Whilst I wouldn’t describe the Homebase Bank Holiday experience as ‘relaxing’, it was a necessary evil that resulted in some enjoyable gardening activity in the London Vegetable Garden this afternoon.The main job completed today was the (rather complex) task of cutting holes into the runner bean pots and sitting them onto a grow bag. When I disposed of last year’s runner bean attempt, the entire soil was densely packed with roots. In order to give the roots a bit more space this time round, I’ve opened up a grow bag and sat the two pots, sans-base, on top. The roots should hopefully now have a lot more space to grow into, which should have a positive impact upon the harvest – we hope!
Admittedly, removing the bottoms from the pots with beans already in was an extremely difficult task and I’m concerned that I’ve disturbed the plants. However, previous experience has shown me that runner beans are hardy vegetables, so hopefully they haven’t been too badly unsettled. For future reference, this set-up should definitely be implemented the minute the seedlings are big enough to be transplanted from their original seeding positions – I guarantee it will avoid turning into a garden grump, like I did this afternoon as soil and roots went flying everywhere!
Hopefully this work will enable me to maximise my harvest of runner beans, with the added benefit of taking up no extra space. Since the pots are sat on top of the grow bag, the only space used is a few inches of height, so this is definitely a top tip if you wish to grow vegetables on your small balcony or roof garden.
City gardening intrigues me, and is an area of experience "I'm" interested in learning more about ...
ReplyDeleteHappy gardening!
:)
Good luck! We are just beginning our project. Next Monday the pots and plants should arrive... You can keep up with us
ReplyDeletehere
how big was your runner bean pot last year?
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments - keep them coming in! Last year, when I attempted to grow runner beans, I used the same pots that I'm using this year. They're about 20cm deep and 27cm across. Last year, the plants grew to 6 feet tall, but didn't bear many runner beans.
ReplyDeleteThey tended to dry out quite quickly and I also didn't use any feed or the right compost. This year, I have used grow bag compost to settle them in, have made the pots bottomless and placed on top of another grow bag to give the roots more room to grow and am also using a vegetable plant feed once a week.
Good luck! Keep your own experiences coming in!