Gardening Gifts FAQ:
I live in an apartment & miss having a garden. I’d like to start a container garden on my patio and grow some vegetables. Which vegetables do best in this type of situation?
Hi, again! Wow, the response I’ve got has been great– could you guys (and gals) please expand on what size containers, how much attention I have to pay to light, etc? Any pertinent details I should know/ keep in mind when endeavoring to do this?
I live in an apartment & miss having a garden. I’d like to start a container garden on my patio and grow some vegetables. Which vegetables do best in this type of situation?
Hi, again! Wow, the response I’ve got has been great– could you guys (and gals) please expand on what size containers, how much attention I have to pay to light, etc? Any pertinent details I should know/ keep in mind when endeavoring to do this?
Thanks so much for all the great answers!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
tomatoes
onions
carrots
pole beans (green beans)
lettuce
cabbage
zucchini
Tomatoes grow well in containers. Especially the little cherry tomoatoes. Also, cucumbers can be trained to grow on a railing, or climb up a post. Squash plants get pretty big sometimes, but work well also.
Good luck!
If you check with a local greenhouse or farmer’s market they have “patio” tomatoes, they are relatively compact and produce lots of tomatoes. You can add a couple basil plants along with the tomato. You can also plant a bush cucumber, make sure the vegetables you buy are of a “bush” variety which mean they grow compactly rather than the ones that climb and spread. Herbs are great. I also tried windowbox romas last year, I put two in a windowbox along with some herbs.
they all have their ups and downs but remember that fruiting veges require two for pollinating and bees. Veges where you eat the plant you can grow one at a time
I have grown tomatoes, Roma, Beefsteak and Cherry or Grape type; green beans, peas and of course herbs. As I’m sure you are aware, you won’t get as many as you would if you had a big ole’ backyard garden, but you get enough for a meal or two. I usually get more tomatoes than I know what to do with and I only plant one plant. Remember to plant the veggies in a good soil, one that has some fertilizer in it like Miracle Grow, and water, water, water. Any plant in a pot needs to be watered almost daily, especially if it sits in the sun most of the day. The soil dries out much, much quicker than when the plants are in the ground. Also remember to fertilize lightly every 2 weeks. Good luck and enjoy your veggies.
I like gardening too- try tomatoes, mints(one of my favorites), sage, rosemary, peppers, a dwarf peach tree (one of my favorites, if you can find one), garlic, chives, onions, licuorice, anise hyssop (my absolute favorite!!! smells good, and has beautiful blooms, and small berries. Herbs do rather nicely though. they help eachother grow, and usually smell good. they dont need much water, need moderate sunlight, and require little attention. if you need combinations of plants for different colors you like, and the conditions they will live in, please email me.
Choose dwarf varieties and match the growth of the plant with the size of container. sweet cherry one hundred tomato can be grown in a gallon container but big boy tomatoes would need a 5 gallon one. Keep the plants moist not wet and fertilize once a week. There are many dwarf varieties available on the market today from cucumbers to watermelon–good luck
garlic, cilantro, radishs. And all the above that has been said already.
I start the seeds in a seedpack and when they get a couple weeks old I move them to the plant pots.
I use decorative plastic plant pots and drill a hole in bottom.
I use a mix of compost and garden soil.
I hooked up a mister and put a 3 tier plant stand under it.