Growing Vegetables in Containers

Vegetable garden containers don’t compare to the idealized garden of rows and mounds of lush leafy vegetable vines, but they are the next best thing.

Container Planting Kit
Item # 99890 		Container Potting Kit

Each $19.99
Terra Roma 12" Planter
Item # P0007 		12" Terra Roma Ribbed Pot
Plastic Pot

each $16.95

Item # P0006 		12" Terra Roma Square Plastic Pot

each $15.95

Item # P0008 		15" Terra Roma Square Planter
Plastic Pot

each $15.95
  • Topic: Edible Gardens
  • Author: Cindy Bellinger
  • Keywords: containers, vegetables, Planting Techniques, planters
  • Date: April 2003

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Years ago when I first moved to where I’m living now, I was crestfallen. The backyard was riddled with gopher holes, and all hopes for a thriving vegetable garden were dashed. But instead of letting those creatures completely run my life, I planted some tomato plants in a few pots. It worked fine.

And that’s been my vegetable garden ever since: containers.

Now, containers don’t even come close to the idealized garden of rows and mounds of lush leafy vegetable vines, but they certainly are the next best thing. Especially if you don’t have a lot of yard space or live in an apartment

Their advantages are many. Containers can be moved easily and they can be covered easily. The only down side is vegetables take a lot of water—no matter where you plant them. One watering per day is considered adequate. The upside is city water restrictions don’t apply to container gardens.

Almost any type of container can be used—bushel baskets, half whiskey barrels, drums, gallon cans, tubs or wooden boxes. The size of the container will vary according to the crop. Pots from 6 to 10 inches in diameter are satisfactory for shallow rooted crops such as lettuce, peppers, spinach and radishes. For tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, 5-gallon containers or larger are the most suitable size as they provide adequate space for root growth.

Almost any vegetable will do well as a container-grown plant. Ones ideally suited for such gardening include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, green onions, beans (snap and lima), lettuce, carrots, squash and radishes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage. Pole beans, cucumbers and zucchini also do well, but they require considerably more space because of their vining habit.

Mary Haecox, our greenhouse assistant manager, says we have four different varieties of hybrid tomatoes and one type of heirloom tomato. “We’ll soon have two types of eggplants. The Ichiban and the Satin Beauty. Both would be fine in containers,” she said. “In a few weeks we’ll have zucchini ready, too.”

The best type of soil for container gardening is potting mix because it will absorb the water more. But it’s also necessary to provide good drainage, and you can add about 1 inch of coarse gravel in the bottom of the container to improve drainage.

Nearly all vegetables will grow better in full sunlight; however, leafy crops such as lettuce, cabbage, greens and spinach do tolerate and often like more shade. Then root crops such as radishes, beets, turnips and onions can stand more shade than those which bear fruit, such as cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and eggplant.

One advantage to container gardening is mobility. Container gardening makes it possible to position the vegetables in areas where they can receive the best possible growing conditions.

I’ve never tried growing eggplants in a container, but I’m going to this year. The first time I tasted an eggplant fresh out of a garden, well, I thought I’d entered heaven. It’d be nice to do that again.