What is vertical gardening?
Vertical gardening is a technique used to grow plants on a support such as a trellis, stake, cage, or fence. Some vegetables such as pole beans, peas, and tomatoes are commonly grown in this way. Through this way, other vining crops such as cucumbers squash both summer and winter, and melons can also be grown vertically.
How to Start a Vertical Gardening
Choose a Place:-
“If you’ve got a wall that’s ugly, that’s the one you’re going to want to do,” Yates says. What type of plants you should choose will depend upon the wall you pick and how much sunlight it receives. However, if you would like to try particular plants, then choose a wall that will provide the best growing conditions for them.
Build a Frame:-
Build the entire setup before hanging it. While you can attach it directly to a wall, Yates says, building a frame to hang on the wall means taking it down will be much easier.
Attach Plastic Sheeting:-
Attach a PVC sheet of plastic to the frame. The sheets of plastic act as a backing for the fabric layer, plus keeps the water off the wall.
Attach the Fabric:-
Firstly, attach the layer of fabric to the frame. Fabric is the material in which your plants will live, and which will hold water for them. You’ll need two layers of fabric at least. And you must attach them directly to the frame with galvanized screws and stainless-steel staples as if you were stretching canvas across a frame.
Set up the Irrigation Process:-
Firstly, you can buy a standard valve and irrigation drippers, but you’ll need a propagation timer that can be set for seconds rather than minutes. You can use a quick flow of water for 10 to 15 seconds from three to six times a day, but it will be depending on weather conditions. An emitter is attached every 2 to 3 inches along the top irrigation tube and experiment to find the right balance between keeping the wall wet while not overwatering the plants.
Pros of Vertical Gardening
Grow more in a small space:-
A small yard or garden is more enough to grow more flowers, herbs, or even vegetables, utilize vertical space. Even the small space areas, like a balcony, can be maximized with vertical growing.
Everything is easier in vertical gardening:-
Once you get it started, will be the easiest part of your garden to maintain.
Vertical gardens provide cover and privacy:-
If you use a fence or even create a wall for your vertical garden, you can use it to hide something unsightly, like that big AC unit behind the house.
Grow healthier plants:-
Gardening in the vertical space increases airflow and keeps them healthier. Practices of vertical gardening above the soil may also protect your plants from soil-borne pests and diseases, like fungal and bacterial infections.
Cons of Vertical Gardening
Bugs and germs:-
Cons of vertical gardening are the effect of bugs and germs on plants. Remember that splashing water spreads germs and disease quickly. Another point, pathogens spread more slowly in soil, limited by how far moisture seeps or mud splashes.
Sun blockers:-
Another con of vertical gardening is sun blockers, keep in mind that vertical gardening is tall structures that may cast shadows over lower-growing plants. If you choose to grow a vertical garden, consider the needs of plants that may be prevented from receiving adequate sunlight.
Increased maintenance:-
Vertical gardening generally requires more maintenance than plants in the ground. Plants in vertical gardening generally need more water and may require more fertilizer since they are often exposed to the drying effects of wind and sun. Much of the plants will require regular pruning, and an indoor vertical garden will probably require hand pollination, a rewarding job that can be very labor-intensive.
Lack of support:-
Vertical gardening may not be sturdy enough to support large plants such as melons or tomatoes, although they may work well for sweet peas and other lighter plants. If you want to grow heavy plants, you may need to anchor the set-up to a more substantial support structure. This complication is one of the many downsides of vertical gardening.
