How Does My Garden Grow? {Part 4: Gardening Tips}

Oh how I love my little container garden. Now that the weather is warmer here in Oklahoma, my plants are growing like crazy!

I've had a few bumps in the road. We had a random frost that turned my basil brown, my two-almost-three-year-old pulled my green beans out, and two of my three lettuces mysteriously died.

I've made a few changes since the last time I posted {read that here}. I planted some marigolds and some onions. I replanted my green bean and carrot seeds. I've figured out fertilizing and watering patterns. In general, everything is doing well and I am anxiously awaiting my first pickings!

Here are some helpful hints and tips for a few things I've discovered over the past few weeks...

Fertilize once a week. I've been using coffee. Yes, coffee. I read somewhere (and I'm sorry I haven't found my exact source, but I know if you search Pinterest you will find similar advice) that sprinkling coffee grounds on your soil will fertilize and keep bugs away. IT WORKS! Last year my strawberry plants had tiny little bugs all over them, not this year! Coffee really is wonderful- in more ways than one.

Container #1- Basil, Cilantro, Strawberries, Onions, and Peppers + Marigolds

 *Strawberries take a couple of years to really get established so don't get discouraged your first year.

*Basil and Cilantro love warm weather. Their leaves may brown if it gets too cold- but as soon as it warms up again they will rebound.

Control the bugs. I've planted marigolds right in two of my containers, and the third one is very close to a pot of marigolds so it still works. Marigolds are fragrant enough to keep a lot of bugs away. Apparently mosquitos don't like them too, we shall see... between the marigolds and fertilizing with coffee my plants have been pest free so far.

Container #2- Tomatoes, Onions, Green Beans (I think I have had a GB plant sprout but I'm not 100% sure because I didn't plant it that way... stay tuned) + Marigolds

*Confession- the onions were a total impulse buy. I'm not sure if I'm taking care of them properly or not, but they are thriving so far.

*Tomatoes need support. I'm weaving the vines in and out of the cage so that I can have more than one plant supported by the same cage

*Tip for marigolds- once the flowers start to wilt, pinch off the blooms; this encourages faster regrowth.

Water in the evening. When it's really hot outside, water evaporates quickly. By watering your plants in the evening, you give them all night to soak up the water. If you water in the morning or afternoon most of the water you are giving the plants will evaporate. Give them a good soaking in the evening (pour water directly on the soil as much as possible) and your plants will be well hydrated to face the heat of the next day.

Container #3- Mint, Broccoli, Carrots, and Lettuce

*Lettuce doesn't love too much sun. I positioned the container so that there was a shadow on the 3 lettuce plants I had. For some unknown reason, 2 of them didn't make it.

  *I had to completely replant my carrot seeds. I moved them outside too early and a hard freeze did in the originals.

Catch up on the "How does my garden grow" series here:
{Part 1}
{Part 2}
{Part 3}

Here are some fun before and after shots, just one month and one week-ish apart:

 What a difference a month can make!