Chris asks: Any advice for building a garden using only large pots, planters?
Should I put gravel in the bottom and then dirt. these pots will be close to 24″ across/wide.
The answer voted best is:
Answer by dubious
You could use either gravel or just clay pot shards….break up a couple of clay pots and lay a few pieces in the bottom of each to prevent the dirt from running out when the water drains.
I have grown everything from herbs, tomatoes and peppers, to flowers in my pots! Works great!! Just remember, if you are doing anything viny like a tomato, you need to put something in the pot for it to climb, like a stake of some sort, or they will fall over the sides.
Good luck! Hope this helps.
What do you think? Answer below!
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Put a few inches of either gravel or broken up clay pots in the bottom to help it drain, then add in your soil. Be sure to leave plenty of space for the plants to grow (I’d only plant 1 plant like tomatoes or peppers per pot). Also, since the plants won’t be able to soak up ground water, you’ll need to water them more often. For something like tomatoes, I’d recommend twice daily. A good way to check is to put your finger about 1″ into the soil. If the soil is dry, go ahead and water.
Place the pots on a surface that will take away excess water. Make sure the pots have drainage holes in the bottom of them. 24″ pots should not have a tendency to turn over unless the plants will be really tall. The use of landscape fabric will help keep the weeding duties to a minimum. We have had excessive rain this year so all my garden is planted in pots since my clay soil is saturated.
Yes, you can put gravel in the bottom of your pots, but that makes them very heavy. If you must move the pots in the future, even a short distance, this makes it far more difficult. Unless the soil is sifting out the drain hole, there’s no need to add this kind of a layer to the bottom of the pot.