Do you want to grow vegetables and herbs but don't have room for a garden? Grow in pots or containers instead! Learn how to choose the right containers for your plants, and what plants work best in a container garden.
Vegetables you can grow in a container garden
Want to listen instead? Here you go!
Do you want to garden, but you don’t have a backyard large enough to devote to it?
Or maybe you don't even have a backyard, just a deck or a patio.
Or you live in a rented house and can’t dig up the backyard to plant vegetables. (Few landlords would stand for that!)
You might already have a small garden, but you want to grow MORE! More, more, more! I get it! I never have enough room!
You can garden in containers instead of in the ground. Containers can give you more space, even if you already have a small garden but want to grow more.
And containers are a great way to overcome poor soil, or rocky soil, or no soil at all.
Containers are also helpful to gardeners with limited mobility, as they can be placed on benches or tables for easier access, without bending over.
Containers give you control over your soil
I used to be an in-the-ground gardener.
Before we moved to Oklahoma I had a beautiful little garden patch in the "black swamp" area of the Michigan/Ohio border.
The black soil was fertile and gorgeous, the summer rains were plentiful, and all I had to do was pull weeds and harvest the bounty.
Moving to Oklahoma was a shock.
For many years after moving here, I gardened in containers instead of in the ground, so I could use good soil AND avoid fighting with the invasive Bermuda grass that grows here and threatens to take over any garden I’ve ever planted.
Even now that I use raised garden beds for most of my planting, I still use containers here and there for more gardening space, and to contain some invasive plants.
Why garden in containers
If you don't have space for a traditional in-the-ground garden, or if your only outdoor space is a deck or a balcony or a patio, you can plant your garden in containers instead.
The beauty of containers is that you can put plants where you want them, instead of being confined to a small plot of dirt in a not-so-great spot.
Have a shady yard but your deck is in full sun? Put containers on the deck.
Do you rent a home and can't replace the lawn with a garden? Use containers.
Seeds or purchased transplants will grow equally well in your pots and planters.
What do you want to grow in containers?
The first step to beginning a container garden is to decide what you want to grow.
That sounds kind of silly, but you don't want to waste precious space on vegetables that your family won't eat.
Knowing what you want to grow will also help you gather containers in the sizes and shapes that will work best for you.
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| A small herb garden in various pots, with lemon balm in front. |
How to choose vegetables and herbs for your containers
Most plants will adapt well to growing in a container, but some are better-suited than others. Many vegetables have smaller varieties that will fit better in your pots and containers.
Look for words such as "mini" and "dwarf" in the variety names, and "tidy" and "compact" in the descriptions. "Tom Thumb" is the variety name of several vegetables including tomatoes, lettuce and even peas.
Salad greens
Lettuce, spinach, and other greens grow well in wide containers. These containers don't have to be deep since the plants don't have a large root system.
You can grow a small lettuce patch in a large, wide container. (You'll find some tips on growing looseleaf lettuce in this post, and see the metal washtub I used as a salad garden for awhile.)
Carrots
Carrots, on the other hand, need a deep container. Carrots are vegetables with long roots so they need plenty of space to grow down deep.
But you might not know that there are quite a few varieties of smaller carrots that will do well in containers. Look for "baby carrots" instead. Or try oxheart carrots, which are short and stubby. There are even round carrot varieties
Or you can simply harvest the long carrot varieties early so they won't need such a deep pot.
Beets, radishes and other root crops
Beets and other root crops such as radishes and onions will grow well in large pots. Keep in mind the mature size of the root and be sure to give them enough width to grow in your containers. Wide pots will hold more plants but don't plant them too close together.
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| Herbs in small nursery pots |
Tomatoes
Tomato plants tend to be large and top-heavy, but tomatoes are a staple in most gardens.
However, you can grow tomato plants in containers.
Look for "bush" or "dwarf" varieties for tomato plants that will remain small.
There are several varieties of "micro tomatoes" available now. The plants are quite small, and the tomatoes themselves are cherry tomato size. They are well suited for container gardening.
Determinate tomato varieties won't grow as large as indeterminate plants. (Learn the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomato varieties here.)
Or grow your favorite big tomato variety in a large container such as a five-gallon bucket and use a trellis or tomato cage so the plants grow upwards instead of sprawling all over the place.
Because tomato plants are so large, you'll need one container for each tomato plant.
