Green Thumbers

[tallieho]

Help please..I was going to use the old stand by,5 gallon pail For container gardening.So potting mix,how much would i guy need for each pail. Probably tomatoes,will be my first try. tia

[Maghunter]

Put 4” of wash rock on the bottom and then fill 3” below top with soil.

[jungleboy]

If you are planning to use the cheap orange pails from Home Depot , the sun will eat them in a season. They look fine till you go to move them but they become brittle and break into pieces. That’s my experience. Not sure about other pails.

[Tungsten,]

I have a few black 5g pails I can give you,send me a note.

[bonedogg]

Use the white ones instead and drill a few holes at the base for drainage.

Pull all the leaves except the top few and deep root the plant to the bottom of the pail,all them hairs on the stem will turn into roots. Vertical is better than horizontally as well to capture the deeper soil with moisture.

[owlhoot]

To save some money I would try and find some good topsoil to mix with the potting mix and throw in some compost, maybe 2 parts topsoil, 1 part potting soil and 1 compost

[Tungsten,]

Good rule of thumb is 40% peat 20 compost 40 aeration.They'll drown if compost is any more.You can always top dress with compost later
And dont forget the calcium and epsom

[Big Sky]

As stated, the orange home depot pails will deteriorate in the sun and break apart. White pails from cantire will last much longer.

You can get black plastic nursery pots from most of the garden centres in Calgary. There's different sizes to suit your needs. You might want to put some landscape cloth on the bottom to stop the soil from getting out.
https://www.goldenacre.ca/shop-all-d...ery-pot-black/

Grow bags are a nice option. Lots of them available on Amazon. We have Vivosun bags.

https://www.amazon.ca/stores/page/43...8-5bfe35d75f40

Also, sign-up for free compost from the City started on April 29. There still might be some openings available. Google's your friend.

[tallieho]

Originally Posted by Big Sky

As stated, the orange home depot pails will deteriorate in the sun and break apart. White pails from cantire will last much longer.

You can get black plastic nursery pots from most of the garden centres in Calgary. There's different sizes to suit your needs. You might want to put some landscape cloth on the bottom to stop the soil from getting out.
https://www.goldenacre.ca/shop-all-d...ery-pot-black/

Grow bags are a nice option. Lots of them available on Amazon. We have Vivosun bags.

https://www.amazon.ca/stores/page/43...8-5bfe35d75f40

Also, sign-up for free compost from the City started on April 29. There still might be some openings available. Google's your friend.

Thanks for the link.. ordered some from visoun Didn't want to drill a bunch of holes in pails & these breathe thanks everyone