Friday 30 July 2010

Great Reasons To Grow A Container Vegetable Garden

By Cynthia Wagner

 

A container vegetable garden is a terrific way to maximize the limited amount of space you might have on your property. A lot of people have houses or apartments with limited room to plant. Container gardening allows them to have a veggie patch on their porch or patio, and even in the house. Many people have small container gardens on a sunny window ledge in their kitchen, or in a sunroom or spare bedroom. There are those who even grow plants in a closet through the use of a grow light.


Another significant benefit of a container vegetable garden is the ability to move your plants around when you need to. If there is a storm on the way, it's simple to bring your outdoor plants inside so they will be sheltered from the elements. Also, if you find that there is overly much sun shining on your plants, or they're not getting enough sun, you can easily move them to a location that is more suitable. You can even move the containers around if you think they'll look better somewhere else.


Vegetables grown in containers don't have the same issues with disease that conventionally-grown plants have. It's true that plants raised in containers can still become infected with diseases, but you will find the likelihood is much less than if you had planted them in your garden. In most cases, the potting soil that you use for your plants doesn't contain any organisms that lead to disease, so your plants are not as likely to be damaged.


Keeping your vegetables fertilized is also less difficult when they're raised in containers. It's not so difficult to ensure the fertilizer you use reaches your plants if they're restricted to a small patch of soil. Whenever you fertilize plants that are growing directly in the earth, the nutrients may leach away or be taken up by nearby plants.. This is not as likely when plants are raised in pots. You do have to keep in mind that because there is less soil, you will have to take care when applying fertilizer. You will have to fertilize more often than you would an ordinary vegetable garden, using smaller amounts each time.


Another advantage is that the growing season is prolonged when your vegetables are grown in containers. Your plants can be started inside or in a cold frame and then be moved outdoors to bigger containers when the weather allows. At the end of summer, you can wrap them with blankets or other insulating materials, which will help keep them warm as the temperature falls. You can also make use of insulation to continue to produce vegetables even after the first frost, and you can bring them inside the house as soon as it becomes too cold to keep them outdoors at all.


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About the Author:
Here's a useful tip for watering your container garden: collect rainwater and use it to give your plants the moisture they need. Click here to learn about the advantages of garden rain barrels, and what the options are in traditional styles and the newer decorative rain barrels on the market.


Article Source: http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com.

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