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Vegetable Gardening

container vegetable gardening

13 years ago

I don't have room in my yard for a vegetable garden at this time this year. I have a very large deck that gets good sun. I was thinking of growing tomatoes, peppers, beans, And cucumbers in pots with trellises. What size pots would be best and how many plants could I fit in each pot. I'd like to have one pot for each kind of vegetable and 2-3 plants in each pot. Is this possible?

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Comments (7)

loribee2
13 years ago
Here in the wine country, our container of choice is half wine barrels (are they whiskey barrels in other regions?). Per pot, I'd say you could plant two tomatoes, peppers you could go about 5(?), 3 cucumbers, and you could make a teepee of pole beans. I think they recommend about 4 beans per stake, so that would be 12 bean plants? Or if you were planning bush beans, I'd say they're about the same as peppers. Maybe 5 a pot.

You'd need about 3 cu yards of soil to fill a half barrel. I use a mix of potting soil and steer manure in mine.

For a bit of whimsy, I stained mine:

{{gwi:25024}}

There are lots of options out there, though. I'm sure others will have ideas as well. Good luck! I'd love to hear how it turns out for you!

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog
curt_grow
13 years ago
I think loribee had a typo and meant 3 cubic foot not 3 cubic yards. ;)

Curt
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I live on the seond floor apartment with a 26' porch, but the only sun it gets is on the other side of the railing... 8 feet off the ground. So I have roughly 1 foot by 26 feet of sunshine, but all the trellising I could want :D I've got 12 Roma Tomato plants planted in 3 of those "Al's Flower Pouches" as well as 2 Pick-a-lot cucumbers (one grow-bag each), 2 Alwaha Melon plants (don't ask me, they were free seeds from Parks so I planted them out of curiousity) planted in a 16" planter and have about 6 good sized melons each, and a windowbox full of Strawberries :) Tomatoes Melons Best Wishes Amino-X
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Anyone who follows the Container Gardening board here knows that much of the discussion about pine bark fines is regarding where to find the damn stuff. Obviously it is not easy to find for most people, and it is not available in most big box stores. The pine bark mulch sold in most big box stores is not fines. Most the discussion on the Container gardening forum stems from the fact that most people don't even know what they are looking for, even know what bark fines are despite all the info available about them on the web. And yes I know that the bags of pine mulch sold in the big box stores is not the same thing. Pine bark fines are not sold outside in the mulches section. They are sold inside the section devoted to starting seeds and growing plants. In the Lowe's here, just there yesterday, they are inside on the shelves next to the exotic plants section where the big containers, container plants, cactus mix, the violet mix, the perlite, vermiculite, decorative container gravel etc. is located. At Home Depot, in both of them here, they are just outside the door into the gardening section (not with the bags of mulches), the section on the shelves next to the super sized containers and the similar exotic soils and mixes. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Pine bark fines pics compared to pine bark mulch
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Very adorable and precious, especially with the contrast of green and dreamy light blue background.
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Saood, Winter growing sounds like it will work well! Tomatoes grow very well in the heat, but will not produce flowers. I think yours will considering time of year. 86 degrees is when it is too hot for flowers for most tomatoes, some exceptions exist. They might not need shade cloth, and once temps drop below 86, flowers and fruit will form. Often if they have fruit when temps go up, they go into stasis, not producing more flowers, but will once temps drop. I would experiment and try one under the cloth, one without. Although again the winter temps are not that extreme. From what you say, it might be best to grow plants to fruit in January. You could do this if you grow from seed. I guess about right now is when you would start. Many seed exchanges exist, I'm sure many would send you seeds. With tomatoes, their are a bunch of small seed sellers. Often promoting their own varieties. All the plants you mention can be grown by seed. Cucumbers are super easy! Direct sow. Other tomato forums exist, but are not allowed to be mentioned here. One is great with advice, vendors, recipes, it's very cool.
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loribee2
13 years ago
Oh dear! Yes, I did! Thanks for catching that!

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog
cardarlin
Original Author
13 years ago
I love the wine barrel idea. Yes we call them whiskey barrels here in Michigan. Atleast my family does. The only problem Im seeing now... is the cost of them. I'm thinking that it will be a little out of my price range. It might be cheaper to convince my husband to build me four large square planters of the same size. We will see. Thanks for the idea and keep them coming!
P.S. I love your blog!!! I asked my husband to find me the landscape software you used. How neat!!!
digdirt2
13 years ago
If you have a recycling center or collection point near you, you can often find 45-55 gallon plastic barrels that can be cut in half and have holes drilled in the bottom of them for drainage.

I have several that were apple juice barrels (make sure it was a non-toxic liquid in them) cut in half and painted that make very nice planters.

Farm and feed stores also sell large plastic tubs with rope handles that make good containers, and any of the Rubbermaid storage totes can be converted to containers too.

As a general rule when it comes to container gardening, especially if you want more than one or 2 plants in it, then the bigger the better.

It costs a bit to buy all the soil-less potting mix to fill them so be sure to factor that into your budget too.

And be sure to check out the Container Gardening forum here for even more helpful tips.

Dave
tempusflits
13 years ago
Ditto everything everyone above said. Plus, bush beans can be grown in 3 or 4 gallon plastic buckets. Just drill drainage holes on the bottom. I grew three bush bean plants in each bucket and staggered my planting by two weeks to give me a successive harvest. Worked well.
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
There is an entire container forum on this site. The soil type is a consideration and lots of ideas there.

Dan

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