When you think of gardening, it is easy to get swept away into thinking the garden needs to be this lavish, 1 acre plot of space. Lucky for us, that is not the case.
With a few easy to grow vegetables, and a sunny spot in your yard (or a balcony!) you can grow your own vegetables in containers and have fresh produce on demand.
This is a picture from my garden. I didn’t take very many pictures of my container garden but I will update the pictures as I do!
Vegetable container gardening is the perfect solution to low space, but it is also a cheaper alternative to raised beds. We moved to a homestead last year and started a decent sized garden. The plan was to expand upon it each year but this year, we decided to make use of our garden grow bags instead of adding more raised beds.
I tell you this to emphasize that container gardening is for everyone regardless of how much space you have! Let’s dive right in to all things container gardening, including a list of the vegetables you can absolutely grow in containers.
Another wonderful thing about container garden is that you can prolong your growing season by starting your seeds indoors or bringing your pots inside when there is set to be a hard frost. This will also save your vegetables if adverse weather happens.
This post is all about vegetable container gardening for beginners.
How big of a container do I need?
When you first start planning out your container garden, you may be wondering how much space you need. For the purposes of this post, we are going to assume all of your grow bags or containers are at least 5 gallon.
There are a few things you can grow in smaller containers such as:
1 gallon container: spinach, lettuce, basil, radish, green onion or parsley. You will need veggies or herbs with short roots.
3 gallon container: kale, 1 cherry tomato plant, 1 cucumber plant or eggplants.
The rest of the vegetables in this post will do best in 5 gallon containers.
What do I fill my container with?
Since any plant you grow in a container will not be able to spread out to find nutrients, you will need to make sure you fill them with high quality soil. There are a lot of great methods to mix your own soil blend but I have had awesome success with top soil and compost. Approximately a 60/ 40 split (more topsoil.)
I get our compost from our local landfill (which sounds unappealing) but they have wonderful, sanitized compost for very low cost. Otherwise you coud get a soil mix from the store and I am sure it would work just as well! Use what you have access to and don’t let perfection hold you back.
*The plants are just an example of what it could look like as we are not deep enough into gardening this year for me to have veggies in it yet! We LOVE these grow bags though!
Which containers are the best for container gardening?
If you are looking to grow the smaller vegetables or herbs we talked about above, you can use whatever you have handy. For small plants, you could even grow them in an ice cream pail! I am a firm believer to use what you have.
That being said, I bought these grow bags that are 5 gallons. They drain super well and have handles which make them easy to carry around.
The other option is 5 gallon buckets such as these ones. Please note that I think the price on amazon is outrageous. You can buy them for a fraction of the cost at a home improvement store.
What trellis options would be suited for container growth?
Depending on what vegetables you grow, you may need to support their growth vertically. Some of these plants can sprawl over a big area (if you have it) but vertical gardening makes much better use of space. Here are a few of the trellis options you may wish to consider.
Tomato cage: This is the OG trellis that I am sure we can all remember our grandmas using! These tomato cages are a bit more modern and have a square look to them.
Bamboo steaks: these are best suited for plants whose tendrils will wrap around and support the plant such as pole beans. Alternatively, you could use twist ties (gently) to hold them up.
The third method would be using a deck railing. This is obviously free but be sure your railing is strong enough to support the growth of plants You don’t want it to topple over and break.
These are the tomato cages we used but as they degrade, we will upgrade to the square variety! You can also see, we utilized companion planting, growing cucumber, peppers and onions, and basil together.
Which vegetables can you grow in a container?
There are 16 vegetables that do well in containers and here is the list as well as how many you can fit in a 5 gallon bucket. The wonderful thing about container gardening is that you can move the containers to the sunny spot in your yard or to the shady part depending on what your plant needs.
Even though you are not planting anything with these plants in the container, you can still use companion planting techniques to organize your containers.
Read more about companion planting here.
Peppers
Peppers are a great one to grow in containers! They do well in a 5 gallon bucket as their roots are shallow and they like the warmth that a container can provide.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes can grow well in containers provided they have adequate space. Remember that there are 2 types of tomatoes. Indeterminate and determinate. Indeterminate will grow very tall and fruit at multiple points throughout the summer. They may not be as suited for container growing unless you have a great trellis system.
