Will Beetroot Grow In Pots Or Growbags?

Hey Guys,

So i am growing beetroot and i have loads of different pot sizes and a growbag to spare and i was wondering if that is ok in order to grow them in. I am slowly running out of room on my small bit of earth but it is doing the trick. I just need to start to growing in other things.

Love
Bex

 

Yes, they will grow, but I'm not sure its the best crop for a growbag. Growbags have a "cost" and maybe there are better "value" things to grow.

Do you have some pots that are about 9" diameter? If you have something as big as that it might be worth growing some carrots in it. But if you love Beetroot then I'd go for that (in the grow bag) instead. Getting the watering right for a growbag can be tricky.

 

Do you know the pots that super markets have the fresh cut flowers in?? That is what they are :D

 

OK, they are a decent size for growing things in. (You need to make some drainage holes in the bottom of course ...)

Let's here what other people think, but if it was me I'd grow some nice sweet carrots I think. (You'd need to mix some sand with the potting-compost in the grow bags, ideally "Sharp sand")

Give us a list of what you like to eat, that would be a good place to start.

 

- peppers
- potatoes
- broccoli
- cucumber
- sweets
- flowers (lavender and edible ones)
- courgettes
- aubergines
- tomatoes
- salad

 

Peppers and Aubergines need a greenhouse. Could have a go outside, but likely to be disappointed, I'd give those a miss for now. Even in a greenhouse I don't get very many per plant.

Spuds I would just grow 1st early and maybe 2nd early. Easy to grow, taste good freshly dug and cooked straight away. The tricky bit is deciding what variety to grow; everyone has favourites, what you need to do is to find yours Part of the problem is that the taste depends on your soil and also a bit on how your grow them. My suggestion would be to buy a few (say 4) tubers of each variety you want to try, plant them in a short row and label them carefully, then when you harvest them have a taste test with your family and see which you like. Potato tubers are now really cheap in the garden centres as most people have already planted them (but its not too late yet). Try not to buy ones that have really long/white shoots on them, as they will break off when you plant them. If you are lucky the garden centre will still have some that you can buy "loose" rather than in large net bags. "Loose" you can just buy 4 of each variety you want to try.

Not sure if you have enough soil spare though, from your other post. Plant 1st Early Potatoes 12" apart, 24" between the rows .

Broccoli needs a lot of space (about 2' between plants), and doesn't give a big crop. You probably need at least 6 plants to have enough (at any one time) to make a meal. However, you can keep cropping it over several weeks. So if you don't have space for that many plants I'd give it a miss. Its a long season crop too - sown Mar-May but not harvested until Feb or Mar following year.

Cucumber - make sure you get an outdoor one (unless you have a greenhouse) - they are often referred to as "Ridge Cucumbers". Getting late to be sowing from seed

Sweetcorn - definitely worthwhile as, home-grown, the flavour is really good, but you need at least 9 plants - planted as a block 18" apart each direction.

Flowers (lavender and edible ones) - Nasturtiums might be worth a look. Really pretty, and edible.

Courgettes - high yielding. Take up a bit of space, and you could do with about 4 plants (plant 24" apart) so that you have enough each time you pick them (you'll get one-per-plant every 3 or 4 days - so with 4 plants you'll get 4 Courgettes each time you pick and you can do that 2 or 3 times a week - you'll be sick of them by the end of the Summer!)

Tomatoes - I think too late to sow from seed, worth looking in the Garden Centre as you may get discounted plants now (most people will already have bought them). Make sure you buy an outdoor variety, rather than a Greenhouse one. "Bush" type would be best (rather than "Cordon" / "Indeterminate" which are better in a greenhouse). I think you need about half a dozen plants for a good crop, but even a single plant will do - you can use a single Tomato, sliced up, in a salad

Salad - Lettuce is easy from seed. Don't make the mistake of sowing a long row - when the first one is ready you only have a couple of weeks until they will be "over", and you won't want to eat a whole row of lettuce in that time! I grow 6 Lettuce, and I sow them every 2 weeks during the season. They want to be about 12" apart (maybe a bit closer for Cos lettuce type). I suggest you sow 3 or 4 seeds at 12" intervals in the row, and once they germinate pull out the weakest ones leaving just one to grow on. Lettuce don't germinate / grow so well once the Summer gets hot; you might want to try oriental vegetables at that time - e.g. Chinese Cabbage or Pak Choi. They grow better in the second half of the Summer so don't sow them yet.

Hope that helps

 

Great advice as usual Kristen. I always manage to sow far too many lettuce seed in 1 go as the seed is as light as a feather, breath too hard over your packet of seed and it's whoooooshed off everywhere. I currently have about 30 lettuce growing all of the same age (that's after they have been thinned) courtesy of clearing my throat at a critical stage . Thank god I have a rather good lettuce soup recipe!