The Secrets of Organic Container Growing

Image Gallery Organic hanging baskets can be decorative as well as practical, indoors and out.

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by bob Kornegay

Lush ornamentals, indoor herbs, year-round vegetables, and colorful hanging baskets can all be yours . . . naturally.

It's quite a treat to pick a fresh sprig of rosemary or thyme in the middle of February . . . that little piece of summer fills the air with garden freshness. Just as enjoyable is the lush beauty of a hanging basket that's overflowing with ornamental plants (or vegetables!).

You can create such indoor plantings successfully and organically, but let me be honest: The task is not as easy as container gardening with chemical amendments. After all, an organic soil is not simply a mixture of wholesome ingredients but a medium filled with biological activity . . . and that activity is hard to maintain in a small, enclosed container. To do so, you'll have to apply both extra attention and some special know-how. I've been perfecting my indoor organic growing techniques for the past five years—three of those at MOTHER's Eco-Village—so I've learned a lot of the secrets of indoor organics the hard way: through experience. I'll be glad to share them with you here, especially as they pertain to two of my favorite indoor plantings—kitchen herbs and hanging ornamental baskets.

SOIL MIXES

Organic soil contains complex living nutrient chains that are in a constant state of renewal. Warm, moist gases from decomposition foster fungi and bacteria. Organic surface litter and subsoil minerals feed earthworms, which leave their humus-rich castings for plant roots. Everything is connected. To maintain a container organically, then, you have to feed the soil in order to feed the plant.

Consequently, organic container growing demands involvement— you can't just stick an herb, vegetable, or ornamental in a pot and forget it. The easiest and best long-term plan is to annually reconnect a contained plant with natural soil by growing it outdoors during the warm months. (I do this with almost all of my perennial herbs.) Another general rule is that large containers work a lot better than small ones: They provide more room for roots and soil organisms to intermingle. Of course, some plants—such as jade, dieffenbachia, and most flowers—do better when potbound. These will need to be repotted often to keep their soil fresh (unless they're particularly slow-growing).

The actual soil you use will have to be mixed carefully. The single most important quality you're after is good structure: The constant watering a pot or basket requires would soon break down ordinary garden soil. I start of by layering stones or pieces of broken clay in the bottom of any container to provide drainage. (I use clay—not plasticpots.) Then I add a layer of worm castings or quality compost made entirely from vegetative matter (no manure). If the pot will hold heavy feeders—such as tomatoes or blue flowers—I then put in a layer of ground-up egg-shells to provide extra calcium.

Next comes' a soil mix that's very similar to the seedling flat mix we use when starting plants for MOTHER's gardens. I combine five parts oak leaf mold . . . four parts good topsoil . . . two parts compost . . . two parts coarse, sharp sand . . . one to two parts worm castings . . . and a pinch of Earthrite C allpurpose organic fertilizer. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Earthrite C is available from Zook & Ranck, Rt. 1, Gap, PA 17527.] If I'm going to keep the plant contained for a long time, I'll add two parts oak bark chips to this mix to provide structure and a long-term nutrient supply.

This mix is mostly carbonaceous and very stable. Its loose texture opens a lot of surface area to soil microorganisms. You can also add one part perlite, vermiculite, or milled sphag num moss if you like. These help lighten the soil and have a remarkable ability to absorb and retain both water and air. They have no nutrient value, however.

Be sure that you mix your container soil ingredients on a clean surface—I wipe my counter first with a 10% chlorine bleach solution. You can keep any extra mix clean for later use by storing it in an airtight plastic bag.

Does all this soil mixing sound like a lot of work? Well, it's my belief that organic container growing demands a quality soil. However, sometimes I do make things simpler for myself by buying a high-quality potting mix from a nursery and adding compost (and/or worm castings), sea kelp, bonemeal, and Earthrite C. Such commercial mixes are mostly mineral and organic in origin, but they're generally sterile, as well. That's why I add some extra supplements to supply and help nourish soil fauna. I use this "nursery-based" mix mainly on ornamentals that will never be put directly into the garden, because good commercial potting soil can maintain its structure almost indefinitely.

If you're going to be keeping any plant in a container for more than a couple of months, you must provide it with some occasional supplemental feeding. Spraying the foliage about every ten days with a weak solution of seaweed is a very efficient way to feed it. Calcium nitrate can also be sprayed on—again in a well-diluted solution—to provide a direct nitrogen boost.

A whole bunch of homemade concoctions derived from fish, manure, herbs, or compost can be applied to the soil. But most of these— especially manure teas—should not be sprayed on the leaves: They will increase the likelihood of plant disease. Applied as liquid supplements to the soil, they'll feed the organisms that, in turn, feed the plant.

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