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Container Gardening

Mix for Bottomless Container on Ground

14 years ago

Mix experts:

I'm planting a rose in a large (18-gallon) tub with the bottom cut out, and which will sit on bare earth. (The site is under a tree, so I'm using the container to give the rose a head start against the tree roots, as well as for aesthetics.) What sort of mix should I use for this? I'm in Phoenix, so heat/dryness is an issue; I'd prefer to leave the watering to my drip system and not use a super fast-draining mix. I'm figuring drainage won't be a significant issue, because the container is bottomless and wicked by the earth. But it's not quite the same as planting in the ground, either, because water obviously won't disperse sideways.

Thoughts?

As an aside, I'm not too concerned about the container overheating -- it's a round plastic tub inside a 24" square tree box, so the container itself won't get direct sun and I'll be able to insulate around it. It will certainly be warmer than a couple feet underground, but I think it will be manageable.

Thanks!!

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Comments (4)

sprtsguy76
14 years ago
I'm not an expert by any means and maybe A1 will have some insight on this but since the bottom of the container is cut out and the earth will be acting as a giant wick I myself would use regular garden soil mixed together with some of the native soil. JMO

Damon
meyermike_1micha
14 years ago
Me too, I would do as Damon said and I would use what works for me and my plants according to my climate..

Living in Arizona, I would assume that you would want a soil that drains well, but holds moisture for a good amount of time...

For sure I would use a mix that drains well since you will be using a drip system..Plants can rot in a soil that stay wet too long even in Arizona, just ask my cousin..Especially in the winter cooler months..

Mike
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I have a new garden too that could use more organic matter than just the green matter (corn, beans, peas, etc) that grew in it this year, being worked in. I have several large plastic bags, and now that the leaves have been dropping from the trees this past week, I plan to visit some local parks on my way home from work and scoop up some of the leaves. In lots of areas the wind has already blown them into condensed piles/areas, so it should be to hard of work. I'll take a small dustpan with me to help scoop. Maybe that could work for you? I would also like to know how I can get my hands on some old, used, discarded (and thus free?) tires, the smaller ones, trailer size. I'd read they are good for planting vegetables that like to have warmer roots (melons, tomatoes). And that would raise the plant up a bit, not as much as the greenhouse shrub pots, which are now hard to come by since the municipality I live in has stopped the annual spring cleanup, where everybody stuck out what they wanted the garbage man to take away (old chairs, pots, wood, you name it). Darn. ~kioni~
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sparklynnrose
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks guys, that was pretty much what I was thinking. This will be my first summer here so my mix is going to be fairly experimental regardless. I'll probably include some peat and some perlite, but maybe (cover your eyes, Al) vermiculite instead of the perlite?

In re: the drip, everything on the line (mostly roses, not desert plants) is new this year and will need more frequent watering this summer than well-established plants, but I do have decent shade. I'm expecting to water every other day in the worst of the heat. The container will be in a relatively shady location as well, and though the rose will be huge someday, it isn't yet. So I'm looking for something to hold water for 48 hours.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
14 years ago
I would use about 60-70% native soil if it's decent; if it's not, I would use builders sand (same %) and make up the remaining 30-40% with good compost. This is another example of everyone recognizing that this would actually be a small raised bed, so there is little concern for the PWT that would assuredly accompany the same mix in conventional containers, and using vermiculite would pose no problems either. ;o)

Al

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