Organic Container Gardening
Container
The first thing to deal with is the container. We’re looking for a natural container here – one made of wood, clay, pressed papers (although this last one could be debatable) We’re not overly interested in plastics and others made of non-renewable resources.
Soils
The most important component of a container garden is the soil. The next little bit of advice is heretical in the container gardening world but it does come from my own experience.
You can grow container gardens in straight peat moss. Or you can use up to 20% of composted manure in peat moss
Do not go above the 20% line when you’re adding it to other materials. My practical trials this summer showed that drainage was not adversely influenced when 15-20% bagged manure was added to the peat. Above this number, plant growth was no better.
Real compost - made yourself using a hot system can be added at greater quantities but I still recommend being careful about going over 20%.
You can also use a soil-less potting soil such as Pro-Mix but these would not pass an organic certification program because they usually contain a wetting agent.
Do Not Use Real Garden Soil
Using a garden soil-based mix can lead to major drainage problems and aeration problems as the soil based mix tends to turn to concrete under repeated waterings.
Plants to Grow
Plants can be anything you can grow in the ground.
Fertilizers
Organic fertilizing would include compost tea to bring the microorganisms to life in the artificial soils.
The single best fertilizer for organic container gardening would be fish emulsion. Because it has a relatively high nitrogen count, using fish emulsion replaces the nitrogen that gets flushed out of the container during watering.
Insect control
Control of insects and garden pests in organic container gardening is no different than for regular organic controls.
Bottom Line
So the bottom line when it comes to organic container gardening is to ensure you have a good soil, feed it using the organic supplies above and follow basic environmentally sound methods of garden pest control.
You can grow anything you like this way.
Click here to ask a question about organic container gardening.
