Here are several tips for successful container garden…

Soil

Start with good soil containing a mixture of perlite, peat, and compost. Use different particle sizes to keep the soil from compacting over time. Plant roots need air as much as they need water. Varied particle size helps to drain excess water. Container garden soil compacts and turns into hard mass under the pressure of regular watering and drying process. And when it does, plant roots stop growing.  Hard, compacted soils do not grow very good plants. Add the potting soil to the compost bin at the end of the year. Compost increases air spaces and gives plants a boost in healthy nutrition.

Fertilizer

A container garden needs feeding often. Nitrogen, the building block of plant growth, come in several forms and not all can be readily taken up by plants. Urea nitrogen is the cheapest and most widely available form, but plants can not take it up in this form. Nitrogen is made available to plants through the process of nitrification. Phosphorus and potassium are also needed, but in much less quantity. Excessive amounts of these two elements can lock up trace elements, such as calcium and magnesium. Trace elements are also essential to plant health.

Water

Thoroughly water all containers until water seeps from the bottom holes. Under-watering and over-watering can lead to root development problems, poor flowering and death of the plant.