Potted Vegetable Garden

Potted vegetable gardens, also called container gardens or vegetable container gardens, enable people with limited space or sunshine to grow abundant fresh vegetables. All you need is some space, some sun, vegetables and containers big enough for them to grow and you’re on your way to a successful garden.

Grow tomatoes in pots

Almost any kind of vegetable can be grown in a pot or a container.

Before planting your vegetables in a pot, consider where you’ll put the pot. Do you have a sunny windowsill or a spot on the patio that gets sunshine all day? That’s the best spot for any vegetable plant. Most vegetables need full sun, defined as six or more hours a day of sunlight. Make sure that whatever spot you’ve chosen for your potted vegetable garden gets at least six hours of direct sunlight a day.

Contains don’t need to be fancy. You can use large clay pots, plastic pots, decorative pots, or even an old garbage can.

Before planting your vegetable garden, check to make sure that the container:

• Holds enough soil for your plant. Remember that the container should be several times larger than the pot you bought the plant in to allow the roots to expand and grow.
• Fits in the spot you’ve chosen for your garden.
• Provides drainage holes. If it doesn’t, make sure to add a few holes. The holes allow extra water to drain away. Too much water is as unhealthy for plants as too little water.

Before filling your container with soil, you might want to move it to the exact location where you want it, particularly large or heavy planters. Once the soil is inside the container, it may be too heavy to move on your own. Be sure it’s in the place you want it in before filling it.

Vegetables are highly adaptable, which is good news to gardeners. Almost any vegetable can grow in a pot.

• Tomatoes: Tomatoes are the gardeners’ delight. Nothing compares to the flavor, texture and sweetness of a freshly plucked tomato from the garden. Tomatoes are excellent choices for potted vegetable gardens. Almost any type of tomato will adapt easily to a container garden. Depending on the size of your container, you can grow one or more tomato plants. From large beefsteak tomatoes to tiny patio cherry tomatoes, tomatoes make wonderful container-grown vegetables. Be sure to tuck a few marigold plants around the tomatoes to ward off the tomato hornworm, a pest that attacks tomato plants.
• Peppers: Peppers provide wonderful container garden choices. The big green peppers you can buy at the supermarket are easy to grow from seed or plants. You can also grown a rainbow of colors of peppers and a range of spiciness from mild to scorching hot. Look for plants at the garden center after the days grow warm, or start from seeds.
• Cucumbers: Bush cucumbers grow best in containers. Even though "bush" usually means a low growing vegetable, cucumbers will need some kind of support. They produce vines and like to grab onto whatever is nearby. One cucumber plant will produce pounds of cucumbers over the summer.
• Eggplant: Eggplants adapt well to container gardens. While most people think of purple eggplants, white eggplants and striped eggplants are also found and taste superb.
• Lettuce: From Boston Bibb to Romaine, most lettuces thrive in pots. You can grow small pots on kitchen windowsills too, and snip the leaves off for supper or sandwiches

Many other vegetables can thrive in pots. Root crops like carrots or turnips can be grown in pots, but may not produce enough to make it a satisfying experience.

Windowsill herb gardens are quite popular, and having herbs as close as the kitchen windowsill make cooking with herbs a snap. Try basil, rosemary, chives, parsley, and many other herbs for culinary use. Kits are also available, for a complete selection of Italian herbs or other culinary treats at the ready.

Potted gardens or container gardens aren’t just limited to vegetables. Strawberries can be grown in strawberry jars, clay pots with little pockets that allow for many strawberry plants to be grown in one container. Some varieties of small melon, like the “Minnesota Midget” variety of cantaloupe, can be grown in a pot. Dwarf apple and pear trees can also remain in large pots on a patio and produce fruit. There’s even something called a fruit cocktail tree, which has many different types of fruit trees grafted onto one solid trunk. It produces several types of fruit. Now that’s space-saving gardening!

Just because you don’t have a lot of space doesn’t mean you can’t garden. Choose your space, plant your plants, and reap a wonderful, delicious harvest.

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