bush beans or pole? I would think you could do that just fine but I'd be worried that if the bucket was very wide, you'd have a tangled mess of the plants above the soil. While I do not consider myself an experienced gardener, I will say that I have noticed the bush beans I grow do not produce massive roots. For the most part they stay all in the area I planted them in within the garden. All of my containers I will be growing in will be one plant per container, but I am aiming for narrow containers so they take up less room. For example, I have a few sparking cider bottles. I filled the bottom 1/4 with fish tank gravel so there is a place for water to "run off" in with out leaving the plant roots soaking in water and the rest is soil. I sprouted the beans outside the container on a tray with gravel, water and coffee filter, and once they sprouted a stem and began producing a leaf, I slipped them each in a bottle. They are pole beans and I will grow them inside in designated areas. It'll take some work to train them where to go as they grow, but it'll be fun to see how they do. I am also thinking of taking some Gatorade bottles I have washed out and growing bush beans in them. Then wrapping fabric around the bottle and turn it into a centerpiece on my kitchen table and coffee table. My peas are the ones that I am really pushing the limits with. Since the varieties I am growing are shorter (2-3 ft) and I've noticed from past experiences, their roots do not grow out vary far, and they also can be harvested within about 2 months, I am thinking I can squeeze them into something super small as long as I make sure they have all the nutrients they need. Kind of like a hydroponics system in the sense that you grow something with less room, but they'll still be growing in soil, I'll just water them through out the day (or as needed) with nutrient packed water that I will make (and don't ask how I'm going to make it because I don't know yet, lol. I eventually want a worm composter that I can "water" for nutrient packed water but since I do not have that system set up yet, I'll figure something else out). I am going to try pill bottles of various sizes for the peas. I have some large and some small and can drill a hole in the bottom of them for drainage. So that's what I've schemed up so far, but I still have a few days to figure out what to do with the peas because they are just beginning to sprout and will be ready for a container in the next few days.

Melissa, You're welcome. Here's the list of vegetable varieties suitable for growing in containers. This is not an all-inclusive list but it does give you several options for each type of vegetable on the list. With certain vegetables, like bush beans, for example, literally any variety available can be grown in containers. With tomatoes, literally any variety can be grown in containers, although the larger the mature size of the plant, the larger the container it will need. This year, I had several varieties of tomatoes, including Chocolate Stripes, Momotaro, Tropic and Red Defender reach 7' in height in molasses feed tub containers, which probably hold about 20 gallons of soil. Many other tomato plants, including Scarlet Red, Glacier, Sophie's Choice, New Big Dwarf and Red Defender reached about 3 to 4' or so in 7-gallon containers. Still others, including Ildi, Sioux, San Marzano Redorta, and Yellow Ball reached a height of 5' or taller in kitty litter buckets that hold about 5 gallons of soil. All of the container-grown plants produced heavily all season long. So, matching your plants' ultimate size to a container of the right size pays off. If I know where the seeds are usually offered online, I mention the company. However, some companies haven't updated their websites for 2010 so I can't say that they'll have the seed for 2010, just that they usually have it. Dawn Here's the abbreviations for the sources: BCHS = Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds www.rareseeds.com BURP = Burpee Seeds www.burpeeseeds.com CG = The Cook's Garden www.cooksgarden.com CON = Containerseeds.com (I only listed broccoli for this company but it probably has many of the varieties on this list) JSCH = John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds www.kitchengardenseeds.com NIC = Nichols Garden Nursery www.nicholsgardennursery.com PARK = Park Seed www.parkseed.com PINE = Pinetree Seeds www.superseeds.com VS = Victory Seeds www.Victoryseeds.com SSE = Seed Savers Exchange www.seedsavers.org SESE = Southern Exposure Seed Exchange www.southernexposure.com TGSC = Tomato Growers Supply Company www.tomatogrowers.com TT = Totally Tomatoes www.totallytomatoes.com BEANS: Roma II (BCHS, VS, BUR) Contender (BCHS, VS, BUR) Top Crop (VS) Gina (romano type) (NIC) Provider (PINE, SESE, SSE, BUR) Tendergreen (PINE, SSE) Bush Blue Lake (BCHS, BUR, PINE, SESE) Sequioia Purple Roma (BUR) Royalty Purple Pod (BCHS, NIC, PINE, SSE, SESE) Golden Wax Improved (VS) BEANS, LIMA Thorogreen (NIC) Henderson Bush (BCHS, PINE, SESE) Bush Jackson Wonder (BCHS, SESE) Fordhook 242 (SESE) BEETS Red Ace (PINE) Golden Globe (BUR, SSE) Cylindra (BCHS, BUR, NIC, PINE, SSE) Ruby Queen (PINE, VS) Burpee's Red Ball (BUR) Bull's Blood (highly ornamental foliage) (BUR) BROCCOLI Early Dividend (Territorial Seed used to carry it but I haven't bought it in several years so don't know if they still do.) Small Miracle (PARK, CON) Packman (NIC) CABBAGE Gonzales Mini-Cabbage (PINE) Red Acre (SESE, VS) Golden Acre (VS) Savoy Express (JSCH) Primero Red (JSCH) Caraflex (JSCH) CARROTS Adelaide Baby (JSCH) Short 'N Sweet (BUR) Thumbelina (BUR) Little Finger (PINE, VS) Minicor (JSCH, NIC) Mokum (PINE) Parisian/Tonda di Parigi (PINE) Red-Cored Chantenay (BUR, VS) Improved Nantes (VS) Scarlet Nantes (VS) Parmex (JSCH, CG) CAULIFLOWER: Early Snowball (SESE) Igloo (PINE) CHARD: any---they all get about the same size CORN (SWEET): Early Sunglow (BUR, NIC) Blue Jade (dwarf) (SSE) Quickie (PINE) Golden Bantam (BUR, SESE) CUCUMBER: Salad Bush (NIC, PINE, TT, BUR) Spacemaster (PINE, BUR, SESE) Bush Champion (BUR) Fanfare (TT) Picklebush (BUR) Bush Crop (PINE, VS) Homemade Pickles (PINE, VS, TT) Muncher (PINE) Bush Pickle (TT) Ellen's Family White (pickling) (SESE) Arkansas Little Leaf H-19 (pickling) (SESE) EGGPLANT: Bambino (BUR, CG) Fairy Tale (BUR, NIC)) Long Purple (BUR) Slim Jim (PINE) Raveena (PINE) White Fingers (PINE) Applegreen (BCHS, SESE, SSE) Casper (SSE) Diamond (SSE) Neon (CG) LETTUCE: any, but here's some of the more compact ones Tom Thumb (heads get tennis-ball sized) (NIC, SESE, VS) Little Gem (VS) Tennis Ball (SESE) This variety was grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello Bronze Mignonette (VS) Buttercrunch (SESE) MELONS: These would need large containers--nothing smaller than the size of a half-whiskey barrel or child's wading pool. Old stock tanks are great for growing melons too. Minnesota Midget (BCHS, SSE) Green Machine (BCHS) Sleeping Beauty (BCHS) OKRA: Little Lucy (NIC, PARK) Baby Bubba (BUR) Pitre's Short Bush Red Cowhorn 3' tall (BCHS) Vidrine's Midget Cowhorn Okra (BCHS) Choppee (SESE) Dwarf Green Long Pod (VS) ONION: any short-day or intermediate types or any bunching types PEAS: Little Marvel (SESE) Sugar Bon (BUR) Snowbird Snow Pea (BUR) Knight (PINE) Lincoln (aka Homestead) DeGrace Snow Pod (BCHS) Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Pea (BCHS) Wando (BUR, SESE, VS) Laxton's Progress No. 9 (VS) Sugar Ann (SESE, VS) Dwarf Gray Sugar (BUR, SESE, VS) Tom Thumb (SESE) Oregon Trail (NIC) Sugar Spring (NIC) PEPPERS: almost any pepper can be grown in containers, but these few listed here are especially compact Hot: Biker Billy Jalapeno (BUR) Pizza (NIC, TT) Super Chile (TT) TAM Jalapeno #1 (TT) Thai Demon Red (NIC) Medium: Tangerine Dream (BUR) Blushing Beauty (TT) Redskin Red Bell (TT) Mini Belle Mix (TT) Mini Bell Choc (TT) Mini Bell Yellow (TT) POTATOES any fingerling type like Russian Banana, Austrian Crescent, etc. Red