Useful Ways for Successful Container Gardening

Here are a few useful tips for creating a good hanging basket or container this summer.
 
1. The first is to use an artificial soil composed mostly of peat moss. Use good soils such as Pro-Mix use perlite, peat, and other ingredients to produce a soil that will not compact over the summer. Normal garden soil compacts and become very hard under the pressure of regular watering. As a result, plant roots stop growing because they require good open spaces to move into and absorb nutrients. Plants cannot grow easily in hard soils so do not use real soil in your containers.

2. Feed your plants weekly. Nitrogen, the most important thing for plant growth, is water soluble and as you water your containers from the top the dissolved nitrogen is leaving from the bottom. You can use any liquid plant food (like Miracle Grow or Shultz) to promote growth. Compost tea is the Cadillac of liquid plant food and if you make your own compost tea, your plants will gwrow rapidly.

3. It is important to soak it all the way to the bottom at each watering. Continue watering until water emerges from the pot bottom. This ensures the roots can reach all parts of the container and grow properly.