OT - Gardening - Planters

[pdonk]

Redoing our very small (18 ft x 20 ft), downtown back yard and looking at new planters for my kids to grow vegetables in. Looking for something relatively easy to install and not too expensive.

Looking on line I see galvanized tanks / water troughs being touted as a good option. They go with the aesthetic my spouse wants for our house. In doing research, there seems to be discussion on if they leech chemicals into the soil, especially lead and cadmium from the steel. Some say they are safe as the steel is zinc coated and the soil should not be acidic so limited leaching will occur.

Any thoughts or experience here? Any other good/easy suggestions?

[lorenbike]

I've just framed my own planter boxes before with 2x4s (either double them for height, or go with 8-12" width). Easy, cheap, and you can even get home depot to do all the cuts if you lack power tools.

[Hindmost]

Does your plot have soil? Nice for raised bed to blend to underlying soil.

[Turkle]

When I had a very small backyard, we grew everything in containers. It makes it easy to move the plants around to get optimal sun, and makes setup and teardown a breeze. We liked the containers that are that fabric material as they're super light and it's easy to control moisture levels.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by pdonk

Any thoughts or experience here? Any other good/easy suggestions?

We have some large weathered (cor-ten) steel planters that work. Same size/shape can be found with various finished (black, white, whatever).

With any planter, the key is drainage/watering - if they fill with water, the roots can rot. I had to drill extra holes in ours. And soil quality (especially into subsequent seasons).

Our biggest problem with the planters is deer. They eat just about anything, so I can't grow much in the yard. We have mid-size pots and small troughs on the raised deck for tomatoes and peppers and herbs.

[RFC]

For the last two years I have gone completely with containers for my pepper plants. It allows me much better control over watering, fertilizing, pests and sun. In my case I am repurposing my stack of empty chlorine tablet buckets. Drill holes in the bottom and I'm good to go.

[glepore]

I wouldn't worry about chemical leaching, yes, there's some zinc etc but it sure beat using pt.
I have 3 of these for ornamentals, they work great. Drill some holes in the bottom for drainage. If you're away much, I'd invest in a bhyve hose end timer and some cheap drip irrigation sprayers.
I also have 25 or so various pots around our pool for tropicals and perennials. Everything on drip to be self tending. Pots are a great option for veggies but nice ones are expensive.

[rwsaunders]

Originally Posted by RFC

For the last two years I have gone completely with containers for my pepper plants. It allows me much better control over watering, fertilizing, pests and sun.

All of the above...my peppers and basil do better in containers than raised beds...less to water and less pests for some reason. My wife has kept the raised beds in place for perennial herbs like rosemary, lavender and thyme, and she's been able to better control large and spreading pollinator plants such as yarrow, bee balm, blazing star and hyssop.

[TiminVA]

I've had decent luck with tomatoes in container pots, but peppers tend to do better. The tomatoes can get root bound if the pot is not huge. My neighbor gave me 25 tomato plants last week so back to the raised beds this year for those and am already dealing with rabbits stealing the plants.

[fmm]

I've used these Vego Garden ones. They're not as cheap as homemade but they're coated, and the design is modular so you can mix and match shapes and sizes. Lightweight and easy to assemble, and mine didn't warp at all when full of soil.

[Hilltopperny]

I build my own with rough cut lumber.

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[donevwil]

Going on 16+ years with our galvanized horse trough garden (one 3' x 8', one 3' x 6' & three 2' x 4'). These are horse watering troughs after all, so I seriously doubt leaching toxins are a concern. I found a design online (again, 16+ years ago, can't find a link now) that creates a cistern in the bottom so once plants are established, they need only be filled every 2-4 weeks depending on the temperature and plant thirst. I have some drip irrigation to get plants started and turn it off once established. Since it's closed loop (more or less, do need to add water) the plants do much better than on drip and there is minimal drainage to stain our patio.

Creating the cistern did involve a bit of labor and material/parts/tool sourcing, but we are very happy with the result.

If this sounds interesting I can scan the instructions and forward.

[CNY rider]

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

I build my own with rough cut lumber.

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We've done those and now we have the raised beds made from synthetic decking.
It's so wet here and the clay soil holds so much moisture that it even rots the local rough cut hemlock lumber.

The one we haven't tried is basswood. Is that what you are using?

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by CNY rider

We've done those and now we have the raised beds made from synthetic decking.

It's so wet here and the clay soil holds so much moisture that it even rots the local rough cut hemlock lumber.



The one we haven't tried is basswood. Is that what you are using?

I use Tamarack and it has held up pretty well.

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[RFC]

IMG_7206 by Robert Copple, on Flickr
IMG_7202 by Robert Copple, on Flickr
IMG_7201 by Robert Copple, on Flickr
IMG_6955 by Robert Copple, on Flickr