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One way to make sure you have a consistent supply of fresh vegetables is to grow your own. If you don’t have a garden plot, or even a yard, you can still raise several crops. The key is to plant them in containers rather than in the ground. This gives you a much greater
choice of location; you can even move the containers as needed. If you have just a little room on a porch, patio, balcony, doorstep, or windowsill, you can start a container garden.
Even people with regular gardens enjoy container gardening because it lets them keep favorite vegetables and herbs close to the kitchen. It also keeps some plants out of the reach of pests, and lets you use exactly the right kind of soil for each crop.
Choosing a Container
Pretty much any vessel that can hold soil and allow excess water to drain out the bottom can be used for container gardening. It doesn’t even need to be completely waterproof—but think twice before using materials that corrode, like metal cans, or rot, like woven wood baskets. Choose containers that are easy to handle, with appearances you like, or at least don’t mind too much. There’s no point in making a pleasant project less enjoyable.
The size of container you choose will depend on the size of the plant you hope to grow in it. Thin, vertical crops, such as parsley and other herbs, don’t need too much room underneath for their roots. A container 6 to 10 inches across will hold them comfortably. The same goes for green onions. Larger vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers, need more room. The most practical option for them is a 5-gallon bucket. It’s also one of the least attractive, so you may want to find ways to dress it up.
In all containers of all sizes, make sure you provide a way for the soil to shed excess water. Drill or punch holes around the sides near the bottom for drainage, and put an inch or two of coarse gravel in the bottom before you add the soil.
Know What to Grow
Your choices for vegetables and herbs are limited only by your ambition, but you’ll probably want to start with crops that are known to do well in container gardens. Many varieties of the following vegetables grow well in containers, even indoors:
• Cucumbers • Green onions • Radishes
• Eggplant • Leaf lettuce • Squash
• Green Beans • Peppers • Tomatoes
Seeding and Transplanting
Before you plant vegetables or herbs in containers, make sure they are germinating. Use temporary growing places, such as peat pots, egg cartons, or plastic trays intended for starting seeds. Cover each seed with a ¼-inch to a ½-inch of soil or other growing medium. Until they are ready to transplant, only use tap water. Keep the newly planted seeds in a warm, sunny place for 1 to 2 months. When each seedling has developed two or three full leaves, it should be ready for transplanting.
Whether you start from seeds or buy seedlings from a nursery, transfer them carefully to the container to avoid damaging the roots. Start using the growing solution the same day you transplant.
Growing Conditions
Soil
Once you choose a crop and prepare a container, you can start putting the parts together. The medium you select may not be soil, strictly speaking; mixtures that include sawdust, wood chips, peat moss, vermiculite, or perlite are often recommended for use in container gardens; check with a local garden center or a college agricultural extension service for recommendations. Of course, you can use soil, too. Just make sure it is lightweight and porous, and does not contain weed seeds or common diseases that affect plant life.
Another option is to make your own growing medium. Mix a bushel of peat moss with a bushel of horticultural grade vermiculite, then blend in the following minerals: 1 cup of garden fertilizer (6-12-12 or 5-10-10), 10 tablespoons of limestone, and 5 tablespoons of
super-phosphate (0-20-0). Spray a mist of water over the mixture to keep the dust down, and stir it well. It will be suitable for transplanting or for use with new seeds.
Light
Most garden vegetables grow well in direct sunlight; remember, they are normally planted in the open. But fruit-bearing plants need more light than root vegetables, which need more than leafy ones. So, if you’re growing cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, or eggplant, put your containers in the brightest spots available. Give the next brightest spots to onions, beets, turnips, or radishes, and save the shadier places for lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and parsley.
If your space is limited, or if you only get sunlight for short periods in the places available, use containers with handles and move them during the day to get the light they need. This requires a serious commitment to gardening—but you may find, as many gardeners do,
that it’s just one more chore, and not a very big one.
Water
No matter where a plant grows, it needs water. But too much water in the soil can drown a plant from beneath. The soil (or other growing medium) has to drain so that the plant can draw oxygen through its roots. So water the containers every day or two, but watch out for
saturation. And try not to water the leaves, because plant diseases can take hold more easily if the part of a plant above the surface is wet.
Fertilizer
The best time to add fertilizer is when you water. This makes things easier to remember, because plants that need water more often may also benefit from more frequent fertilization. Plants that are inactive will need less of both. Just keep in mind that fertilizer does nothing for the plant above the surface, so pour a solution of fertilizer and water directly into the soil.
If you buy a prepared fertilizing solution, follow the manufacturer’s directions. To make your own concentrate, start with a gallon of warm tap water and add 2 cups of 10-20-10, 12-24-12, or 8-16-8. To use the concentrate, add two tablespoons to a gallon of water, and
use this dilute solution for watering your plants. One gallon of concentrate will provide enough fertilizer for 256 gallons of growing solution.
Once a week, skip the fertilizer and use tap water only. This will help remove leftover nutrients the plant has not consumed. And once every month or so, use a nutrient solution with minor elements in place of your regular fertilizer. Buy a water-soluble compound that
contains boron, iron, zinc, and manganese, and follow the package directions.
Plant Health
If you start with a clean planting medium and seeds or healthy transplants, you should not have any problems with insects or diseases. But keep an eye out for evidence of pests that feed on the leaves or fruit of your plants. If you are sure the plant has a disease or is infested, use only fungicides and insecticides that are approved by the EPA as safe for use on food.
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