IN THIS ARTICLE Equipment | Plant Choice | Instructions | Long-term Care | Our Picks
These days, most people live in cities which usually means less space for a garden. Less space doesn’t stop you from growing fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit though. By planting in containers, you can grow just about anything. Growing in containers also means you can place them where ever you have room, usually a patio, porch, balcony, or window sill.
All you need to grow vegetables in a small space is, containers, potting soil, a sunny space, and your favorite vegetable seedlings. It really is that simple.
Limited space aside, growing vegetables in containers or pots actually offers a lot of benefits over growing vegetables in the ground. You can give every vegetable plant in your container garden the correct soil, by purchasing a Potting Soil mix better suited to the plant. You can position your pots in places where they get just the right amount of sun and shade. Your Potting Soil doesn’t come with pests that garden soil may have. You can choose varieties of vegetables specifically developed for a high yield in a small space. Most of all though, growing vegetables in containers delivers delicious vegetables to your home.
What Equipment Do You Need To Grow A Vegetable Container Garden
When you create a vegetable container garden, there is a small set of tools and supplies you need.
- Garden Trowel (Hand Trowel)
- Garden Gloves
- Containers with drainage holes (approximately 6 per container)
- Shade cloth, wind cloth, or landscape fabric
- Your favorite vegetable seedlings (these can have quite different growing requirements)
- Potting Soil mix (you may need more than 1 type). Check out our recommendations:
- Fertilizer (slow release or organic). Check out our recommendations:
No matter what vegetable plants you’re growing in your container garden, you need a small set of tools. These tools just make it easier to take care of your vegetable plants. Take a look at my detailed article “Essential Container Gardening Tools” for tips and ideas about the essentials tools you will need.
What Vegetables Grow In Containers
Most vegetables can be grown in containers, however some are just better suited to being planted outdoors in the garden. The question really is, what vegetables would you like to grow? The following are my 10 favorites to grow in containers:
- Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum)
- Peas (Pisum sativum)
- Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum)
- Lettuce and Salad Greens (Lactuca sativa)
- Both Hot and Sweet Peppers (Capsicum annuum)
- Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus)
- Radishes (Raphanus sativus)
- Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)
- Eggplant (Solanum melongena)
- Zucchini or Courgette (Cucurbita pepo)
Anything is possible. The most important thing you need to consider is, what environment each plant type enjoys. You can have vegetable plants that thrive in similar environments sharing a space (the containers next to each other), however you must keep plants that have different requirements in different spaces. An example, a Tomato plant wants lots of sun and heat. Peas, on the other hand like some sun and some shade, and a cooler climate to be happy and productive.
Choose your vegetable plants with your space in mind. Grow vegetables that will thrive in the space you have available (sun, shade, heat, and cool). Then group your vegetable containers together where the plants have similar needs for sun, soil, and water.
Instructions
Where Should I Put My Container Garden
With your vegetable plant choices in mind, you need to position your containers in places that are correct for each plant’s sunlight and temperature needs (remember the Tomato and the Pea example). It’s very easy for a gardener to over estimate the amount of sun an area receives. Use the following technique to help you build a reliable estimate.
Visit the location of your container garden in the morning, middle of the day, and late afternoon and note where the sun is on the ground. You can even take pictures to help you. Think about shadows from neighboring buildings and trees. Also consider summer and winter trees. Some trees lose their leaves in winter then grow new ones to block out all that lovely summer sun. The total daily hours of full sun, dappled sun, or shade an area receives determines what plants will grow well under those conditions.
How To Choose The Correct Container Or Pot
You can make a container out of anything! You really can. So dream up the aesthetic you’re going for and choose a container to suit. Because you’re growing vegetables, it doesn’t automatically mean they can’t look great also! There are several things you need to consider when selecting your container, Size, Drainage, and the container purpose.
Size
How much room does your vegetable plant’s root system need? You can grow Peas in a 1 quart (1 Liter) container, but they won’t be as successful as the ones grown in a 1 gallon (4 Liter) container. You need to make sure your container is large enough for the roots. Read the vegetable seedling label on the nursery pot for a guide.
Small containers hold less Potting Soil, and so hold less water. This means they dry out faster. Sun and wind will cause them to dry out. Larger containers can hold more Potting Soil and so more water. They can last longer between watering. How often do you want to water? A small decorative container will need to be watered once a day. Is that something you’re happy to do? How much room does your vegetable plant’s root system need?
Do you want to move your container garden? Large containers are heavy when loaded with Potting Soil and water. So it’s a good idea to put them in one place and leave them there once planted. Plan ahead when choosing the site.
Drainage
Every container must have drainage holes in the base. My guide is a minimum of 6 holes. I know it’s a rough guide, however having too few holes in your container and you run the risk of your precious plants becoming too wet. Too wet equals unhealthy plants. If you’re re-purposing a container, drill some holes in the bottom, at least 6. Excess water will find its way to the holes and drain. Success!
The Container Purpose
What’s the purpose of your container? Is the container to be an amazing piece of art or is it purely functional? Imagine a cluster of Succulents in a low terra cotta bowl on an outdoor table, or a group of Planter Bags full of Tomato Plants covered in ripening Tomatoes. Both ends of the spectrum, so you can see my point. Think about your container’s purpose and choose a vessel that’s right for the job. As long as you can drill drainage holes, there is no wrong. Also, just because you’re growing vegetables, you can still choose amazing containers.
