Home Up Vegetables for Container Gardening

Container vegetable gardening doesn't require a plot of land to grow fresh vegetables. Many of your favorites readily adapt to container gardening and can be grown successfully on your porch, patio or deck. For the most part, you'll want to choose varieties that don't take up too much space. We've all heard the jokes about the rampant zucchini that took over the garden and you certainly don't want a beast of a vine crawling all over your porch. Choose a bush type or prepare to provide a trellis so the vines can grow up rather than out. Vegetables that are naturally small and compact or those that produce over a long period of time are perfect for container vegetable gardening. Almost any vegetable can be grown in a container garden but some of the more common would be tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, radishes and eggplant. Even sweet corn can be grown in a container although the actual yield may be too small to make it worthwhile since you generally get just one or two ears of corn per plant. What you should grow when container vegetable gardening is limited only by your own imagination and the size of the container. You can combine plants in a large pot, too, and thus create a mini-garden. For instance, if you have a large container for your vegetable garden, say about 24 to 30 inches in diameter, you might try a single tomato plant, a cucumber, a few chives and a bit of parsley. Voila! You have a Summer Salad container garden that will keep on producing right up until the first frost in the fall. Choosing the container for your vegetable gardening: Almost anything that will hold a plant can be used for container vegetable gardening. Some examples might be flower pots, buckets, bushel baskets, wooden boxes, washtubs, large food cans, or any number of things. You can even use a plastic trash bag. Just be sure your choice wasn't used for anything toxic before you plant in it. We don't want our new container vegetable garden to absorb harmful chemicals. DRAINAGE: Whatever the container, it must have drainage holes either in the bottom or at the base. This is necessary to prevent drowning your vegetable garden in excess water. COLOR: Popular opinion is that you should avoid using dark colored containers because they may absorb too much heat, thereby damaging the roots of your vegetables. In my own personal experience, the only ill effect I've seen is that I have to water more often on very hot days, and I live in SW Florida where it gets truly hot. However, if the containers used in your vegetable gardening are dark and you're worried about it, you can shade the sides of the containers or paint them a lighter color. SIZE: The size of the container in your vegetable gardening is very important. You can't grow a 6 inch carrot in a pot that's only 4 inches deep! Large vegetables like tomatoes and eggplants will need a 5 gallon container for each individual plant. Yes, you can grow them in a smaller container but they will demand a lot more attention... and the plants will be smaller. This smaller container will be more likely to experience heat damage to the roots and will definitely need more frequent watering. A good rule of thumb is to always used the largest container possible in your vegetable garden. Soil and Fertilizer for container vegetable gardening: Commercial potting soil is highly recommended for any container vegetable gardening project. For one thing, it's generally weed-free and rarely has the bugs and pests that can be in your yard. Also, it's much lighter in weight which can be a major consideration if you decide to rearrange your container vegetable garden. This artificial growing medium also has a built-in watering guide: try to lift one of your containers. If it's too heavy, it is moist enough. Too light and it needs water. Of course, this doesn't apply to the use of self-watering containers which we'll cover later. Yes, you can use regular soil in your container if you prefer. Just remember to watch out for the hole you created when you acquired that soil! And be prepared to battle all the usual soil-born critters and problems. Use a slow release fertilizer or a complete organic fertilizer at the time of planting when container vegetable gardening. That single application will keep your plants growing and producing for the entire season without danger of "burning". Watering when container vegetable gardening: A container vegetable garden will always need more watering than one planted in the ground. In the ground, a plant is able to push its roots deeper and deeper until it reaches the moisture it needs. However, a vegetable grown in a container can't do that. We must provide the moisture needed, generally on a daily basis during the hot months of summer. Don't rely on the natural rainfall to do it for you. There is only a limited amount of surface in that pot to collect the rain and even that may be blocked by the plant's leaves. Vegetable plant varieties suitable for container vegetable gardening: