Pat Johnson was our guest speaker on mound growing in August. She also discussed container growing and herbs.
For her container growing she uses buckets or tubs with many holes drilled a few inches from the bottom (around the sides, not the bottom) of the bucket. This allows water to be held in the bucket but prevents it from being flooded. Pat uses pieces of Styrofoam in the bottom (I use Styrofoam peanuts myself) and then puts in her soil.
When starting a new garden Pat puts down wet newspaper thickly as the first layer to prevent weeds from peaking through. She says that newspaper breaks down slower than cardboard so she prefers this in her layers. The next layer is that of mulch. The free stuff at Lehigh Acres Community Park North is just fine for this. You can also purchase a square yard of mulch or compost at Lee County Solid Waste's Buckingham facility for $10. They will load your truck for you.
She continues layering wet newspaper and mulch for at least two thicknesses. Pat uses wet newspaper because it flies around in the wind otherwise. On top of the last layer of mulch Pat applies dollar store dish soap on top to keep the mulch in place when watering.
Pat digs a hole in the mulch and adds soil to the hole then plants into the soil.
Pat says she has never had luck with lavender and french tarragon and notes that basil is easily hit with frost.
Ginger can be purchased from a grocery such as "Save-A-Lot", barely covered, when night time temperatures are in the 70's. The best ginger to purchase should be light colored. The darker colored ginger has been sitting a while at the grocer. The ginger can also be allowed to start to sprout in the house before putting outside in soil.
Pat recommends purchasing or using old blinds as plant markers. Just cut the blinds to the length you want. Using a grease pencil or a regular pencil works best to mark it with.
If you are using a "Root Tone" type rooting powder: keep it in a cool spot. It is alive.
Pineapple tops should be twisted off and can be cut into quarters all the way through the greenery and base to create 4 plants from one top.
Pat recommends starting papaya in November in a pot. She grows hers as annuals. She plants hers in berms (hills) as described above. Green papaya can be boiled and eaten with butter and salt, grated raw and used as cabbage in coleslaw (delicious!), or used to make an apple pie (Pat boils it first for 5 minutes).
While this is not everything discussed, it covers most of the highlights.
