BDN interviews Garland about growing crops in boxes, baskets

The Bangor Daily News spoke with Kate Garland, a horticulturist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, for an article about how to grow crops in hanging baskets and window boxes. Garland cited watering as the biggest challenge when it comes to hanging crops. With water escaping out of the bottom of the container, it can be tricky to keep the soil from drying out, according to the article. Therefore, it’s important to water hanging crops daily, or even twice a day, Garland said. To ensure crops get enough nutrients, the soil in a container garden should be potting mix or a homemade blend of peat, perlite and compost, she added. The article also cited a UMaine Extension bulletin to help people create their own hanging gardens. The publication includes a list of vegetables that grow well in containers, such as red ace beets, oliver brussels sprouts, gold coin onions, littleleaf cucumbers, salad bowl lettuce, thumbelina carrots, ace sweet peppers and patio tomatoes. “These varieties are typically smaller in stature than their traditional counterparts,” Garland said.