# Growing fruit



## Kiah (Mar 12, 2006)

I am hoping to pick the brains of some gardening FFs out there!  We got our first garden last year and so far have done nothing with it.  I am utterly clueless though have got a couple of books out of the library which is starting to give me a few ideas.  Anyway, we have inherited a number of pots in our garden from previous owner so I thought that might be a good place to start as we have a nice patio area that would look far nicer with some plants.  I was thinking that I might also be able to involve my little boy easier if we start with pots.  Reading my library books one thing that does sound relatively simple and fun is growing fruit in pots, I was thinking of strawberries and blueberries.  Is really as easy as it sounds  I am very, very, very clueless over anything gardening related - I don't even know how to grow a sunflower    So if anyone has any hints and tips (and full instructions  ) they would be very very much appreciated  

Thanks
Matty xxx


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## Stalyvegas (Oct 14, 2007)

Hiya

Bit of a gardening novice myself - however last year I got some dwarf fruit trees from the garden centre, they were about a fiver each and apart from gooseberries had all been bred to be prickle/spine free so were safe enough to have around the girls.  The blackcurrants were very succesful as were the redcurrants - logan berries not so much but it could have been the lack of care  

I do have strawberries in a big tub and I got a pretty poor harvest and they got eaten by the slugs so it was a bit frustrating...

Good luck with things  

R
xx

I found esp for the beginner that seedlings were much easier to deal with than seeds, plus you got to see some results quicker, kept me interested!


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## Caz (Jul 21, 2002)

I started growing fruit and veg last year, primarily for my little boy to enjoy doing it with me (Dirt? Worms? Getting messy and delicious fruit at the end? Was there any doubt he'd love it?  ) 
It is fairly easy if you're not overly fussy about having a high yielding crop and it's mostly for fun. 

Strawberries are very easy to grow. All you need is a decent sized tub (you don't need to get a proper strawberry planter - mine are just in pots) and keep them in a sunny spot with plenty of water and feed them from time to time. You'll need to lay matting or straw down on the soil to stop the fruits draping on dirt and rotting and you may need to put netting over them to stop birds eating them when the start fruiting. Aside from that, just keep an eye out for the usual slugs and bugs and treat with appropriate methods. 

Anything that grows in a bush (like blackberries etc.) I would avoid in pots because they need more room that a pot would allow.

You can also grow herbs in pots and they do well and are useful. Also, if you want something nice but not necessarily edible, lavender grows really well in pots, smells lovely and attracts lots of bees which are also good for children to observe and learn about. I would also recommend hardy fuschias and general annual bedding plants like begonias, marigolds and impatiens because they are colourful and easy to grow. The only problem with annuals is you need to replace them every year so, unless you want to faff about with seeds and cuttings, they can be costly. 

Sunflowers are obscenely easy to grow and a lot of fun for little ones. Start them in small pots as seeds and then, when they are about 12 to 24 inches tall, transfer them to beds in the garden. I grew some in pots last year and they didn't do so well, but you can buy dwarf varieties that are specifically to grow in tubs. When they have flowered, you can dry the heads for decoration, or remove the seeds and use them as bird food (which is a lot healthier for them than bread) and to grow more the following year. 

The only problem with growing things in pots is you do need to keep an eye that they don't dry out (which they can do very quickly in the heart of summer) and you may need to give them plant food regularly becuase they can't draw nutrients up from the soil so easily. 

C~x


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## clairelh1 (Sep 8, 2004)

There's a thread for those of you who are interested in growing own fruit and veg here:

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=146373.165

As for growing fruit on the patio, you can get patio trees - small blueberry bushes, patio apple trees etc. I've got a few strawberry plants edging a large pot, they did give some fruit last year, not a lot, but not sure if that was down to it being their first year. We also have a blueberry bush, two apple trees and a pear. I believe you can also grow cranberries in pots too.

We have problems with sunflowers in our garden, the pesky slugs and snails devour them all!


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## Kiah (Mar 12, 2006)

Thank you so much for your replies 

Caz - I am just hoping my plants _live_, never mind actually give us any fruit worth eating    I think my LO will enjoy it anyway for the exact same reason as yours  Definately going to give strawberries a try and hoping to plant sunflowers tomorrow. My grand plan at the moment is to have as much in the way of low maintenace perenials erm, those things that grow every year  (oh good Lord what did I tell you!) in my borders with a few pretty flowers like marigolds etc and then my pots with more annuals then if they don't get done I can hide them in the shed   Either that or else I will just have a huge rectangle of grass, stick a goal post at one end and DH will be happy 

Stalyvegas - Will definately look for non prickly versions of things then. LO probably would notice if he got a rose bush in his vest but I'm a wimp 

Thanks for the link clairelh - will have a look  Really am keen on trying some different fruits, whether they work or not!

Matty xxx


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## Caz (Jul 21, 2002)

Perennials are the way to go if you want fairly easy cover without too much work. I grow loads of aquiliegas, partly because I love them and secondly because they look pretty and self seed. I also have foxgloves (I know they are supposed to be poisonous but I've never had a problem with my DS touching them - so long as he knows not to and why) dicentras, penstemons, campanulas, large poppies etc. I also have a couple of shrubs and things like lavenders and loads fo fragrant climbers - jasmines and honeysuckles are just lovely to sit out and get drunk on the scent on a summer's evening. 
I tend to chuck down a whole load of wildflower /meadow flowers seeds in spring and they just fill up all the gaps and it all dies back enough for me to dig over in the autum. After a while they tend to self seed too so save you lots of work replanting. 


Thanks for the thread link Claire. I will definitely check it out. I have a huge problem with snails (not slugs but same problem really) and I was told putting coffee grounds down can help deter them. I've been saving coffee grounds all winter and am about to put that to the test! 

C~x


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