This year I decided to conduct an experiment. To try growing tomatoes, peppers, squash, lettuce and cucumbers in clay pots.
It all started because of the coronavirus quarantine. I, like many others, missed a month and a half of the March to April growing season.
I was unable to plant the seedlings in the garden in time, late March, early April.
If it had been a normal year, by now the seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, would have grown quite a bit. Soon they would be blooming and preparing to give their first fruits.
And all this before the heat was on. Before the temperatures rose. Before the sun became merciless and destructive.
This delay in planting gave rise to an experiment.
Every obstacle for good!
I plant vegetables in pots
So I procured clay pots from the neighborhood hardware store.
I also got several good quality compost packets.
I collected the old plastic pots that were left over from older plants.
I also recruited a holey plastic bowl that I had for trash.
I gathered soil from the garden and mixed it with the compost. In about a 50-50 ratio.
I also added perlite to hold water.
I filled the pots and basin with the soil and compost mixture and planted the seedlings in them.
I don’t think I’ve ever given seedlings better soil! I expect a lot from them!
Protection from the hot sun
The summer sun in Attica is really hot. It’s punishing and testing the strength of the vegetables.
Especially this year they won’t be big and strong enough when the heat starts and the sun beats them almost vertically.
That’s why I had to protect them.
I thought about using shade netting. Make a frame, cover it with shade netting and put the pots underneath.
But that would cost in materials. I wanted to avoid the cost.
The solution was right in front of me and I didn’t see it.
The solution was the shade from the trees!
So I put the pots under the trees. Under olive and almond trees!
The trees will act as big awnings.
They will let in the necessary sunlight, but will protect the vegetables in the pots from direct exposure to the intense summer sunlight.
Time will tell if the experiment will succeed!
At worst, we will be left with clay pots and soil!
Photos
Watering
If you want to grow vegetables in pots, you will need to be very sensitive to the issue of watering.
You should water the vegetables so often that the soil is neither too moist (silt) nor completely dry.
Fortunately, the soil itself will guide you.
Water when the soil is dry.
Add water gradually. Not suddenly. This gives the soil time to absorb the water like a sponge.
Don’t overwater because that will deprive the roots of oxygen and choke the plants.
Good luck!
Tags: CLAY POT • CULTIVATE • GARDEN • PLASTIC POT • POT • POTS • URBAN CULTIVATION • VEGETABLES
