[monaraebeads]

I planted peas, tomatoes, spinach and green onions in the larger cage, and peppers and basil in the smaller cage. I was hoping the cage would serve as a trellis for the climbers. They both have a soil depth of 8". The plants are staying really small; could it be from over watering? I also wanted to share a picture of a resident; I found this peach colored tree frog under the petunias and it's still there a month later!

 

[wearingair]

monaraebeads, looks real neat especially the peach colored frog. not sure why your plants aren't growing. Did you fertilize, are they getting enough sunlight?

 

[Tammy]

what a unique gardening container! and that little frog is so stinkin' cute!!!

i would wonder the same thing as far as amount of sunlight in regards to growth of your plants. and even though 8 inches of soil depth might seem like enough, roots really do like to dig down deep. I also think that perhaps in containers it's easy to keep the soil moist, but I've found that letting the soil get a bit dry (not bone dry) between watering, forces the plants to dig their roots down deeper to look for water which in turn helps build a good strong root base - which makes for healthier and better producing plants. That's my experience at least. if the soil is moist all the time, the roots don't have to work very hard to get a drink and don't seem to be as strong.

 

[Gardening Momma]

Great idea!

 

[monaraebeads]

Well, The tomatoes went crazy about 2 weeks ago and they started leaning toward center, as if to get more sun, so I moved that cage out for more sun. The cage downstairs with peppers and basil has always been in full sun 6-8 hours a day. I started watering them at dirt level and avoided leaves and they started to shoot up and now have flowers. Someone suggested to me that the slow growth was because they are from seed.

I don't think I will plant in the bird cages again though. I thought the leaves would just find their way through the cage, but it seems to me they are more hampered. If I do plant in them again it needs to be something that will easily climb rather than grow upwards.