News: Growing Edibles in Containers
Sun
Sunlight is crucial for a harvest. How much sun is enough?
- For plants that produce fruit (pepper, tomato, bean): at least 6 hours of sunlight daily
- For plants that yield leaves (cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli) and roots (potato, turnip): at least 4 hours of sunlight daily, but you’ll experience less harvest than if plants received more sun
- For salad greens and seasonings (lettuce, spinach, parsley): at least 4 hours of sunlight daily or bright, indirect sunlight all day, like that found in open shade
Plants
Improve your success by choosing plants based on mature size. Plants with words like “patio,” “pixie” or “tiny” in their names typically have smaller statures and thrive in pots.
Bush types of vining crops, such as squash, cucumber, or beans, grow to a smaller size suited for containers. Dwarf plants produce full-size fruit on small plants; midget selections yield small fruit on small plants.
Containers
Grow crops in any type of container, including wood, terra cotta, plastic, and concrete. Unglazed terra cotta pots are porous, which makes it difficult to maintain soil moisture. Wooden containers eventually rot; concrete is heavy. Choose containers based on your budget and goals.
The size pot you need depends on the crops you’re growing:
| Crop | Pot Size |
| Tomatoes and deep-rooted crops | 15-gallon capacity for full-size tomatoes; 5-gallon for patio or dwarf types |
| Broccoli, cucumbers, peas, peppers, pole beans, squash | 15-18 inches deep |
| Patio tomatoes, small-fruited chili peppers, strawberries, herbs | 10-15 inches deep |
| Bush beans | 10-15 inches deep, and wide enough to allow 3-inch spacing between plants |
| Leaf lettuce, mesclun, green onion, radish, chives, dwarf cherry tomato | 6-10 inches deep |
| Carrots | Need soil at least 2 inches deeper than mature root length |
Drainage
Every container needs drainage holes. If none are present, drill them yourself. Use a spade bit for wood or plastic, a masonry bit for concrete or clay, or a step bit for metal.
Soil
Use a quality bagged mix – not soil from your garden. These soilless mixes frequently contain a blend of peat moss, compost, sand, perlite or vermiculite, and coir (coconut) fiber. It’s OK to add a spade of finished homegrown compost to each container.
Water
Locate containers near a water source. As summer heats up and plants mature, you’ll be watering pots daily – sometimes twice daily. A drip irrigation system makes watering easy. Add water-holding crystals to the soil to improve water-holding capacity. Place containers where runoff from pots won’t cause problems. Use saucers to catch runoff, but don’t let pots sit in water overnight.
Fertilizer
All edible crops benefit from regular feeding throughout the growing season. Apply fertilizer according to label instructions.
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