I want to plant some tomatoes, mint, cilantro and green chillies on my deck in pots, that is, as we have rocks in our backyard that I don’t want to deal with as we live in a rental.
I’m quite uneducated in this art and would like to get step by step advice.
So what do I need other than top soil, some large planting pots and seeds? Can those things even grow in pots or do I eventually have to remove them and plant in the garden that doesn’t exist?
Re: An affair of my household
they grow fine in pots. i've grown a bunch of stuff over the last couple of spring/summer/falls in pots in a large-sized patio. get varieties that are for container gardening, if you can find them. right now you are a few weeks into spring, so i'd recommend forgetting seeds, and buying small plants - especially tomatoes and chillis and mint. cilantro grows quick from seed.
the one resource you absolutely cant do without is direct sunlight. if you have the option, plant them where they'll get a lot of morning sun.
get some osmocote for fertilizer, it is the most convenient way.
mint is a bit of a weed, so be sure to watch it or it will take over your entire planting area.
Re: An affair of my household
Please talk to my mom, she has an entire farm of veggies growing in our backyard and every summer the neighbors limit their grocery shopping because they are gifted all the stuff by my lovely mother. Quite boring for us though 
Re: An affair of my household
Thanks Queer 
Shay, I could never be as elaborate as your mommy for I have very limited opportunities at this place of mine. Maybe I should connect with her for some freebies as well 
Re: An affair of my household
They grow perfectly in pots, I've grown mint, dhania, green chillies, peppers, aubergines, courgettes, fenugreek, spinach, all in pots (bcos my garden's too big a mess to tackle).
Lots of sunlight.
Place some stones / broken bits of brick in the bottom of the pot first for drainage, then fill with compost and away you go.
Also a good activity to get teh kids involved in too. They can grow strawberries.
If you don't want pots, use growbags, they r good too.
Re: An affair of my household
ok this thread is here 
so i have a question …
i wanna grwo some herbs in pots how can i do that?? like im real dumb i’ve never touched seeds in my life 
i wanna grow chillis and sum herbs wat stuff do i need?? like seeds fertilizers sunlight?? and how big the pot shud be and how man times u water them and all
help 
Re: An affair of my household
I have heard growing chillies in your house makes you move from that place :D ghar hi badal jaata hai.
Re: An affair of my household
hahaha @ shay.
tum itni supersititious kab say hogi?
Re: An affair of my household
i didn't say i believe it, i said i have heard of it. we have chillies growing since years in our house, we haven't moved. but in ALL those years, jo bhi ata jata hai, yehi sunata hai ke aap ka ghar badal jayega..now i have memorized it!
Re: An affair of my household
haha well i dont knw and dont belive in this stuff. lets see wat my mom’s gonna say about growing chilis 
Re: An affair of my household
Good thread Niksik - when i buy already potted mint, parsley and coriander, and leave it in sunlight on the window sill, they die very quickly! What am i doing wrong? How often should i water it! I love to grow my own stuff but when the plant dies, its off-putting and you just cant be motivated enough to do it again!
Re: An affair of my household
Don’t need fertiliser straight away. Line pot with stones / broken brick for drainage. Cover with compost. Water a bit to make the compost moist. Poke a hole in the compost with your finger, about 1 digit deep (about an inch or a bit less). Drop your chilli seed in, and cover with more compost.
Then water again and leave in a warm sunny place. Keep watered regularly (but don’t over water! The plants grow quite fast and are easy to maintain. Usually when they fruit, thats when you should fertilise, can you get special stuff for pot plants.
Then you can enjoy picking chillies whenever you need.
Re: An affair of my household
Good thread Niksik - when i buy already potted mint, parsley and coriander, and leave it in sunlight on the window sill, they die very quickly! What am i doing wrong? How often should i water it! I love to grow my own stuff but when the plant dies, its off-putting and you just cant be motivated enough to do it again!
Do you buy the stuff that is supposed to keep growing back, or the stuff that's potted in a tiny amount of soil from the supermarket that is just for keeping it fresher for longer?
My little supermaket pots of herbs don't re-grow, but last ok if I don't over water them. If the top soil starts to look a bit dry, I water them a little. Also my kitchen windowsill is more shady and cool.
Proper potted herbs should be grown on sunny ledges.
Re: An affair of my household
tx alot rupayhalwa. :D
i'll try to grwo chillies now pray that they dont die cuz plants really dont grow in my part of the world :(
Re: An affair of my household
^ Oh, BTW, make sure the pots are INDOORS when you plant the seeds, until they are big and strong enough to be put outside when the weather's warm. Also, if its too cold, they will continue to grow fine indoors. Spray occasionally with water mist for humidity.
Re: An affair of my household
Niksik buy a bag of Perlite and mix one handful with the compost of the quantity of 12" deep and 6"wide pot. You won't need a regular fertilizer unless you wanna grow them before time.
Re: An affair of my household
perlite isnt a fertilizer, it prevents soil from lumping up, and makes roots happy. in a pot, you will definitely need fertilizer, unless your soil mix/compost comes pre-fertilized. in which case you'll need to refertilize every 3-4 months of growing season.
Re: An affair of my household
its true that perlite is not a fertilizer and i don't remember calling it a fertilizer.
It depends what you are growing. For tomatoes you need a 5 gallon pot. for chillies you need three gallon pot. For Cilantro/hara dhania and mint/ podina any size will be fine.
It is not good time to start from seeds so buy some starter plants from a nursery.
The ones you buy already potted are meant to be transplanted in bigger pots. If you leave them in their original pots they will not grow. Also when you transplant them to bigger pots you need to make sure that you save them from transplantation shock. That is try to take them out of the pot without exposing the roots. water that them first before trying to take them out. You can watch some you tube videos as to the right methods of transplantation.