Do you want to garden, but don’t have enough yard? Do you have difficulties getting anything out of container gardening? No problemo. You’re exactly where you need to be.
Like lots of people in urban and suburban areas, I don’t have much space that’s appropriate for gardening. You may think, Hey, Canada is supposed to be cold, but the truth is for a short time it gets very, very hot: upwards of 42C and higher on some days (110+F). This is a major challenge for container gardens with their small, easy to heat “soil beds” and lack of accessible water. Many container plants will suffer and die horrible deaths despite your best efforts.
There is a thing called a Sub-Irrigated Planter (or SIP for short) or sometimes known as a self-watering container. The concept is simple: you have a large-ish reservoir beneath the surface that feeds water upwards to your plants. And a quick Google will tell you many ways to make or buy SIPs, from the EarthBox, which is simple but costly, to thousands of different types of home-made SIPs from buckets and Rubbermaid tubs.
YOU SHOULD NOT GROW YOUR FOOD IN A — USED PLASTIC BUCKET OR RUBBERMAID TUB