The 5 Best Vegetables for DIY Container Gardening
Grow something to eat right on your porch, balcony, or deck.
Nothing beats the taste of a tomato picked fresh from your own garden.
Not only do home-grown vegetables taste better, they can help you save on groceries during spring and summer, making room in your budget for other essential expenses.
The good news is that you don’t need a huge backyard to grow vegetables — many grow just as well in pots or containers, requiring a minimum amount of maintenance.
What You Need to Know to Get Started
First, you’ll need to know when you can plant according to your area’s USDA hardiness zone. Every zone’s growing season is slightly different, and you’ll want to wait until after the first frost to plant. You can usually find this information right on a plant’s tag.
Your local gardening center, grocery store, or hardware store typically stock only in-season plants that grow well in your area, taking some of the guesswork out of this decision. If you’re a beginner, we recommend starting with seedling plants rather than growing from seeds.
Next, you’ll need to match the plant’s preferred type of sun exposure with the area you plan to place your pots. Plants like anything from full sun to partial shade. Tomatoes, for example, love sun, so if you were hoping to grow some cherry tomatoes on your shady front porch, you might have to move the pot to a sunnier spot.
Pro tip: Full sun typically means six hours a day. Place a pot in your intended growing spot and check throughout the day to see if it will get six hours of sun.
Finally, you’ll need to use a good-quality, all-purpose potting mix formulated for containers to ensure the plants get the right balance of nutrients. Unlike gardening soil, potting mix will be lighter weight and fluffy, with the ability to hold moisture.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are one of the easiest vegetables — ok, technically it’s a fruit — to grow in container gardens. These plants typically need a staking cage to keep them upright.
As mentioned previously, tomatoes also need lots of sunlight. A sunny windowsill will work if you don’t have six hours of sun on your porch, deck, or balcony.
The larger the variety — beefsteak vs. cherry — the bigger the pot it will require. Stay on top of watering as these are thirsty plants.
Lettuce
If you’ve got lots of shade, lettuce is your crop. Lettuce does not need as much sun as most vegetables.
Considered a spring crop, most lettuce and salad greens are fast-growing, so you’ll reap your reward quickly.
To extend your harvest into summer, try moving your container to a cooler, shady area as the growing season heats up.
Hot and Sweet Peppers
Available in all shapes, sizes, and colors, peppers add an attractive pop of color to your outdoor living area.
When choosing hot peppers, note the spice level before purchasing, as they can range from mild to medium and from hot to “ouch!”
Peppers typically like any large container with plenty of sun and good drainage. Water consistently and carefully — dry soil or overly wet soil can be disastrous for peppers.
Cucumbers
Another fast-growing crop, cucumbers do best in large plastic or ceramic pots that help retain soil moisture — they love water and heat.
There are two main types of cucumbers: bush and vining, which will require a trellis or tomato cage.
If you’re keen to turn your cukes into pickles, choose a variety more commonly used for pickling as slicing cucumbers will not generally make good pickles. Plant descriptions online or right on the plant tag will help you make your choice.
Peas
The nice thing about peas? They can be planted early in spring and then again when it gets cool in the fall.
No matter if you choose English peas, snow peas, or sugar snap peas, they grow quickly and easily, making them a favorite of curious grandkids.
Once they finish producing, use that pot for another plant — peas enrich the soil with nitrogen, helping your next plant grow well. Like tomatoes and other vining plants, peas will need a trellis or cage for support.
Ready, Set, Plant!
A final word about containers. The bigger the pot is, the better, especially for beginners. Large pots hold more soil and will hold moisture longer so you don’t have to water as much.
Look for containers that are at least 10 inches wide and 12 inches deep. Plastic containers are easier to move and retain moisture better than terra cotta planters — and you can sometimes find them at thrift stores.
If your area has a local gardening club, find out if they hold an annual spring sale. You may also find affordable plants — and lots of free advice — from the club’s members.
For more gardening tips, check out Get the Dirt on Gardening.
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