From Andy…
I got the following note from Andy today. He also sent some wonderful photos of his urban garden.
hey dad!
i just transplanted my pumpkins into a larger container to be left outdoors. here are some photos! i grabbed an old ginger sack from work, filled it with potting soil, placed that in a crate for structure, and added the pumpkin plants. i’m only concerned that there are two plants. i grew them together in a milk jug until this point. do you think that i should take one out? one of them might be better off than two growing together.
andy
7 Responses to “From Andy…”
I think the seed packets recommend planting two plants per “hill” so I’d leave them there. They will meander quite a bit. I have two plants together in two “hills”. I like the idea of using the ginger sack…and I love the photos!
You might want to add a little compost to the dirt. Come by some time & help yourself.
i need to do the same with my pumpkins now… the plants are outgrowing the bucket!
Pumpkin plants will definitely overflow any container but as long as they are in a container large enough to contain enough soil (like Andy’s ginger sack – crate thing) they should be OK. The plants will simply wander around and – depending on the variety of pumpkin – may visit your neighbors! Just don’t let it dry out and do add a little fertilizer or compost occasionally during the flowering and pumpkin-growing period.
thanks for the tips! i just finished making my pumpkin box. i was going to buy a planter but thought it silly to buy a plastic bin for 17 dollars. so i had some scrap wood around… going to steal andy’s idea of using a sack (mine will be an old sheet). i’ll put it in my window and just let it overflow onto the ground. i don’t think gina will mind. if they complain, i’ll give them a pumpkin…. though the window!
Whoa…$ 17.00 would buy a lot of pumpkins! I always try to improvise before buying anything. Scrap wood and an old sheet sounds good.
I did buy (Actually Aunt Carol bought) tomato cages because they work so well and I can use them again.
i actually tried (and succeeded) to make a tomato cage. by the time i finished i had realized it would probably be better to buy one. so i have everything set up to transplant but realized i didn’t have enough soil. so just the final step is left. i’ll send you some photos too.
i did add some compost to the soil, mixed in with the “all american soil” that i got from a dollar store, that my pumpkin plants are in now. fortunately, the grocery store that i walk by to get to the el always has wooden crates in their dumpster. these crates make up my shelving in my work room, and i yanked one for the pumpkins.
jesse, can’t wait to see your homemade tomato cage. mine were on sale at ace. by the way, when taking cost into account, there are a few other factors, such as: not having to go to the store, the joy of taking a walk to the backyard to get food, and just pure satisfaction in doing it all yourself. but you know that.
in the past couple of days, my plants have begun to grow much more rapidly. specifically, the greens that i’m container growing in my window, my spinach and my tomatoes outside.