Starting a Vegie Garden

Before you get started on growing your own home vegies, you’ll need to consider where you’ll be growing them. There are lots of different options, but here’s some help to find the best for your garden.

There are lots of options in terms of costs and durability.

Raised vegie beds offer great access around the garden and for those with limited mobility, especially when they are positioned in a way that allows access from all sides.

Hardwood sleepers are moderate cost and easy to use; you can raise them up for extra height. Try to source sustainable timber and always avoid treated hardwood railway sleepers as the coating is often toxic.

Treated pine is a light softwood so good for mobile beds on raised legs and wheels. However, it’s not as durable - and always ensure the product hasn’t been treated with arsenic.

Steel sheeting is popular for hip-height sleepers. Premade ones aren’t cheap but are an easy option. You can make your own from steel sheeting - just remember to cover the sharp edges and that steel will eventually corrode.

Masonry beds with double thickness brick are at the top end of the cost and durability. This is an expensive option but look great. If making your own, keep mortar away from soil as it is highly alkaline and can be toxic to plants.

Gabion walls filled with building rubble are another option for a solid bed with low environmental impact.

Raised beds can also be used to make wicking beds.

If you want to make your own raised timber vegie bed, see Josh’s story, Building a Vegie Bed.

You can grow vegies in so many places. You don’t even need a traditional vegie bed!

This is a bed built on top of an existing bed, lawn area or even hard surfaces like concrete.

Just like compost, you need a good amount of dry materials - like straw, lucerne and dried leaves - along with thinner layers of high nutrient green, leafy weeds and manure to build up the soil.

You can put anything organic in the layers, to break down into beautiful, productive soil but the more you mix it up, the more nutrients are available to the plants!

Growing vegetables in containers has advantages even where opportunity exists to grow in the open ground. But for those who live in units and apartments where only a balcony is available for gardening it offers the only way to produce home vegetables and fresh herbs.

Apart from this ability to produce a crop where open soil is not available, cultivating in containers has many advantages:

Advantages

Disadvantages

However, there are balancing disadvantages, for example,

Pots are especially useful for crops that need to be garnered in small quantities regularly, for example herbs which are conveniently kept at the backdoor or on the kitchen window ledge and can be collected as needed.

Types of Containers

Any good sized container can be used for growing crops, though generally, the larger the better. Do remember that larger pots can be very heavy to move (always move them prior to watering - you don't want to move the water too) although for many crops, for examples small fruit trees, brussels sprouts or cabbage, large containers will be essential. Barrels, old buckets, pots, drums and tubs can all be used providing drainage holes are present.

As a designer I like to think that pots should look good too and if you are gardening on a small balcony that is your only sitting area, this may be especially important.

Pots with angled sides stay cooler than vertical urns while plastics can conduct heat quickly. Concrete and terracotta stay cooler and the latter develop a superb patina but are heavy.

Growing Medium

There are many commercial growing media that can be used for growing vegetables. These are convenient because they come in bags ready for easy transport. For convenience choose one that contains nutrients and wetting agents so that your plants can be grown immediately in your mix. Remember that these organic mixes, made generally from composted bark, can dry out very quickly and become water repellent or hydrophobic so use a wetting agent every six months or so to ensure your mix is taking up water. For some it may be appropriate to make a home-made mix by using a mix of one third loam, one third compost or vermiculite and one third course sand.

Because potting mixes are regularly irrigated and drain quickly, it is important to fertilise them regularly for good growth and cropping. I like to use soluble fertilizers every two weeks or so and I use a slow-release fertiliser to supplement this. Fertiliser applications should be varied according to your crop, for example cabbages and other leafy vegetables prosper in a high Nitrogen regime, by contrast potatoes will offer a very poor crop if Nitrogen is used in excess.

Crops for Containers

Herbs - basil, parsley, marjoram, thyme and even bay are ideal for pot culture and because they are used fresh it is great to have them close at hand.

Tomatoes, aubergines, chillies and capsicum also give great results but addition of lime to your growing medium can be useful for tomatoes and capsicums since it assists in reducing blossom end rot, a particular problem when they are grown in containers and watering can be inconsistent.

Spinach, silver beet, chinese cabbage, lettuce and bok choi are excellent in containers but for larger crops - cabbages, broccoli or brussels sprouts, very large containers are required for good harvest.

Zucchinis and squash grow well in containers at least 40cm deep while bush pumpkins can also be grown.

It may seem counterintuitive, but as long as plants are provided with the nutrients they need, they don’t need soil to grow. Hydroponic methods replace soil with media such as clay balls or perlite, which provide enough structure for roots to hold onto. Nutrients are then added to water that soaks through the soil-less media.

There are many advantages to growing this way. There is no soil mess, a bonus if you don’t have much space to garden in, plants need less water, and monitoring moisture levels is easy. It even helps them look after themselves when you need a holiday!

Clay Balls

Also known as LECA, which stands for lightweight expanded clay aggregate. These are porous, baked balls of clay with lots of air and water pockets. They have excellent drainage and can dry out quickly, so are perfect for plants that don’t like wet feet. Before using new clay balls, always soak them overnight in water to remove any dust or loose clay particles.

Perlite

This is volcanic rock that has been heated to high temperatures then rapidly cooled. This is ideal for plants that need more moisture such as vegetable seedlings. It can hold up to four times its weight in water and is also lightweight and affordable. Always wet the perlite before use, to prevent breathing in the dust.

Both mediums can be reused many times, simply wash thoroughly and soak with boiling water to help clean and sterilise before potting up again.

Transferring Plants to Hydro

Plants growing in soil need to have their roots washed before you transfer them into a hydroponic system. Use clean water and very gently knock as much soil off the roots as you can, being careful not to break them.

Two-pot System

A simple method uses two plastic pots. The first pot should have no holes as this will hold the water. The second pot should be netted or have lots of holes on the bottom and sides. This will hold the clay or perlite and the plant.

Fill the netted pot with a shallow layer of clay balls or perlite. Pop in your plant with clean roots, then fill the rest of the pot to the top with your chosen media.

Nutrients and Water

Place the netted pot inside the solid pot. Water the plants so that the outer pot is about one-third full. Let this sit until the water has been absorbed up through the clay or perlite. It’s important they are not sitting in too much water constantly or roots can rot. You can simply lift up the inner pot to check if they are moist or dry.

Water-soluble fertilisers designed for hydroponics are available at many nurseries and specialty stores. They have low NPK values compared to usual fertilisers and dissolve well. Follow product instructions to measure out the right amount and add to the water every few weeks.

Tap water is fine to use but to optimise nutrient uptake, check the pH of your water. It can be different depending on where you live and can be altered with a pH change kit to be close to neutral, or 7, before adding fertiliser.

Flush the whole pot every few months with fresh water to reduce build-up of salts and sediment to keep plants healthy.

This is a simple way to experiment with going soil-less and finding the perfect conditions for your vegie plants!

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