I grow just about everything in containers, partly to stay on top of the weed situation around here (surrounded by fields...the weeds are just amazing!) and partly because the only place I have for a garden is in an area that's sub-irrigated, translation: sopping wet!

Here's a link to some very good information on container soils:
http://cubits.org/containergar...

My hope is you will all benefit from my research on container gardening. Bookmark the page and when it's too hot, too cold, too stormy, pull up a chair and enjoy learning to create successful container gardens.
http://gardenersdetective.web....

This container gardening link is a resource of many links which will either drive you crazy (who can read all those links?) or serve as inspiration for you to find some of your favorite combinations when planning your container gardens.

http://gardenersdetective.web....

Did your containers turn out as expected? Now is a good time to journal what went right but most of all what went wrong so we don't repeat the same mistakes next time around. Here's a look at some of my containers after a full season of long hot days.

Ok, summer is almost over....show me some of yours.

I have to say, mine did not fare quite so well! I had plans of fixing up the area behind our house that we have fenced in for our dogs -- when we kind of "inherited" the 2 dogs last year they completely trashed my shade garden of hostas, bleeding hearts and columbine there, so this spring I dug everything up and potted lots of the plants, gave lots away, and the plan was to use some river rock as a border at the edge of the house and then have some nice containers with the shade plants so they wouldn't get trampled.... unfortunately, with one thing and other being higher on the priority list, this hasn't yet materialized. Maybe next year! (and we won't even talk about my poor petunias in flower boxes on the deck railing -- they looked great for most of the summer but are done now, and I never even took a picture of them!)

Are those caladiums that you're growing? That's something that I've never had much luck with -- do you start them early, indoors? What do you use for potting medium in your containers?

Sandy I know what you mean I was suppose to strip wall paper and paint this spring and summer but worked on the garden instead. Figured I could work on that when it gets cold.

I use fafard #51 or #52 which I purchase at a discount from http://www.hummert.com/
It is bark based potting medium. It is fabulous for everything except my succulents. Very well drained and I had to water my containers everyday and twice when temps got over 100. For my succulent type plants I add sand and gravel. Not that successful and tried cactus potting mix which was much better but I'm gonna take some good notes from the succulent cubits this winter and try potting them up in better medium.

We have a local tropical propagator and she recommended fafard + osmocote slow release fertilizer then blue stuff (miracle grow, peters grow, or whatever is available in your area) at half strength once a week. That has been extremely successful for me.

With the above combination and all the 100 degree days this summer my tropicals were premo.

This was my first year with caladiums gave it a try cause I hit a big dollar sale of 4" pots. I was also gifted some bulbs from KATG in June and it was so hot here they took off like wildfire. It was the first time I ever planted caladium bulbs and considering my success I would buy from her resource in a heartbeat. Caladiums 4 less http://www.caladiumbulbs4less..... My local extension service tracks ground temperatures. The caladiums, elephant ears and such really don't perform very well till it is consistently 60 degrees at night and the soil warms up. It is not worth the trouble and mess for me to start early indoors, just requires patience till it gets hot enough.

gardenersdetective said: The caladiums, elephant ears and such really don't perform very well till it is consistently 60 degrees at night and the soil warms up. It is not worth the trouble and mess for me to start early indoors, just requires patience till it gets hot enough.

I think I see what my problem is -- many years we never get temps consistently 60 degrees at night!

This year would have been the exception to that, I don't remember ever having this hot of a summer -- too bad I didn't plant any! I can see I also need to work on the potting mix thing, no wonder I'm never very happy overall with my container plants -- time to break out of the MG rut!

Sandy it was unusually hot here this summer as well. My EE's and caladiums were exceptional this year so that tells me they love it hot, they really do want all that fertilizer and wet conditions. I thought everybody vacations in your area to escape the heat???

Would you believe we had relatives from Florida come up to stay with us for about a week and a half during the hottest part of our summer? Guess they really didn't need to bring those sweatshirts along... at least now they might believe us when we say it's hot here, although usually it's only for a couple of days! We had to go for a ride just to get cooled down, the car has AC but the house doesn't! (Actually, now that i think about it, we went for a ride to the local bar & grill that also has AC)

At least the garden has been really happy this year.

They might not be coming back any time soon to beat the heat. Well they've got an 'it can only happen to me' story that's for sure.

I want to know about container gardening bush cucumbers with some companion plants how big a container do I need?

5 gallon bucket. Drill a few holes in the bottom. Put a bit of cloth on the bottom to keep the soil in. Use potting soil and add slow release fertilizer if not included. Its a good start.

I gardened on apartment balconies for years and grew tomatoes, peppers, beans and cucumbers where people said I couldn't. If the light is weak, add mirrors to reflect some back. Or even aluminum foil on plywood. It helps confuse the insects, too. Foliar spraying helps in weaker light.