Choose a determinate variety and keep it to 1 plant per 5 gallon bucket.
Eggplant
Eggplants love warm roots and dark grow bags or containers will keep the warmth in. They do not like excessive water and need to be in full sun.
Keep eggplants to 1 plant per 5 gallon bucket.
Zucchini or Summer Squash
If you have ever grown zucchini, you know that they are prolific producers. Most families do not require more than 1 or 2 plants for fresh eating so they are the perfect plant to grow in a container and gain a massive yield.
The same goes for summer squash such as pattypan squash, yellow squash, round zucchini, yellow straightneck squash and cousa squash.
Keep summer squash and zucchini to 1 plant per 5 gallon bucket and ensure you have space to sprawl or a trellis system.
Winter Squash
Winter squash encompasses a wide variety of squash. The main benefit of winter squash is that they have hard skin that can store for long periods of time (like over the Winter.)
Here are a few varieties. Butternut squash, spaghetti squash, kabocha squash, delicata squash, acorn squash and honeynut squash.
Keep Winter squash to 1 plant per 5 gallon bucket and ensure you have space to sprawl or a trellis system much like your summer squash.
Cabbage
Not all brassicas are suited to container growing (unless you have huge containers!) but cabbage can be grown in a 5 gallon bag or bucket. Most brassicas are heavy feeders so make sure you use nutrient dense soil and add a good layer of compost.
Keep cabbage to 1 plant per 5 gallon bucket.
Cucumber
Cucumbers are a great one to grow in containers as they produce so many cucumbers per vine! Cucumbers are heavy water feeders so make sure you water frequently and keep them in full sun (at least 6-8 hours.) Cucumbers will also require a trellis so plant that out prior to growing. I think a balcony railing would be perfect for this for a cheap option.
You can plant 2 cucumber plants per 5 gallon bucket.
Pole Beans
There are 2 different types of beans. Pole beans and bush beans. Both are suited to container growth but have different requirements. Similar to cucumber, you will need a trellis system to support your beans as they grow. I have had success with these bamboo sticks.
You can plant 2 pole beans per 5 gallon container.
Bush Beans
Bush beans are also suited to containers but won’t require the same amount of trellis. This makes them a bit easier to grow in a container.
You can plant 3 bush beans per 5 gallon container.
Peas
Peas can be grown in containers as well but will require trellis. You can use bamboo steaks or your deck railing.
You can plant 5-8 peas per 5 gallon container.
Lettuce
How amazing would it be to have fresh lettuce at your finger tips! You can make a light and fresh salad at a moments notice. Lettuce is also relatively easy to grow.
You can plant 5 lettuce plants per 5 gallon container.
Spinach
Spinach is a great option as well as you can freeze it! Spinach is also a cool weather crop so you can start it before your last frost and continue to sow it over the course of a few weeks.
You can plant 15 spinach plants per 5 gallon bucket which is a huge bang for your buck!
Carrots
Carrots are a delightful addition to a garden and almost nothing compares to a fresh carrot straight from the earth. These are also cool weather crops so you can plant them prior to your last frost as well. If you are going to get a hard freeze, you can bring your container inside and save them, or prolong the growing season!
You can plant 15 carrots per 5 gallon bucket but ensure the container is deep as the carrot grows down into the soil.
Radish
Radish is a cool weather crop as well so you can start them a few weeks before your last frost. If there is a hard freeze, bring them inside for the night and enjoy your fresh radish!
You can plant 15 radish plants per 5 gallon bucket. They are very fast growing (approximately 25 days) so you can do a few rounds of radish depending on your growing season!
Beets
Finally, beets can be grown in containers and due to the short root system, they can handle less room. This means you can plant 15 beets per 5 gallon pail.
Want this list in a printable form?
There you have it!
A list of most of the vegetables that can thrive in a container. I hope you learned a lot and start your container garden this year! Thank you for reading!
This post is all about vegetable container gardening.
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