Planting Depth

Hi 

Just picked up Mel's book and I'm very exited by the possibilities. 
As a gardening newbie however I was a little dissapointed that there wasn't a list of plants and their required planting depth. Whether they needed a 30 x 30 x 15 CM box or a 30 x 30 x 30cm  box or even higher for certain potatoes like 30 x 30 x 50 cm 
From the notes in the book I gather that long carrots, leeks, aubergine, chillies, peppers and chard require the 30 x 30 x 30cm  box but are there others? 

I would also really love to be able to find a list that tells me about fruit tree varieties and what dimensions container they will need to start with and what dimensions container they will need for their final pot (height, depth, plastic, terracotta, wood ?) or how small you would have to keep the pot to maintain a certain height. How small can you keep the pot without killing the tree? Same questions applies to berries. 
I dream of having rows of espaliered fruit trees of all different kinds in my (average sized) backyard. Against the fence or brick walls. But I  want to be able to fully contain the roots in a container of some kind. 

Sites like Dave Wilson and deepgreenpermaculture and RHS tell me it's possible but I would really like some details. Is there a book or website or spreadsheet that has this information?

Hi!
You already have the book so that's a great start?  Any boxes yet?

I have planted everything in about 6" of MM and they do just fine.  My carrots usually go into 6" of MM as I often use Danvers Half Long, and they only get about that long.  The best way I've found to know how much depth I need is to look at the seed packet or planting stick that comes with the plant before buying.

Try to catch Plantoid when he's online.  He has some beautiful grapes, but I don't know if he has other fruit or not.  There are others with potted trees that may chime in to help you, too.

Good luck, have fun and keep us updated.  Photos are good!

CC

Siri, Welcome to the Forum from California, US. Aubergine, chillies, peppers and chard only need 6" (15 cm) in depth. I hope others can help you with your other questions.

Thank you for your responses 

I haven't got any boxes yet as our garden requires a serious overhaul before I can get to that stage. And I will need to save up some serious cash for that. At the moment we are growing things in pots and grow bags. (not quite SFG) I'm keeping a digital diary of our feeble gardening efforts here andrewandmilenasgardening.weebly.com

I found this info on raintreenursery.com but it refers to pots in gallons which doesn't feel all that useful to me. I would prefer the dimensions (diameter & height). It also describes a rather complex soil mix. 

Soil Mix Recipe

Medium bark 30-50%
Peat or peat/compost 30-50%
Pumice or perlite 20%
2 Tbsp lime/dolomite lime for each 5 gallons
1 Tbsp bone meal or rock phosphate
1 Tbsp kelp meal
pH should be about 6.0-6.3.

Eventual size pot for various plants:

Medium Pot (20+ gallon)

EMLA 27 Mini Dwarf Apple
Columnar Apple
Genetic Dwarf Peach and Nectarine
Fig
Olive
Contorted Filbert
Eucalyptus as a shrub
Flowering Quince
Everbearing Raspberry
Free Standing Blackberry

30 gallon wine barrel

Dwarf Cherry on Gisela 5
Espaliered Apple
Espaliered Pear
Espaliered Plum
Gunnera

10 to 20 gallon pot

Citrus
Pomegranate
Goji Berry
Ornamental Quince
Gooseberry
Currant
Sweet Bay
Sea Berries
Aronia

Long, narrow planter

Strawberries
Groundcovers

Shallow container (15+ gallon)

Blueberries
Lingonberry
Cranberry
Any other groundcover

  sirithaniel  
from Kelejan in British Columbia.

I like you idea of container grown fruit trees against a wall.  I assume you want your containers to be of a uniform size?  Or not? Rectangular, round?

Hi

Uniform doesn't matter too much to me because I can always do a container in another container. For example I could have a large high raised bed and within that several containers of varying sizes according to the needs of the trees. I like the idea of square containers though rather than round.

You have that covered then.  Good idea, containers within larger ones.  I think I would like square ones as well.

Hi Siri. Missed you earlier... sorry... And welcome from Atlanta, GA!

I do just about everything in boxes 6-8" deep, depending on the lumber I find on sale.  For carrots, I usually double-up and go twice as high, however the quantity of Mels Mix required to fill deeper boxes can get out of hand.  I do several varieties including Kuroda, Tendersweet, Nantes, and Danvers. 

Sometimes I buy cedar pickets on sale for fence building...6' long.  So when I make 4x4 boxes I end up with 2' left overs.  So I build carrot boxes that are 2x2 and about 12" deep...I eliminate the grid to gain extra planting space...lots of carrots in a small space.

I also tend to not use bottoms to my boxes and loosened/improved the soil below...so my plants can send roots down below the mels mix if needed.

Picked up another book, this one by the RHS about growing crops in Pots and it has some information on fruit trees. Not much on depth again though and nothing on Height. It also says to grow courgettes in a 60 cm diameter container which I know is way more than it needs so i'm not sure how much faith to put in this book. 

It recommends

Apple Trees
'Arthur Turner', 'Emneth Early', 'Discovery', 'Pixie' and 'Sunset'
M26 or M9 rootstock 
in a pot that's 45-50 cm in diameter and 40 cm at least deep
in Loam based potting compost with grit

Pears 
'Beth', 'Beurre Hardy', 'Catillac', 'Concorde', 'Conference', 'Doyenne Du Comice'
Quince C Rootstock
in a pot that's 45-50 cm in diameter 
in Loam based potting compost with grit

Figs
'Brown Turkey', 'Brunswick', 'Petite Nigra', 'White Ischia', 'White Marseilles'
In a pot that's 35-40cm in diameter
in nutrient rich Loam based potting compost with grit

Citrus
C. Reticulata Mandarin Group 'Nules', C. X Paradisi 'Marsh', C. X Meyeri 'Meyer', C. Limon 'Garey's Eureka', C. Sinensis 'Washington', C. Aurantiifolia 'Tahiti', C. Unshiu 'Owari'
in a pot that's 50 cm or more in diameter
in Loam based potting compost with 20% grit 

Cherries
'Meteor', 'Morello', 'Nabella', 'Merchant', 'Stella', 'Summer Sun'
Table or Colt Rootstock
in a pot that's 60 cm or more in diameter
in Loam based potting compost

Peaches
'Avalon Pride', 'Bonanza', 'Duke Of York', 'Garden Annie', 'Garden Lady', 'Peregrine', 'Red Haven', 'Rochester'
Pixy or St Julien A Rootstock
in a pot that's 20 cm in diameter, Final pot 40 cm in diameter
in Loam based potting compost with grit

Plums
'Shepherd's Bullace', 'Farleigh Damson', 'Cambridge Gage', 'Blue Tit', 'Opal', 'Victoria'
Pixy Rootstock
in a pot that's 60 cm in diameter 
in Loam based potting compost with grit

Olives
'Africana', 'Aglandau', 'Cailletier', 'El Greco', 'Frantoio', 'Mission', 'Sativa'
in a pot that's 30-35 cm in diameter
in Loam based potting compost with grit

Nice information, thank you.