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No Dig gardening is historically practised within the floor, typically (however not at all times) in raised beds. Consciousness of No Dig gardening has risen lately, due to the work of inspiring growers like Huw Richards, Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty. However does it additionally work in containers? Right here I share my ideas and expertise. I’d love to listen to yours within the feedback beneath.
The advantages of No Dig
The most important advantage of No Dig gardening within the floor – in addition to much less work – is decreased disturbance of the microbial life within the soil. Disturbance, sadly, harms vital fungal networks and damages micro organism populations. Vegetation want these fungi and micro organism to entry their meals, in the identical means that we’d like micro organism in our stomachs to digest our meals. By serving to microbial life to flourish, No Dig helps vegetation to develop stronger and more healthy. One other profit is much less weeds. As decreased disturbance brings much less weed seeds to the floor the place they will germinate.
Making use of No Dig to Containers
Can we get these identical advantages by practising No Dig in containers? Attributable to the truth that the amount of soil in a container is far, a lot smaller, our containers will normally have much less microbiological variety, and fewer prolonged fungal networks than within the floor. In consequence, digging in containers will most likely do much less hurt than digging within the floor. That mentioned, it’s useful in container gardening to imitate nature as a lot as attainable. So it is smart to try to encourage and assist as a lot organic exercise in our pots as we will. For instance, I make and add worm compost to my containers. Worm compost is filled with microbial life, and helps create a extra biologically lively potting combine that vegetation develop stronger and extra vigorously in. My purpose to nurture soil life in containers can also be why I have been experimenting with No Dig container gardening. For instance, I now reduce my tomatoes and beans off on the base, leaving the roots to rot down within the soil. I then add a layer of worm compost to the highest of the pot. I sow seeds or plant straight into this, disturbing the contents as little as attainable. With hungrier vegetation like tomatoes, I’ll then add one other mulch of worm compost to provide them a lift in the course of the season.
The potential advantages of No Dig in containers embrace:
- Much less disturbance of the important microbial life vegetation want.
- Leaving roots to rot down in soil, gives meals for to assist assist microbial life in containers.
- Much less disturbance helps preserve extra air gaps. And roots left to rot also needs to assist to create extra air channels by way of the combination.
No Dig and Re-Utilizing a Potting Combine annually
I even have a hunch that No Dig in containers makes it simpler to re-use the identical potting combine, yr after yr. It’s because the construction of a potting combine tends to deteriorate with time. The consequence of that is that the variety of air gaps within the combine lower. (Plant roots and soil life each must breathe). Nevertheless, if we practise No Dig and don’t disturb the substrate, extra air gaps (eg the place roots rot down) are prone to stay. This could make it higher for rising. This hunch is backed up by an statement. I’ve a pot of 5 yr previous coir and a pot of 5 yr previous wooden chip compost that I develop tomatoes in utilizing No Dig. Over time the construction of the coir has deteriorated way over the wooden chip. As tomatoes like a properly aerated soil, because of this you’d most likely guess they might do higher within the wooden chip. Nevertheless, they appear to develop equally properly in each. I can not make certain, however this would possibly point out that No Dig helps the coir to retain extra air gaps.
Outcomes from my No Dig Trials
Generally, my trials utilizing No Dig (or, extra precisely, digging as little as attainable!) to develop tomatoes, courgettes / Zucchini and French beans in containers have all produced robust, wholesome vegetation. I haven’t got conclusive proof that it’s a higher strategy, however intuitively it feels proper and I’ll proceed to do extra. It is not important in container gardening – I’ve had a lot of success with out it – however I do assume it’s price attempting, significantly in bigger containers.