Growing veges in pots

[kaveri]

Hi All,

Until last year, I used to have a veg patch in my small urban garden but the place has been taken by the chicken coop now. So, I am going to have to grow in pots and keep them in the front garden. Please can anyone suggest which vegetables will grow in pots. I have several long not so deep plastic tubs that I intend to use.

I am keen to grow my salad (tomatoes, cucumber, onion, beetroot, peppers). Is that doable?

Thanks,
Kaveri

[Annie]

Salad is fine in pots. Toms would do better in deeper bucket type pots as they grow tall and make a fair bit of root - unless you grow tumbling type then they are ok in most containers. Lettuce, radish,beetroot will all go as well and spring onions too. Spuds will grow in old compost bags turned inside out ,why not grow salad type to go with your other produce. I would say the taller a plant grows the deeper the pot needs to be to allow for the roots and maybe staking eg runner beans but it can be done.

[albertajune]

I agree with all advice already given. Last year I grew in pots, tomatoes, cucumber, baby squash and mixed salad leaves. Runner beans could be grown in a pot large enough to put in a wig- wam of canes. I personally wouldn't bother with onions unless spring onions as they are so long growing and not enough can be grown unless in numerous pots,

June

[newto]

I´ve managed to grow potatoes, tomatoes, onions, leeks, celery, peppers,lettuces,spinach, pak choi,radish,aubergine, spicy chili peppers, and a melon, in containers of various sizes. and then of course there are the herbs. thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley, coriander, mint,chamomile, sage, and chives
have all been fine in pots.

Just have to be more careful with watering, but of course, there can be the adavntage of moving to pots around if more/less shade or sun needed!

[Annie]

and if you like courgette then they are a very tolerant veg to grow in pots

[baileysgnasha]

What a great post! Only the other day me and my OH was in a garden centre and talking about getting some veg started off , I was moaning that the garden is too wet to even attempt starting a veg patch and he said why not try pots , i wasnt sure but after reading all this then I think Im gonna have a try at it!

[lancashire lass]

Please remember when growing in pots that the compost/soil has a limited food supply so the plants will need feeding - compost tend to last a few weeks (depending on the plants demands but I think the average is 6 weeks) You could use a liquid feed like tomato feed - which can also be used for nearly all fruiting plants like peppers, chillies, courgettes etc, or a general purpose one for vegetables.

The other downside of growing vegetables in pots is watering and keeping that compost moist in the height of summer. Unlike flowers that sulk if they get too dry, they do eventually recover and flower again but vegetables like tomatoes could end up with blossom end rot - the fruits develop a black rot where the flower used to be. As suggested, use pots that are bigger and deeper that you can find, but also find a deep tray in which the pot can stand - during heatwaves, plants use up a lot of water from the soil and the compost can quickly get dry, so fill the tray with water during the day and this will help keep the plants from drying out. Squashes and courgettes (most plants with big broad leaves) are very thirsty plants on a hot sunny day.

The colour of pots can also have an effect on the plants. Black pots absorb the sun's heat more readily and the compost can get very hot. Some plants like peas would rather have "cool" soil conditions, so growing them in black pots is not a good idea. On the other hand, tomatoes, chillies, peppers and squashes would probably like having the compost warm.

Cover the surface of the compost with bark chippings or something like pebbles - when you lift up a rock or pebble from the ground on a hot sunny day, you'll notice the soil where it sat is usually still damp, and that is the purpose of the chippings/pebbles to keep the surface of the compost from drying out too quickly. However, note that bark chippings are also good places for slugs & snails to hide ....

Instead of individual pots, why not use growbags ... the bags alone are insufficient (and they keep getting smaller in size I've noticed), but you can half bury bottomless plant pots into the growbag compost so that roots have more space. (You can make your own version of bottomless pots so you don't need to sacrifice any plant pots - I had some flexible plastic lawn edging which I never used for the purpose as the grass strimmer also strimmed the edging, so I cut it into lengths and used an ordinary stapler to make rings) If the bags look too obvious for a front garden, why not make a wooden frame to put the bags in, and you can even use bark chippings to then cover & hide the bags - the added bonus is that the bark chippings will also act like a mulch and help keep moisture in the compost. Last year I grew outdoor cucumbers (Marketmore, La Diva and Crystal Apple/Lemon) using the growbag/ring culture method and erected a sort of A frame with canes for the plants to grow up and it was very successful. Instead of a wooden frame, I decided to use a couple of cold frame bases with the lids removed (admittedly they were in the back garden, not front)

Re: onions - I might agree that it seems a lot of effort for onions, but how about shallots? I've grown shallots from the supermarket veg stall and they are fine - one shallot will grow and divide up into several shallots (anything from 3 - 6), and when lifted & dried after they die back, these store very well over winter.

Good luck with the container gardening

[Annie]

Yes shallots I forgot them
I helped with the garden club at school one year and we tried growing in all sorts of containers as the veg patch had been covered over with hardcore by some numpty who thought the area unsuitable. The children grew shallots in old kitchen drawers (courtesy of me as I was having a revamp at home) and they actually did very well as they dont need a lot of depth.
So long as the containers have drainage holes made in them and the advice given by LL is followed it may surprise you just what can be used for veg containers.

