Container Vegetable Gardening for Beginners

Why containers work

A pot gives you full control of two things that matter most: the soil and the spot. You fill the pot with clean, fluffy mix, so you skip the rocks, clay, and weed seeds that come with poor ground. And because a pot moves, you can chase the sun.

Most fruiting crops need 6 to 8 hours of direct sun a day. In a yard, that spot is fixed. On a patio, you slide the pot to wherever the light lands, or move it as the seasons shift the sun. A pot on wheels or a cheap plant caddy makes a heavy container easy to roll.

Size the pot to the crop

Pot size is the number one mistake beginners make. Too small a pot dries out in hours and stunts the plant. Match the pot to the crop and most problems disappear.

A tomato needs at least a 5 gallon pot, and 10 gallons grows a much bigger, steadier plant. That is because a slicing tomato can run 110 days to maturity from seed, about 73 once it goes in as a transplant, and put out around 12 pounds of fruit over a long season, and big roots need room. Peppers do well in 3 to 5 gallons. Greens and herbs are happy in just 1 to 2 gallons. When in doubt, go one size up. A bigger pot holds more water and is far more forgiving on a hot day.

• Tomatoes: 5 gallons minimum, 10 gallons better.
• Peppers and eggplant: 3 to 5 gallons.
• Lettuce, greens, and herbs: 1 to 2 gallons.
• Every pot needs drainage holes so roots do not sit in water.

Use potting mix, not garden soil

Do not fill pots with soil dug from the yard. Garden soil packs down hard in a container and drains poorly, so the roots end up sitting in a wet, airless brick. Plants in it grow slow and often rot.

Use a bagged potting mix instead. It is light and fluffy, holds water without going solid, and lets air reach the roots. One large bag fills a 5 to 10 gallon pot or two. It costs a few dollars more than dirt and is the single biggest reason a container garden works.

Water and feed more often

Pots dry out fast because they hold far less soil than the ground and lose water out the sides and bottom. In summer heat, a full container can need water every single day, sometimes twice. The quick test: push a finger 2 inches into the mix. If it feels dry, water until it runs out the bottom.

Frequent watering also rinses nutrients out of the mix, so containers need feeding more often than a garden bed. Use a liquid fertilizer every 2 to 4 weeks through the growing season, following the label rate. Skip it and your plants will yellow and stall by midsummer no matter how good the pot is.

Best crops for pots

Start with crops that are proven to thrive in containers. These give the most food for the space and forgive a beginner's mistakes:

• Tomatoes: pick a compact or bush type for a pot, and stake it early.
• Peppers: small plants that crop for weeks in a 3 to 5 gallon pot.
• Lettuce and salad greens: ready in about 45 days and fine in shallow pots.
• Herbs: basil, parsley, and thyme grow all season in 1 to 2 gallon pots.
• Radishes: about 28 days from seed, the fastest crop you can grow in a pot.