Container Gardening Basics

Today from gardening for beginners, we'll be showing you the basics of container gardening. Many people enjoy growing plants but do not have the space for a proper garden, in this situation, a container garden is an ideal solution. Container gardens have the following advantages - they are portable (you can move them easily without damaging the plants), they are dynamic (you can easily add or remove containers or pots as you wish, it's easy to start a small container vegetable garden and expand slowly) and most importantly, they take up far less space and require less maintenance than regular gardens. More often than not, they also cost less.

You might be interested in container gardening if you live in an apartment or a house in an urban estate, when land and space in general is very pricey. Granted, some plants cannot be grown in a pot as they require too much space (roots may grow too deep, or the overall plant is far too large, such as apple trees), but nevertheless container gardening is very useful for any beginner.

Starting a container garden is easy, so long as you know a little gardening basics. You might want to begin with easy plants such as chili and onion, which don't grow very large and can be kept indoors. Purchase a few small ceramic pots, try to get those with holes at the bottom and come with a drainage pan as they allow excess water to drain off and prevent the soil from becoming waterlogged. Buy some quality topsoil from a nearby plant nursery with the suitable acidity and mineral content for the type of plant you are growing.

Garden pests are not as much a concern in container vegetable gardening but they can become a concern if conditions are poor. Do not allow stagnant water to collect anywhere, turn unused pots and drainage pans upside down to prevent the collection of rainwater, which can breed pests and insects which may be harmful to human or plant health.

Keeping the containers indoors can be beneficial, especially if the weather is too cold outdoors and the pots are small enough. Remember, though, that soil contains many pathogens and thus should be kept away from consumables and other sensitive products or equipment.

That's about the basics of container gardening. The best way to learn more would be to try it yourself. You can also refer to my guide on how to get started on gardening.

How to grow onions

A good day to everyone, and here's the lastest article from gardening for beginners, the blog catered towards aspiring gardeners and people who want to grow organic fruits and vegetables.

In today's article, we will cover a little bit on the uses of onions and how to grow onions.

Onions belong to the genus allium and have been cultivated for thousands of years. They can be used in many different recipes and, like many vegetables, are a rich source of vitamin C and antioxidants.

It's easy to grow onions if you start with a good bulb. You can buy these at the supermarket in large amounts for mass growing. Onions can be grown relatively near to each other, but make sure you do your research before growing other types of vegetables near them as they might not be suitable.

Select whole onions for growing that are not dented or broken. An onion with a portion chipped off will not grow. I've found that smaller species of onion tend to grow faster and are easier to cultivate than their larger counterparts. Place the onions in soil, make sure the soil is deep enough to accommodate the new onions that will bud off. Do not bury the entire onion, leave the top one-third of the onion sticking out of the soil. Water regularly but do not over-water.

In the next two weeks or so, the onion will grow roots although you will not be able to see anything happening. Do not uproot the onion once you have planted it or you will kill it. After about 10 days, you may start to see green shoots sprouting from your onion, this is spring onion and it is an indicator that you're doing good. A healthy onion plant under good conditions should have 7 to 10 such shoots sprouting.

Your onion will continue growing, be sure to water it regularly. You can harvest the shoots (spring onions) for dishes such as fried rice. It takes about 3 to 6 months for a new onion to be fully developed from the onion that you have planted, depending on the species. When you think the time is ripe, you can then uproot the onion and harvest off the new onions which would have budded from the one you planted.

Good luck in growing onions!