and have had some lovely crops. I use a variation of the system for growing beans or other tall growing plants. I wire pieces of pipe to the base of a trellis and fill these with the soil mix to plant the seeds. I do this because I am disabled and can't dig or put anything straight into the ground. It is useful for whippersnippering around the plants as well as the stems are protected.

Cheers,
Sylvia

well all i know this is probley a crazy question but, i want to try my luck with a strawberry plant (only 1 mind you) is there a reason for planting strawberries in the planters with the holes in the sides or is mainly for looks? 

ladies i really want to thank you for being so nice and friendly, i have been on a couple forums and ask a question and felt they were just down right unfriendly. i have never ever felt that way on not over the hill and that means alot to me. i am disabled also and have a hard time remembering some things, but i just wanted to say a great big thank you to all you lovely people.  

bushbaby, would you put a steak in the pot for the cumber to vine up or just let it go ove the side of the pot. i got to looking at my box of seeds (mainly prerrinals) and did not relise i had sooooo many seeds for flowers, my husband said he would not have to mow the yard if they all grew. but i am hoping my cucumbers do good i want to try bread and butter pickles this year. good luck with your gardening. mispie  

Hi. Sorry to take so long to reply. I haven't been able to get here for a while.

I didn't put any stakes for my cucumbers. I just let them grow over the side of the containers. I have seen them staked but that was in a shadehouse and the plants were grown hydroponically and they grew enormous lol.

I'm not sure why strawberries are grown in tubs with  holes in the sides. I think you're probably right in thinking its to do with the look. Maybe its a way of saving space as well. I've never grown strawberries because I wouldn't be able to eat more than 2-3 because any more give me awful nettle rash :(

I have loads and loads of flower seeds as well. I should put them into some tubs and have a nice display but just haven't got to it. By the time I get them planted, they probably will be so old (like me) that they won't grow! I did plant quite a lot of nasturtiums in the containers with my tomatos the year before last, but that was because nasturtium leaves and flowers are really nice in salads, and they seemed to grow well with the tomatos. They sure made a lovely display as well. If I'd let them go, I'm sure they'd have taken over the whole garden. Hubby wouldn't have minded. Would have been less grass to mow hahaha.

I am going to put more herbs into pots this year. I already have a very nice basil plant growing, but I lost most of my mint when I was in hospital and it never got watered. Mint is pretty hardy but it doesn't exactly like being dry as a bone for weeks on end :(  I will plant some more and also some parsley, rosemary, thyme, dill and maybe a couple of others. I used fresh thyme recently for the first time and it was so lovely it gave me the incentive to grow it.

I hope your cucumbers and strawberries grow well. What are bread and butter pickles?

Cheers,
Sylvia

PS I'll try and get in here a bit more often.

bushbaby, i hope all is well with you. bread and butter pickles i think is just the way they are canned. they are a sweet and sour pickling. they are so good, we go through 2 jars a month. great on crackers and bologna. oh boy my mouth is watering. ha,ha  i wish i could send u a jar, i know u would love them.  well i hope u stay well and all grows good this year.  sharon

Hi Sharon, the bread and butter pickles sound like something hubby would love! He's the pickles man in our house. I'm away from home at the moment and won't be back for three weeks, so I'm keeping my fingers, toes and everything else crossed that the runner beans I planted in pipes a week before I left will be ok. Hubby set up a drip feed automatic watering system for them before we left so I hope it's working. Half the seeds had come up by the time we left and I'm hoping they're all well on their way up the trellis when I get home. A nice helpful neighbour is keeping an eye on the rest of my plants.

A couple of years ago I pickled some cucumbers for hubby. He ate some and said 'very nice' but I didn't believe him because I noticed only a few got eaten and the rest were left in the fridge! Must have been his fault though because he told me how to pickle them hahaha. I'm trying the little lebanese cucumbers this year so I think I'll have a search online for pickling instructions for those and try again. I like food just as it is when it comes off the plants, but hubby likes it with plenty of add-ons.

Sounds like we're both going to have some fun in the garden this year.

Hugs
Sylvia

Don't forget me. Once you container garden you won't want to grow any other way. So easy to maintain.. Just water and fertilize.

Hugs,

Doris

Hi Doris :) Great to see you here again. Of course we won't forget you. Hubby tells me my plants are all growing well but I'll believe that when I get home and see them for myself hahaha. He's been eating the radishes so they must have been ok. I have a few herbs in containers; parsley, garden thyme, lemon thyme, rosemary, dill, basil, mint and lemon grass. Apart from the herbs I only planted tomatos, lettuce and radishes this year and ate all the lettuce and the first crop of radishes before we left to go on holiday last month. I think I need to put some of that stuff into the soil that retains moisture because the containers dry out so quickly, and once they're really dry, its hard to get the water to soak right through the soil again.
Hugs,
Sylvia

i don't think i'm going to get it done this year either,  have my tomato's in planters and doing great but as usual i am behind on everything else. oh well maybe next year.