Watering

Bertie10

I have a raised bed containing a row of carrots, a row of parsnips and 3 fruit bearing tomato plants. I use watering cans as I haven't got a long enough hose but I'm not sure how much give them. Suggestions please xxx

NewBoy2

Here is you homework for tonight Bertie and there will be a test tomorrow 

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=706

Bertie10

Ha ha. Thanks for the advice

Standen1

Hi, am about to get a vegetable planter and found the aforementioned website useful - I would like to try growing brassicas; carrots; onions and salad leaves to start however I have loads of questions:
a) do I need to put in drainage holes / liner?
b) have heard these veg all need different quality soil - how can that be in one Planter? 
C) was linked to watering as it seems from this article that they all need different amounts at different times - again how can this work in one planter?

basically any help / suggestions on where to start would be great and am I aiming too high?

Lyn

You do need drainage holes. 
Growing crops like that in a planter is a bit impossible in my opinion, brassicas need nitrogen rich soil,  packed down very firmly, carrots need poorer unfertilised soil, softly packed. 
Then whatever you grow, you need to do it on a three year cycle, so I would stick to just one type of veg. I wouldn’t think about brassicas in a planter, they are really best in the open ground, but they are very good for salad stuff, so go for lettuce, onions and radishes.  You can grow those all year without worrying about crop rotation.  You can sow a couple of tomato seeds next March. 

Bertie10

I think the recent weather has answered my question. Thank you to all of you who replied.

debs64

I have a raised planter with lettuce in. It has kept me and my tortoise in fresh leaves all summer from a 50p pack of seeds from wilkinson and best of all no slugs! Stand each leg in a pot of water and they can't climb up! 

Hostafan1

@Bertie10, I bought hoses from Wilko at the end of the season: reduced to £1.50 for a 15m hose with fittings. I bought 12 of them.

Bertie10

Thank you for your advice. Much appreciated.

Standen1

Thank you - think I’m being a little over ambitious so need to start small 🙂

Fairygirl

Standen1 said:

Thank you - think I’m being a little over ambitious so need to start small 🙂

Lyn's right - they all have different requirements. If you see a photo showing loads of different veg crops in one planter, it's usually because they've just shoved them in for effect - and the photo!
Decide on what you want to grow [and eat] and research the requirements for each plant, then see which ones will grow best together in your planter. It'll also depend on the size of planter you have, but salad crops like lettuce and rocket will grow well in ordinary sized pots and troughs. For instance - something around 1 foot/30cm diameter will give you a few plants of each of those