Thanks for staying with this series. To recap, I wanted to see if I could grow radish and lettuce in cheap dollar store oil pans.
The photo above was the same pot at day 50. I must say I’m pretty impressed with the results. Fifty days for radish is kinda pushing the max growth of this vegetable. I only had one that split open. Out of the 22 seeds I planted I harvested 20 decent sized radish.
The lettuce was also a strong grower. This was the second harvest. By trimming the outer leaves. The second growth spurt was impressive. I’ve trimmed them again netting 6 plates to date of a healthy serving of salad.
Final thoughts on these small container gardens. Container gardens have pros and cons. They are easy to manage. In most cases you can tend to them on a bench so bending is minimized. Smaller containers take less water, which may be a consideration if water is a precious resource. There is usually minimal weeds. I did not see one weed take root in 50 days. Another pro is the ability to move the containers during heavy winds or torrential rain storms.
Cons include, container gardens tend to need water more frequently. The sun and wind will dry these shallow pans out pretty quick. To grow a substantial amount you’ll need lots of containers and your limited to the types of vegetables you can grow in shallow containers.
If planned correctly, you could plant in succession say every two weeks, a group of containers. This would be wise to keep the harvest spread out over a longer period of time.
With two small 16 inch oil containers, I have harvested enough lettuce and radish to serve 10 plates of salad. Granted it was just lettuce and radish. Keep this in mind. 50 days to produce 10 plates of salad with first harvest at 40 days.
Keep practicing, trying new techniques. Learn the environment and growing conditions of your area or the area of your bugout location. Most of all enjoy your garden now!
