When planing to grow vegetables in containers the first step is to evaluate the space available for your contains. Specifically, how much sunlight does it get? is there is a nearby source of water? and is the area subject to wind? Most vegetable plants need at least 6 hours of direct sun so find the sunniest space you have for your containers. If you have an outdoor faucet near the containers, consider yourself lucky, but if you don’t you may have to carry the water from indoor sources to the containers. Containers may dry out quickly so watch them carefully and provide water as needed.
The vegetables suggested below for containers were chosen on the basis of:
- Amount of food produced in relationship to the space the crop needs.
- Availability of varieties that are appropriate for containers
- Unique features of the crop that make it worth growing
Cool Weather Crops (Grow best in spring and fall; recommended varieties are in parentheses)
Beets (‘Baby Ball’, ‘Babybeat’, and ‘Boltardy’)
Carrots (round varieties-Oxheart, Parisienne, Romeo, Thumbelina; elongated varieties- Short ‘N Sweet, Little Fingers, New Kuroda, Red Cored Chantenay
Kale (Green Curls, Dwarf Blue Curls, Dwarf Green Curls)
Lettuce-loose leaf (Black Seeded Simpsum, Green Ice, Lollo Rossa, Red Salad, Red Sails, Salad bowl) Tolerates partial shade and likes a light application of nitrogen fertilizer every other week.
Musclun (a mix of salad greens) Tolerates partial shade and likes a light application of nitrogen fertilizer every other week
Peas (Little Marvel, Sugar Ann,Tom Thumb)
Radish (Cherry Belle, Early Scarlet Globe)
Warm Weather Vegetables (Grow best in summer; recommended varieties are in parentheses)
Cucumber (bush-Spacemaster, Bush Slicer, Bush Crop)
Eggplant (Hansel, Fairy Tale, Patio Baby)
Green/Snap Bush Beans (Blue Lake Snap Bean, French Mascotte Bush Bean, Nickel Filet Bush Bean)
Peppers, Sweet (Sweet Gypsy [banana}, Sweet Snackabelle [mini-bell].
Tomatoes (determinate-Martino [Roma], Patio Choice[cherry], Baby Boomer [cherry] Early Bush Girl [slicer], Early Doll [slicer]; Celebrity [slicer])
Karen