How To Plant And Grow Vegetables In Containers And Pots

Don't have a large enough space on your property to grow a conventional garden in the ground? This doesn't mean you can't grow vegetables and get big yields. In fact, the smaller the space you grow your vegetables in the bigger the yields. This is because you can take better care of a smaller garden space than a larger one. Too often, the beginning vegetable gardener starts out tilling up a huge garden area but by early summer it's overrun with weeds and the plants are drying up due to lack of irrigation. When growing vegetables in containers weed and moisture control is very easy. Too, you can provide the right nutrients less expensively. All this adds up to healthier plants and increased yields.

Not all, but many vegetables lend themselves well to container gardening. With some thought to selecting bush or dwarf varieties, or by the use of trellises or other supports, almost any vegetable can be adapted to growing in a pot. Vegetables that take up little space, such as carrots, radishes and lettuce, or vegetables that produce fruits over a long period of time, such as tomatoes and peppers, are perfect for container vegetable gardens.

You can use almost anything for a container: flower pots, pails, buckets, wire baskets, bushel baskets, wooden boxes, window planters, washtubs, strawberry pots, plastic bags, large food cans, old bath tubs or any number of other things that are suitable for a container. Some gardeners are growing certain varieties of vegetables in bales of straw.

Here are some things to consider when choosing a container:

No vegetables like wet feet. So, whatever type of container you use make sure it has drainage holes. If the container doesn't have drainage holes drill one or more at a 3/4-inch diameter. Larger containers will need several holes.

Keep in mind that darker containers absorb more heat. Since you'll be growing most vegetables in full sun, it's best to choose lighter color pots or paint dark ones a lighter color.

The size of the container is important. For larger vegetables such as indeterminate (vining) tomatoes, and eggplants, you should use at least a five gallon container for each plant. Smaller vegetable plants, such as peppers, can be grown in smaller pots of 3 gallons in size.

The best thing to use as a growing medium is potting mix - not cheap-grade potting soil. Yes, potting mix is more expensive than potting soil, but it holds moisture more evenly. If you want to save a few bucks on soil, go ahead and thoroughly mix the two at a 50/50 ratio. You can also add a good organic compost, such as mushroom compost, at a 10% ratio to the mix. Vegetables love organic matter - it's like vitamins to them.

Most vegetable plants like lots of sun. I'd recommend at least 7 hours of direct sunlight for best overall growth and fruit production. Full, all-day sun or morning through mid-afternoon sun with some shade or filtered sun in the afternoon would be best. 

Vegetable plants prefer well-drained but consistently damp soil for best performance. Soil in containers dries out more quickly than soil in garden beds. That means plants growing in containers will require closer attention to and monitoring of soil moisture. Too, the larger your plants grow through the season, and the hotter the temperatures get, your vegetable plants will need more water. So, using the finger test, check the soil moisture in your containers gardens daily to judge the need for water. If the soil is damp or wet, don't water. If the top 2 inches of the soil is dry, provide some water. Don't water again until the top 2 inches of the soil has gone dry again. Be careful not to allow the soil get so dry that the leaves of your plants wilt before you water them again. This may be okay with some plants, but not with vegetables. To help retain moisture and reduce needs for water cover the soil surface in the container with shredded wood mulch or straw.

In general, stick to the smaller growing vegetable plants. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant are a given. Bush variety tomatoes are the best choice and will not require a tomato cage or some other type of support. With other vegetables, look for bush, compact, or space saver varieties. Seed companies realize that homeowners have less and less space to devote to vegetable gardens. Every year they are coming out with new varieties of smaller growing plants.

Here's a list of vegetable types that are well-suited for growing in containers: