RECENT TRENDS IN CONTAINER GARDENING
By
Hafiz Muhammad Bilal1, Rashad Mukhtar Balal1, Muhammad Adnan Shahid2, Muhammad Zubair1, Muhammad Wajid Khan1 and Mujahid Ali3
1Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha
2Horticultural Sciences Department, Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences, University
of Florida, Florida, USA
3Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
Now a days container gardening is very beneficial and popular practice through growing plants in container. Main objectives of container gardening can be beautification, exhibition, road avenue, beautification of office and buildings, fragrance or domestic use, research, and display of plants or flower. Container gardening is not only limited for ornamental plants but edible plants like as vegetables can also be grown. Container gardening may also be termed as kitchen gardening which is very popular and very useful method for production of crops at home. In advanced or well educated countries people prefer home gardening because it is free from disease or fertilizers. It is beneficial for the health therefore; people prefer to grow vegetables at home using different size containers or pots.
Container gardening is also useful in those area and places where the climate and soil is unsuitable for the plans growth. Several type of containers that can be used for growing ornamental plants and vegetables include plastic pots, clay pots, polyethylene plastic bag, fiber baskets, water jugs , cups, bushel baskets, woody box ,tub, planter boxes, hanging basket, ice cream containers, steal boxes and cement boxes etc. But the most commonly used are clay pots, plastic pots and baskets. They are different in sizes and different in shapes so we select the container according to our requirement. Large containers hold more soil and water and stay moisture for long time. After the selection of container we select the best media for the germination and growing of plant. In markets many types of media are available but we select that is the best suited according to crop. After sowing, crop irrigation is important which can be practiced by hand shower, drip irrigation, sprinkle irrigation. Manually irrigation or drip irrigation is the best method and mostly commonly useddue to minimum water losses. Containers or pots are different in colours and shapes. Its colour and shapes is the looking well and attract the people and enhance the beautification. Balance and rhythm of the containers or pots is also play an important role in the attractiveness of the people and focalization of the place. In container gardening pots can easily moved from one place to another place to fulfill their light requirements that can vary from 6-14 hours depending upon the nature of crop. Under shade we prefer the leafy vegetables and indoor plants. Container gardening have also advantages of less risk of soil-borne disease.
Different examples of container gardening are living wall planter, bookshelf planter, egg planters, stiletto heels planters, biodegradable nestling planters, green pockets, plant wall tiles, silicone planters, vazon magnum translucent planters and indoor vegetable furniture. The most common is living wall planter and vegetables furniture.
