Brochure10-5-2023rev1Columns written by Greg Grant and a Smith Co. Master Gardener which appear each Sunday on the Gardening page in the Tyler Morning Telegraph, are posted here.
Growing Vegetables in Containers
Greg Grant, Smith County Horticulturist for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
featured in Tyler Morning Telegraph, April 7, 2024
Container gardening sounds very appealing, and it is for those who have no ground in which to garden. Just be warned that gardening in containers in Texas is harder than gardening in the ground.
The number one limiting factor with container gardening in here is water. Due to gravity and the limited amount of soil contained in pots, containers in Texas often must be watered as much as twice a day to survive and produce. If a single watering is missed on a hot day, the vegetable plants will possibly die or, at the least, their production will be aborted.
There are two main ways to avoid frequent drought stress when container gardening. The first is using the largest pot size you can find. The larger the container the more soil mix it will hold and the slower it will dry out. Larger containers allow plants to have larger root systems, which are better at avoiding drought stress. I consider whiskey barrel–sized (30 gallon) containers the minimum size for vegetables. Any large container will work if there are drainage holes in the bottom. I suggest avoiding 5-gallon plastic buckets as they are just too small.
When watering, it is important to soak the entire soil area from top to bottom. Oftentimes, especially when the soil is dry, water will run off the top and down the inside of the container without soaking the roots. Use low-pressure drip irrigation to soak the entire root zone as it slowly waters the plants with little runoff.
The potting soil you use in containers will spell the difference between success and failure. There are two choices that you want to avoid. Topsoil dug from the ground is heavy and though it may drain well in the ground, it will not drain well in a container. Composted black pine bark, which the nursery industry uses to grow woody plants, is not a desirable choice either, as it drains too well and does not retain nutrients.
Though you can experiment with mixtures of compost, washed sand, and topsoil, for most beginners the best option is a professional, peat-based potting soil. Just remember that there are three grades of potting soil. Inexpensive potting soils are made from composted pine bark and are tricky. Medium-priced potting soils are made from muck peat and do a fair job. Professional potting soils are made from sphagnum peat moss (often with perlite, vermiculite, wetting agent, and nutrient charge added) and do the best job of producing vegetables in containers. They cost more but are worth it. These mixtures, which are used by most greenhouse growers, have good water- and nutrient-holding capacities, which makes a dramatic difference in container gardening. If you cannot find a professional peat-based potting mix, you can add about 50% sphagnum peat moss to the cheap, bark-based potting soil along with a slow-release fertilizer, such as Osmocote. Using a slow-release fertilizer in a container will help provide constant nutrition without leaching. Slow-release fertilizers may not provide all the nutrition your container plants need and may have to be supplemented with water-soluble fertilizers (such as Miracle-Gro or others) as needed.
Greg Grant is the Smith County horticulturist for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. He is the author of Texas Fruit and Vegetable Gardening, Texas Home Landscaping, Heirloom Gardening in the South, and The Rose Rustlers. You can read his “Greg’s Ramblings” blog at arborgate.com and read his “In Greg’s Garden” in each issue of Texas Gardener magazine (texasgardener.com). More science-based lawn and gardening information from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service can be found at aggieturf.tamu.edu and aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu.
The Tough and Resilient Crinum Lily
By: Jackie Thomason, Smith County Master Gardener
featured in Tyler Morning Telegraph, April 7, 2024
If you are tired of dealing with plants that are difficult to grow and maintain, then you might consider the Hot Country Crinum or Crinum Lily as it is more commonly known. This plant has a reputation for being junkyard tough and having the resilience of a bulldog. It is native to Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas. The Crinum Lily thrives in the southern warm weather of East Texas. It is not a lily but is a perennial bulb from the Amaryllidaceae(Amaryllis) family. The scientific name is Crinum astiaticum.
A few years ago, I was given a couple of Crinum Lilies from one of my aunts at a family reunion. I took them home and laid them along the back fence because I wanted my wife to approve the location. Something distracted me and I forgot about the Crinum Lilies. Several months later while doing yard work I discovered the Crinum Lilies and was amazed that they were still alive even though they had been neglected. I planted them and they responded well in our landscape.
The Crinum Lily is known in the South as a pass-along plant because of its hardiness. The next time you are driving through the countryside of East Texas, look and see if you can find one in an old cemetery, in a bar ditch, or at an old homestead. The house may be gone the Crinum Lily will still be there.
Crinum Lilies grow to be 2-4 feet high and 2-4 ft wide. They have green strap-like foliage that flows with elegance. Out of the foliage a shoot will extend up and flower in mid to late summer. The flowers are usually white, pink, or red/burgundy (wine and milk) in color. The fragrance of the flowers is very pleasant. That is probably the reason you find them planted along the porches of many country homes. The Crinum has a long bloom season and is quite showy when in bloom. There are other uses for the Crinum in the landscape as they can be planted in small groups for mass planting, planted to make a border, or simply put in your butterfly garden. The flower of the Crinum attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, and moths. The Crinum requires full sun or at least six hours of sunlight, but it can tolerate part shade. The soil condition preferred would be well-drained, but the Crinum is very forgiving and can tolerate many different varieties. It can even tolerate wet conditions, making it an excellent choice to plant near water. One can propagate the Crinum Lily by dividing up bulbs. Just be forewarned that a single bulb can be as large as ten to twenty pounds, so you may want to dig up and divide the outer-most bulbs. This year in my Master Gardener internship I was part of the crew whose task it was to dig up and divide the bulbs of an old “wine and milk” Crinum Lily in Frankston, TX. It took five men to dig up and retrieve the bulbs. We separated 20 to 30 bulbs from this single lily.
There are many positive features of a Crinum Lily, but unfortunately there are some negatives as well. This plant does not like cold weather and should be taken indoors if planted in containers. If you choose to leave the plant in the ground, try to cover it or at least let the once green foliage (now brown and unattractive) act as a mulch to insulate during the winter. Remember to leave the green foliage on all bulbs until it turns brown. This is important because, as long as the foliage is green, it is storing up energy in the bulb for next year’s flowers. In addition, there are several insects that are pests to the Crinum Lily: spider mites, grasshoppers, slugs, mealy bugs, and snails. Also, powdery mildew may appear on the leaves in warm, humid conditions. Finally, the most negative feature is that all parts of the Crinum Lily are poisonous. If you have a pet that likes to chew on leaves, the Crinum Lily may not be the best choice.
I think the positives for the far outweigh the negatives when it comes to the Crinum Lily. Remember, it is a southern beauty and was here way before we got here and will be here long after we are gone.
Smith County Master Gardeners are volunteer educators certified and coordinated by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
Jackie Thomason
Smith County Master Gardener