What Potting Soil Do You Need
The first thing to note is, do not use garden soil. Garden soil contains insects, bacteria, and may contain pathogens you don’t want in your Container Garden. Instead buy a good quality Potting Soil mix. Potting soil does not actually contain any garden soil. Potting Soil is sterile medium that is a manufactured blend of organic and mineral ingredients. The ratio of these ingredients and other additives like bark and fertilizers help to make each product suitable for different types of plants. Always buy a good quality Potting Soil. It’s made by experts and you will get better results because of it. That simple. In the “Our Picks” section of this article you’ll find our recommendations of good quality products.
Group your plants by soil requirements (usually found as part of the vegetable seedling label on the nursery pot). From here you can decide how many different Potting Soil types are needed. If you’re lucky (or clever) you’ll be able to use only a good quality All Purpose Potting Soil. Realistically, you might need several types. The following are the questions I ask myself when deciding what Potting Soil types I need, it’s a simple way to approach making the right choice.
- Where is my plant located (indoors or outdoors)?
- How much sun and heat do my plants need?
- What are my plants’ moisture needs?
When you can answer these questions (for each vegetable plant type), you can easily find a Potting Soil blend that meets your requirements. In reality you can handle fertilizing yourself, however if it comes with some in the blend, then that’s a nice addition. If you want to go into Potting Soil in more detail, you can read my article “How to Choose the Best Potting Soil for Your Container Garden“.
How To Plant A Container Garden
Step 1
We talked about drainage holes earlier, and this is where I ask you to cover them! It’s not what it seems. I recommend you cover the container drainage holes with a small piece of shade cloth, wind cloth or landscape fabric to keep your Potting Soil inside the container and keep insects out. Cut your cloth to fit the inside bottom of your container. The material you choose must allow water to drain freely through the container holes.
TIP Spread out old news paper or paper towel on your work surface, it will help with cleanup.
Step 2
Fill the container with Potting Soil mix, on top of the cloth cut out, to 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the top of the container. If your Potting Soil does not already contain fertilizer, add fertilizer. Wearing Garden Gloves, follow the Fertilizer directions for exact measurements, and mix using your hands. Too much fertilizer can burn the roots of your plants, so a little less is better. An all-purpose fertilizer is usually a good choice. In the “Our Picks” section of this article you’ll find our recommendations of good quality products.
TIP Carefully open your Potting Soil bags so they can be easily closed again. You will need to store whatever is left over. It's always good to keep some extra Potting Soil on hand so you can top up containers and pots when needed.
Step 3
One by one, carefully take your vegetable seedlings out of their nursery pots. To do this without harming the plants, turn the pot upside down and gently squeeze the sides of the nursery pot. It will soon loosen. If it’s stuck, run a knife around the pot between the soil and the plastic.
Step 4
Using your hands (still in Garden Gloves) for each seedling, dig a hole and put the spare Potting Soil aside onto the news paper. Make each hole just deep enough so that the plant will be at the same depth it was in its nursery pot. Place each plant’s root ball into the hole and replace the Potting Soil. Don’t cover the plant crown (where the stem meets the roots) with soil. Read vegetable seedling labels to make sure you leave enough room for plants to reach their mature size. You should have Potting Soil left over on your paper covered work surface. Add this back into the correct Potting Soil bag, roll down the top and store it.
Step 5
Water the soil not the plant. Water gently and generously until the water flows out the drain holes under your container. Over the next week or so, the Potting Soil will settle, so just add more as needed. There is nothing left to do but move your container to it’s long term home and enjoy.
How To Care For A Vegetable Container Garden
Caring for your Vegetable Container Garden is based around the needs of each vegetable plant type. These needs are summed up as the correct amount of sun or shade, the correct amount of water, and fertilizing when it’s needed, and wind protection.
You’ll have taken care of the sun or shade requirement already, by placing your containers in positions that are good for the vegetable plants they hold, for example Peas under dappled sun and Tomatoes in full sun.
Water is very much plant specific. Start by following the guide on the vegetable seedling nursery pot label. This will tell you what is best for the plant. Containers can be a little tricky though. Smaller containers dry out very fast as they don’t have a large volume of soil to hold moisture. Sun and wind will dry them quickly, especially in summer. A simple test is to push your finger into the soil, down to the first knuckle. If the soil is damp, then no water is needed. Where I live, I need to water once a day in summer, especially vegetable, herb, and fruit plants. Water until you see water seeping from the drainage holes.
TIP Water in the early evening. The water has all night to soak in and no sun trying to dry it out.
Whenever you water your container garden, nutrients in the soil get washed away. So it is important to fertilize. If your Potting Soil came with fertilizer in the mix or you added your own before planting, feeding won’t be required for several months. Refer to your fertilizer label for a guide.
Once you’re ready to fertilize, use a water soluble fertilizer and apply it in line with directions on the label. Usually every 2 weeks for non-organic and organic varieties.
Conclusion
That’s it, the whole story. You have what you need to go make you very own Vegetable Container Gardens. I need to warn you though, it is quite addictive. I started with a few plant pots on a window sill. My wife and daughter number 1 liked how they looked, so they bought a tiered plant pot shelf (holds 16 containers) and filled that with all sorts of ornamentals.
Daughter number 2 and I thought we’d grow some vegetables in containers, Potatoes, Beets, and Lettuce. Now our patio is surrounded with all sorts of weird and wonderful plants. So if you’re willing, don’t waste another minute, go create a Vegetable Container Garden of your own and you’ll be hooked!
Our Picks
High-quality supplies make all the difference in plant performance. These are our picks of the best supplies for containers, so you can watch your plants thrive.
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