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Types of Containers
Container Types
Containers can be temporary or permanent, practical or whimsical, artistic or utilitarian, expensive or free. When selecting containers, use your imagination and creativity, and know how much room your crops will need to grow to their full potential. And you’ll need to decide where and how to store the containers that are portable and used only during the growing season.
Containers can be temporary or permanent, practical or whimsical, artistic or utilitarian, expensive or free. When selecting containers, use your imagination and creativity, and know how much room your crops will need to grow to their full potential. And you’ll need to decide where and how to store the containers that are portable and used only during the growing season.
- Dozens of commercially produced containers can be purchased at garden centers and through mail order catalogs.
- Dozens more everyday objects can be recycled or transformed into suitable containers- 5 gallon plastic buckets, truck tires, hypertufa troughs, wooden crates, ½ whiskey barrels, nursery pots, kids’ wading pools, plastic trash bags, and plastic storage containers.
- Avoid treated lumber products and be aware that plastics not made for outdoors use can become brittle from exposure to the elements.
- Except for the self-watering types, all containers should have holes or slats in the bottom to allow water to drain out.
- Dark colors will create higher temperatures that could injure young tender roots and prevent the full development of a plant’s root system.
- Containers made from porous materials (clay, ceramic, concrete, and wood) will dry out more quickly than containers made from plastic, or metal.
ShareThisFor more information, contact Jon Traunfeld, University of Maryland Extension Specialist
Last updated: 01/7/2011