[baileysgnasha]

Thanks for the very helpful and useful advice from lancashire lass!

I never thought about putting rocks/gravel on top of plant pots before but I can see why you would as you say when moving rocks or bricks etc the ground underneath is still wet and moist.

Im hoping to get some pots next week or the week after at the latest.

[lizziedoggarden]

I grew some potatoes and carrots in pots last year for the 1st time and I was very pleased with the potatoes..carrots were very forked so not so good but think that was to do with the fact that I didn't sieve my soil first..this year I shall make it more sandy so hopefully that will help

Lots of fun in growing veggie pots..wonder if you can do cabbage? I'd love to do a few..just to try?

[Annie]

[quote="lizziedoggarden"
Lots of fun in growing veggie pots..wonder if you can do cabbage? I'd love to do a few..just to try? [/quote]
Lizzie, I think you will find that the brassica family (cabbage, sprouts , caulis) like to have their roots in firm soil which may be hard to achieve with a container, unless you try the mini variety they may cope. My friend wants us to grow brassicas in a raised bed 12" deep and to be honest I am not entirely sure that would work but will give it a go.

[jannie]

My friend wants us to grow brassicas in a raised bed 12" deep and to be honest I am not entirely sure that would work but will give it a go.

I grew some enormous cabbages in a raised bed last year...as LL said it's all down to good fertillizer...

[kaveri]

Thanks to all of you for wonderful and very helpful suggestions. I have started doing some prep work.

I am thinking of making a raised bed for tomatoes and runner beans. I have cleared a flower bed in the back garden for potatoes and will fence it so that the hens don't reach them. In my shallow plastic tray, I am thinking of growing spinach, beetroot, lettuce and spring onions.

Will keep you all posted on how it goes.

Many thanks again.

[Benny&Co]

Salad is fine in pots. Toms would do better in deeper bucket type pots as they grow tall and make a fair bit of root - unless you grow tumbling type then they are ok in most containers. Lettuce, radish,beetroot will all go as well and spring onions too. Spuds will grow in old compost bags turned inside out ,why not grow salad type to go with your other produce. I would say the taller a plant grows the deeper the pot needs to be to allow for the roots and maybe staking eg runner beans but it can be done.

Thanks for that Alex & Annie I was going to get some of those 'potato kits' you can buy with the sack, but come to think of it, I've got several large bags - Aubiose etc so I think I'll try some spuds in that

[Benny&Co]

Please remember when growing in pots that the compost/soil has a limited food supply so the plants will need feeding - compost tend to last a few weeks (depending on the plants demands but I think the average is 6 weeks) You could use a liquid feed like tomato feed - which can also be used for nearly all fruiting plants like peppers, chillies, courgettes etc, or a general purpose one for vegetables.

The other downside of growing vegetables in pots is watering and keeping that compost moist in the height of summer. Unlike flowers that sulk if they get too dry, they do eventually recover and flower again but vegetables like tomatoes could end up with blossom end rot - the fruits develop a black rot where the flower used to be. As suggested, use pots that are bigger and deeper that you can find, but also find a deep tray in which the pot can stand - during heatwaves, plants use up a lot of water from the soil and the compost can quickly get dry, so fill the tray with water during the day and this will help keep the plants from drying out. Squashes and courgettes (most plants with big broad leaves) are very thirsty plants on a hot sunny day.

The colour of pots can also have an effect on the plants. Black pots absorb the sun's heat more readily and the compost can get very hot. Some plants like peas would rather have "cool" soil conditions, so growing them in black pots is not a good idea. On the other hand, tomatoes, chillies, peppers and squashes would probably like having the compost warm.

Cover the surface of the compost with bark chippings or something like pebbles - when you lift up a rock or pebble from the ground on a hot sunny day, you'll notice the soil where it sat is usually still damp, and that is the purpose of the chippings/pebbles to keep the surface of the compost from drying out too quickly. However, note that bark chippings are also good places for slugs & snails to hide ....

Instead of individual pots, why not use growbags ... the bags alone are insufficient (and they keep getting smaller in size I've noticed), but you can half bury bottomless plant pots into the growbag compost so that roots have more space. (You can make your own version of bottomless pots so you don't need to sacrifice any plant pots - I had some flexible plastic lawn edging which I never used for the purpose as the grass strimmer also strimmed the edging, so I cut it into lengths and used an ordinary stapler to make rings) If the bags look too obvious for a front garden, why not make a wooden frame to put the bags in, and you can even use bark chippings to then cover & hide the bags - the added bonus is that the bark chippings will also act like a mulch and help keep moisture in the compost. Last year I grew outdoor cucumbers (Marketmore, La Diva and Crystal Apple/Lemon) using the growbag/ring culture method and erected a sort of A frame with canes for the plants to grow up and it was very successful. Instead of a wooden frame, I decided to use a couple of cold frame bases with the lids removed (admittedly they were in the back garden, not front)

Re: onions - I might agree that it seems a lot of effort for onions, but how about shallots? I've grown shallots from the supermarket veg stall and they are fine - one shallot will grow and divide up into several shallots (anything from 3 - 6), and when lifted & dried after they die back, these store very well over winter.

Good luck with the container gardening

Fabulous tips there LL, thank you for sharing