Container Fruits

[Rumi in Hawaii]

Hi Adam, this is a topic of interest to me right now because I'm trying to grow a variety of things to eat, both in pots and in the ground. I'm in Mountain View with lots of rainfall, so that may affect my success. Right now, I have a Meyer lemon and a Tahitian lime in pots, and they're doing well - lots of blossoms and small fruit setting, but most of it falling off (this is the first year, tho, so that's fine). I tried broccoli in pots, and they did well at first, but only produced very small heads or almost immediately went to seed. I have carrots in a pot (the short kind) and they're doing really well. Harvested lettuce and mizuna and tatsoi from pots as well. Herbs are in pots, and doing well, some up high on the lanai. I now have Swiss chard, both in the ground and in pots, that is doing well in both locations. My kale is being eaten by something, both in pots and in the ground. Have a tomato in a pot, growing well, producing blooms, but so far no fruit set. Our huge purple lilikoi is in a huge pot and doing well (too early to set fruit). I'm struggling with more bugs in plants that are set out in the ground at this point. Maybe having the plants lifted up six inches off the ground helps to some degree? It does seem that new seedlings and young plants do better in pots until they're strong enough to handle all the rainfall and variations in sunshine. I tried a Kubocha squash in a pot, and it grew, but fruit died on the vine; have planted it in the ground now, and we'll see what happens. It's a grand experiment right now, and I'm also considering hydroponic on a small scale and possibly some sort of greenhouse arrangement to further aid in controlling the growing environment (of course, that also increases the amount of work involved, but hey, at this point, that's alright).

Katie

Wherever you go, there you are.