GET YOUR POTS OR CONTAINERS READY FOR PLANTING
prepare pots or containers for planting
this forms one of the basic guidelines
which will help you set up your
containers or pots to make sure you're
growing in the optimum conditions and we
will go over a few myths and will try to
debunk them as well so let's get started
most whiskey barrel containers did not
come with holes drilled in them so what
you have to do is use a drill with a
half inch or one inch drill bit and
drill some holes just like that make
sure you fill them up holes and make
sure you drill holes which are fairly
equal distance from each other and most
containers should have holes pre-drilled
in them as you can see here in this
plastic terracotta pot now we need to
wash the pots thoroughly especially if
you are using it with the previous
season now some people recommend using
bleach or something to kill the bacteria
however I think you don't need to do
that because using chemicals will not
only kill the harmful bacteria but also
the beneficial bacteria so just make
sure you set your hose on the jet spray
mode and then just spray away your
container and making sure everything is
clean using some kind of elevation for
your containers makes drainage not only
easier but it also keeps the bottom part
of your container clean and free from
insects
so in the past it was recommended that
you use stones or pebbles to improve
drainage however that's a myth
it does not improve drainage at all what
you can do to improve drainage is to use
a high quality potting mix that will not
only improve drainage but will also give
you about an inch or two of extra
growing space so there's absolutely no
reason to add stones or rocks at the
bottom and also remember that potting
mixes and potting soils contain a lot of
porous medium like perlite and
vermiculite which improve drainage
automatically so you do not need stones
or pebbles or rocks below your container
all they do is just waste space in your
container just use high quality potting
mix or potting soils and you are good to
go
so once you add the potting mix or
potting soil just make sure you water
well and keep watering it at least a few
times and make sure it drains well and
drains completely now what's what I'm
gonna do is that it's gonna remove all
the air pockets within your container
and make sure that you have the right
amount of potting soil or potting mix in
your container so if you see the soil
level going down I recommend adding a
little bit more soil and then watering
it again containers dry out much faster
than the soil in the ground so you need
to make sure you add a nice drip
irrigation system which makes sure that
your container has a constant level of
moisture and also remember that the
wider that the container you use the
more drip emitters you need in your
container so you could either use a
soaker hose which covers the entire
circumference or just use multiple
emitters as you can see here
so that's all you need to know to start
a great container garden
