DIY: Urban Gardening Kit
Just because you don’t have a large backyard doesn’t mean you can’t have yummy fresh vegetables this summer. If you have a deck, balcony or patio than our urban gardening kit may be just what you need! We introduced this kit last season and even tried it ourselves. My wife, a novice gardener, used the kit and grew delicious Tomatoes and Cucumbers. She didn’t need any assistance from me and found working with the kit to be fun and easy.
This kit is truly the epitome of “one stop shopping”. The containers, soil, and seeds are all included and step by step directions are provided. While the directions are comprehensive we thought it would be helpful to share some of our own helpful hints:
- Start Staking Early: If you grow the Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Peppers that are in the kit than they will all need to have some support to keep them upright. Our deck has spindles which were ideal for tying up or training the plants on. Whatever you use be sure to install them when you plant the seedlings so that you don’t risk damaging the roots inserting them later in the growing season.
- Check the soil daily: The planting medium holds moisture well but all containers dry out quickly in the heat of the summer. Keeping the soil medium moist is particularly important for Tomatoes and Peppers to avoid deformed fruit. The best time to water is early in the morning and make sure to water the soil and not the leaves to prevent diseases. The container material is flexible and after watering the plants you can tuck the edges inward toward the soil to help shade the roots and keep the soil moist.
- Thinning the transplants will be necessary: The kit includes plenty of seeds to start your seedlings. However, you need to keep in mind that only 1 Tomato Plant, 1 Pepper Plant, and 2 Cucumber plants will ultimately grow in each container. If you have too many plants in the container the soil will dry out quickly and the roots will become compacted. These are not the ideal conditions to grow great vegetables.
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If you run into any challenges using the kit you can always contact us through our website for assistance.
