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zone6planting

Plants that can be kept in containers the first few years?

zone6planting
9 years ago

Hi there,

This will my second year gardening and I live in zone 6b. Last year, I planted mostly container vegetables with some mixed success (zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant produce a lot, quickly then died off). This year, I'm hoping to do a mix of in-ground vegetables as well as container vegetables. I would like to also start off some fruit like blueberries but from what I read they take several years to produce much fruit and we will be moving around a bit over the next 3 years (all in the same zone or maybe 6a). Is it possible to start blueberries off in a container so that they can move with me, then transplant them when we buy our own house? It would be great to get a head start!

Also, any suggestions on other plants that I could start in a container then move into the ground in a few years, so they have more room to grow? Also, any ideas what happened to last years container garden that most of it died off by mid July? Thanks!!

Comments (12)

  • fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
    9 years ago

    You can grow almost any fruit or veggie in a container. The biggest single issue is probably the growing media in a container. More specifically drainage and water holding capacity. You need much better draining media in a container than in-ground. Water perches in the bottom of a container and chokes off oxygen to the roots.

    You might want to study some on the container forum.

    I've fruited blueberry, fig, blackberry, apricot, nectarine, sweet cherry, grapes, and more in containers. So the list is nearly anything you'd want to grow.

  • mksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
    9 years ago

    I second fruitnut's post. I have been growing citrus in containers for years and typically get enough fruit for me and my family.

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    I've given up growing peaches in containers to later plant in the ground- better to start them in the ground and move them bare root later unless FN knows something about container growing them that escapes me (entirely possible). It seem like they need a lot of root to support vigorous growth compared to other species.

    Even when I grow pears, apples, cherries or plums in containers, I cover the bottom hole (usually there's a single hole in the middle of the bottom of conventional plastic containers) partially bury them and let roots grow out the side holes to dig up bare root when I transplant them. This helps prevent circling roots and allows me to put serious root into the soil they will be transplanted to.

    You need a 15 gallon pot if trees will be kept in them more than a year, IMO. You also need a real good potting mix.

  • alexander3_gw
    9 years ago

    I had hardy kiwi in a pot for 2 or 3 years before I made an arbor and planted them in the ground. They both flowered after being in the ground a couple years. Based on the experiences of other posters here, I think I saved some time by having them in pots rather than waiting until the arbor was done to get new plants.

  • pharmachad
    9 years ago

    You can keep blueberries in a movable size
    container for 3 to 4 years without any problem.
    If you will be moving a lot, put them in a 5 gallon
    bucket. Easy to handle and it is big enough to
    hold enough moisture not to have have to water
    everyday. I use a mix of half pine bark and
    half peat. You can also find other mixes on this
    forum, but I find this one the easiest.

  • fireduck
    9 years ago

    Fruitnut has said it all....

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    Fireduck, what is that- a dismissal of the other posts? I do not understand your point. A five gallon pot with handles is an idea- a testimonial about kiwis doing well for a time adds something, and how did Fruitnut cover the possibility of using both pot and real soil? If you object to any of these suggestions at least explain.

    I have been growing trees in pots for 25 years in my nursery and when I studied potted plant management in texts about running a commercial nursery it was pretty common to suggest throwing out plants whose roots escaped the pots.

    I found that the trees I grew with escaped roots did much better than those with roots that stayed in the pots, both while in the pots and, more importantly, when transplanted. I assume it is because this allowed the roots to immediately establish in the native soil.

    Doing this also allows me to invest less than half as much water into the part of my nursery with potted plants- which is good because I have a sucky well. Also, such trees don't get pot bound and don't actually need to be moved to bigger pots.

  • fireduck
    9 years ago

    H....calm down. I am not sure why the defensive position. Perhaps I was short on words. I have read many of fruitnuts posts over a long period of time...and have confidence in much of his advice. Many posters just spend much more time on the computer than in the garden (not referring to you). There are many nuances regarding growing in containers for sure...and YOUR post is well appreciated, as well. The truth is: people try so hard to grow in containers, and they miss the most obvious and critical point. The mix you create/buy can sink you or save you.

  • pharmachad
    9 years ago

    Fire duck,
    I have over 70 blueberry plants in 5 gallon bucks
    and over 30 veggie plants in 5 gallon buckets. My advice
    is from practical experience not from the computer.

  • pharmachad
    9 years ago

    Pic of my veggie garden. And yes the mix is very important.
    I have several plants going on 3rd year. Bell pepper and Serrano
    peppers are already producing. I had bell pepper
    plants last year that produced over 50 each. Serrano and
    Jalapeño peppers produced hundreds.

  • pharmachad
    9 years ago

    In response to original poster. Your plants likely died
    In July from lack of water. If you look at the bottom
    of my bucks in my veggie garden, you will see the
    platters I placed under them. They are actually crawfish platters that we eat crawfish in here in south Louisiana. During summer I would
    fill them twice a day. That is probably about a gallon
    of water a day. I just installed drip irrigation for the
    first time so I will see how that goes. I call that design Cajun
    Earth Buckets.

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    FD, I also much appreciate FN contributions- he's smart, devoted and very affective at what he does. Don't read too much in the 2D communication of internet. I go to a lot of trouble to communicate here and am only defensive of clear meaning (well, that's a lie, but it is all I intend to be clear about).

    You made a blank statement with an unclear meaning to me. Now I understand your point and I agree that medium is fundamental, and all else from that point is futile if you drown the plants in the pot. But good soil is far superior to potting mix- except in a pot.