CHINESE CONTAINER GARDENS - Growing Chinese Vegetables in Your Own Backyard - page 190

If you've filled your containers properly, there will be an inch or two of space
between the top of the soil and the rim of the container. Fill this space with water, then
come back and do it again — three times in all. If you don't like watering, consider
rigging up a drip irrigation system. You can put these on a timer for a fully automated
system, but you still need to check plants because water needs change with the weather
and as plants mature.
Watering hanging baskets. These have to be watered much more often than other con-
tainers. It's customary to line a hanging basket with sphagnum moss, but this dries out
instantly. Line the basket with several layers of clear plastic, then line with wet (not
damp) moss and fill with soilless mix. After the basket is filled, punch several drainage
holes in the plastic with a knife or knitting needle. (With hanging pots, make holes in
the plastic to conform to your container's drainage holes.) As long as you don't let the
sphagnum moss dry out (and you can tell by the color of it through the plastic), your
plant will always have a chance of making it. It is better not to let the mix itself dry out
too much either, but the moss gives you a margin.
NOT FOR CONTAINER GARDENS
I would never say unequivocally that a vegetable can't be grown in a container; gardeners are ingenious
and some seem to be able to grow anything they set their hearts on. There are some vegetables, however,
that I feel are too much trouble or take up too much space in proportion to the crop they provide. I can't
recommend them for container gardening, indoors or out.
I advise against winter melon because of its size; pickling melon and fuzzy gourd because of their
limited use; fava beans; and soybeans. Some container gardeners do grow soybeans, and it certainly can
be done successfully; I just give so many other vegetables a higher priority in my kitchen.
Container Vegetables, Plant by Plant
Since all of these vegetables are described in detail in other chapters, this section high-
lights only the special things you need to know in order to grow them successfully in
containers. The areas not covered under general gardening (size of container and ability
to grow indoors or under lights) are dealt with here. The vegetables are ordered alpha-
betically by botanic name. Chapter 7 gives container advice for water garden plants.