Donna Lane| Wicked Local
Several readers have written me over the past month lamenting the fact that they no longer have land to plant a vegetable garden and saying they really miss both working outside and the act of growing their own food. Each of them wondered if they might be able to grow some of their favorite vegetables in containers, what types of containers were appropriate and which varieties would be best.
There are more and more vegetables being bred for small space and container gardens every year, so anyone wishing to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers can do so in a contained environment. Depending on what you want to grow, you can use virtually any type of container: wood, plastic, terra cotta, glazed ceramic or the newer grow-bags. Heck, you could even use an old boot if you really wanted to. Just make sure whatever you use has drainage holes. In fact, I have used each of these types of containers on my patio for flowers, herbs and some vegetables at one time or another.
- Wood planters, window boxes and half-wine barrels are among the best choices for growing vegetables in containers.
- Plastic pots are lightweight, cheap and widely available in myriad colors, shapes and sizes.
- Glazed ceramic pots, like terra cotta pots, are heavy, but they’re a better choice for growing vegetables because they don’t wick away moisture from the potting mix.
- Grow bags (a.k.a. smart pots) are lightweight fabric pots that maximize moist soil volume and minimize watering.
- Scrounged containers are good for those people interested in repurposing waste. They are perfectly appropriate for growing vegetables, herbs and flowers as long as they are scrupulously clean and of sufficient size.
Personal style will often dictate the type of containers you choose, but there are other considerations as well. The size, shape, color and material affect how water moves in the pot and how hot the pot gets. The temperature of the pot, in turn, affects how often you have to water, and how fast nutrients cycle in the container garden soil you have selected. Space and weight considerations are also important, especially if you are gardening on a balcony.
The size of your container should be large enough to accommodate the vegetables you’re planning to grow. Leafy greens can grow in a very shallow tray because they have as little as a 3-4 inch root zone. Spinach and leafy Asian greens will get a better yield if planted in 6-8 inches of potting soil and herbs need 10-12 inches of potting soil. Bush tomatoes, eggplants and peppers generally do best in a 7-gallon pot, but indeterminate (vining) tomatoes and squash do better in a 10-15 gallon pot.
Large containers obviously hold more potting soil. The larger the soil volume, the stronger and more resilient the plants will be and the less frequently they will have to be watered.
Many seed companies sell compact vegetable varieties. Those are what will work best growing in containers. Hudson Valley Seed Company offers Tiny Tim Tomato, Parisian Carrot,
Benning’s Patty Pan Squash, Minnesota Midget Melon, Matchbox Pepper, Gigante D’Italia Parsley, Greek Oregano, Watercress and Chives.
Park Seed offers their Ultimate Park Seed Container Collection of “compact plants that deliver full-sized veggies.” The collection includes Red Robin Tomato seed, Dwarf White Sugar Snow Peas, Rivoli hybrid Radishes, Garden Salsa hybrid Peppers and Mini Adelaide hybrid carrots.
Johnny’s Seeds carries more than 20 varieties of vegetable and herb seeds including: Tasmanian Chocolate (slicer), Tidy Treats (cherry) and Sunrise Sauce (paste) tomatoes; Impala (serrano), Cupid (mini-bell), Eros (yellow mini-bell), Hot Paper Lantern (habanero), Mellow Star (shish*to) and Hot Rod (serrano) peppers; Bright Lights Swiss chard; Clemson spineless, Jambalaya and Carmine Splendor okra; and Fairy Tale, Hansel, Patio Baby and Gretel eggplant; and watercress.
Johnny’s also offers strawberries and rhubarb that can be grown in containers.
My experience has been that most peppers, bush tomatoes, lettuces, herbs and shallow-rooted plants will do well in containers. Regular garden varieties will give you a harvest, but will provide better harvests when planted in-ground rather than containers – especially squash and melons.
Whatever you do, don’t deprive yourself of fresh vegetables and herbs this coming season. Something as small as a couple of containers on your balcony or back patio can produce fresh produce for you and give you the satisfaction of gardening that you may have been missing.
Donna Lane owns Lane Interiors & Gardens, is a master gardener, past president of the Norwood Evening Garden Club, and an active member of many other horticultural organizations. You can reachDonna at AddictedGardener@verizon.net.