Peppers
Most pepper varieties have compact plants although there are exceptions.
While they don't need a trellis, peppers appreciate being staked or caged in some way to keep them upright when the fruits are ripe and heavy.
Beans and cucumbers
Bush beans and bush-type cucumbers are better suited to containers than the vining varieties unless you have a trellis system for them to climb on.
Squash
Most summer squash plants such as zucchini stay relatively small and are well-suited to large containers, but winter squash such as butternut and pumpkin require a lot of space to sprawl.
Garlic
Garlic is an excellent vegetable to grow in containers. This root vegetable doesn't need much space or a deep container. Learn how to grow garlic in pots here.
Herbs
Herb plants are usually happy growing in containers. Most varieties or herb plants remain small.
Even a rosemary plant, which can reach the size of a large bush in the right climate and location, will stay small in a pot.
Mint and other herbs in the mint family are best confined to a container anyway.
Left to their own devices, mint plants will take over a flowerbed or garden by sending out runners that develop into new plants. Growing them in pots will keep them where they belong.
Growing in containers also makes it easy to move perennial herbs to a sheltered location during the winter.
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| Zucchini growing in a large rubber feed tub |
Where to find containers
If you're like me, now you're thinking of all the containers you'll need and you're ready to faint. It would be horribly expensive to buy them all!
Fortunately there are many ways to save money on containers - because really, anything that will hold soil will work. Be creative and use what you have, or can get for free or cheap.
Ask your family, friends and neighbors if they have anything you might be able to use.
Be sure to drill or poke holes in all of your planting containers. Water must have a way to drain out of the pots, or your plants will rot in the too-wet soil.
Try these suggestions:
- Nursery pots - the kind that trees and shrubs are sold in - are perfect if you have them left over from previous plant purchases. Some are a bit flimsy but they should last for a season or two. Be sure to wash them out well before using.
- Five-gallon buckets are pretty easy to find. You might be able to score some from your local grocery store's deli section just by asking. I have some from a local restaurant that originally held pickles and mushrooms. Fortunately my plants don't care that I couldn't get rid of the pickle smell.
- Big black rubber feed tubs are relatively inexpensive if you need a really large pot. I've grown tomatoes, zucchini and strawberries in these tubs. A large feed tub could hold a small salad garden.
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Children's plastic wading pools aren't terribly expensive when purchased from the dollar store.
- I've used an old bathtub as a container garden. The drain hole provides enough drainage if you slant the tub slightly in that direction.
- Rubbermaid totes/bins also make good containers, although they will eventually get brittle from the sun. Here's how I grow sweet potatoes in them.
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You can even grow plants in empty feed sacks, and if you're like me you have a lot of those. No livestock? Use dog food bags instead.
Poke a few holes in the bottom of the sack, add soil to the desired depth and roll the top of the bag down to add stability to your planter. They only last a season, but at least you're getting one more use out of them before they go in the trash can or the fire pit.
Think outside the box and look around at what you already have. A laundry basket, a metal trash can, even a wooden box or an old drawer from a discarded dresser can hold a plant or two.
Caring for your container garden
Fill your pots and tubs with good quality soil and compost, and follow directions on the seed packets for spacing and planting depth.
Most vegetables do best in full sun, but some plants can tolerate a partly sunny area. A general rule is if you're growing the plant for its fruit (tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, etc), it needs full sun. Greens and root vegetables are usually content with a bit of shade.
Container gardens have a big advantage: you can move plants from a poor location to a better spot. If your fence blocks the sun in the height of summer, you can simply move your pots.
If the summer sun turns out to be too intense for some of your plants, you can move them to a shadier, cooler location.
Caring for your container garden
Plants in containers can't send their roots deep into the soil to reach moisture in dry weather, so you'll need to water them regularly.
Don't forget to feed your container garden with your favorite organic fertilizer such as comfrey tea or compost tea.
Where to buy seeds for your container garden
I buy my seeds from Mary's Heirloom Seeds. Mary sells only organic, heirloom seeds and has signed the Safe Seed Pledge. I've always been very satisfied with my orders and happy with the seeds' germination rates too.
The list of seed varieties Mary sells is constantly growing longer and longer - over 650 varieties of heirloom, open-pollinated, non-GMO & non-hybrid seeds - and they sell several combination kits as well, such as a salad garden kit and a pollinator garden kit.
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