Pontiac or Red Norland any other potato can be grown in very large containers PUMPKINS Cheyenne Bush (SSE) Orange Smoothie (semi-determinate) (BUR, PINE) Jack-B-Little (trellised) (BCHS, NIC, PINE) Wee-B-Little (trellised) (NIC, PINE) RADISHES: any type excet the very large winter radishes or the very long Daikon types Cherry Belle (PINE, NIC, SESE, VS) French Breakfast/Early French Breakfast (BCHS, NIC, PINE, VS) Easter Egg II Blend (TT) White Hailstone (BCHS, PINE, VS) Pink Beauty (BCHS, BUR) Purple Plum (BCHS, SSE, VS) Early Scarlet Globe (VS) SQUASH (Summer): Peter Pan Green Scallop (BUR) Sunburst Scallop (PINE) Saffron (PINE) Eight Ball (NIC, PINE) Greyzini (NIC) Ronde De Nice (PINE) Cocozelle (NIC, PINE) Early White Bush Scallop (VS) Yellow Bush Scallop (VS) Papaya Pear (NIC, PINE) SQUASH (Winter): Bon Bon (NIC) Butterbush (BUR) Autumn Glow Butternut (BUR) Bush Table Queen (BUR, SESE) Bush Buttercup (BCHS) Early Acorn (BUR) Cornell's Bush Delicata (NIC, PINE) Blue Baby Hubbard (BUR) TOMATOES: You can grow some ultra-small tomato plants in containers as small as 4" (Red Robin or Micro-Tom), in hanging baskets (Tumbler, Tumbling Tom, Florida Basket) and in larger 5 to 20-gallon containers, taking care to put Determinates in 5 to 10 gallon containers and Indeterminates in 7 to 20+ containers. Here's some varieties that do well in containers. Micro-Tom (TGSC) Florida Basket (TGSC) Elfin (TGSC) Small Fry (TGSC, TT) Tiny Tim (TT) Tumbler (TT, BUR) Tumbling Tom Red (PINE, TT, TGSC) Tumbling Tom Yellow (PINE, TT, TGSC) Balcony (CG) Red Robin (TT) Orange Pixie (NIC, TGSC) Canary Yellow (TGSC) Totem (TGSC) Patio VF (TT) Patio Princess (BUR) Window Box Roma (NIC, TGSC) Bush Early Girl (BUR, PIN, TGSC) Better Bush (PINE) Bush Big Boy (BUR) Bush Goliath (PINE, TT) Bush Beefsteak (TT, TGSC) Bushsteak (BUR) Martino's Roma (PINE, TT) Sweet Baby Girl (BUR, NIC, TGSC) Lime Green Salad (BCHS, TGSC, VS) New Big Dwarf (TGSC) Southern Night (a rare black determinate since most black tomatoes are indeterminate) (TGSC) Green Grape (TGSC, VS) Glacier (SESE, TT, TGSC) Husky Red (TT,TGSC) Husky Cherry Red (TT,TGSC) Mountain Princess (BCHS, SESE) Sophie's Choice (SESE) Green Zebra (NIC, VS) Black Sea Man (TT) WATERMELON: You should grow these in containers no smaller than 20 gallons, such as whiskey half-barrels, children's wading pools, trash cans or stock tanks. Melons (and pumpkins too, in fact) need a lot of water and have very vigorous root systems so the large containers are necessary in order for them to do well. Bush Sugar Baby (BUR) Sugar Baby (BUR) Blacktail Mountain (BCHS) Golden Midget (BGHS) Yellow Doll (NIC)

It's just that you seem to reject all our advice that it takes a long time to build the soil. Have you tried permaculture? Even with that, it will likely take 3-5 years to get really good soil. When I lived in my house, one whole side of my house was marl fill dirt. It took me at least 10 years of digging and amending the soil to make it worth a crap. You just seem very impatient to have perfect soil. You will never have perfect soil in S. Florida. It isn't going to happen. You have to choose things that grow well in our soil or heavily amend it. Complaining incessantly about it isn't going to make it be magically better. You have to grow what works. In my marl soil, much of which was under a huge oak tree, I planted things that didn't have to be planted very deeply, like gingers, bromeliads and philodendrons. I let the leaves fall and stay where they fell and eventually, there was beautiful soil. In the sunny part, it was a matter of digging a tiny hole in the marl, filling it with water, letting it sit, digging it out a little bigger, rinse and repeat until I had a hole large enough to plant in, then adding 50-75% organic matter to the hole. Then I mulched it heavily every year with leaves with a topping of bark for appearances. After I dug and planted enough holes and dumped enough leaves, earthworms came in, but it still took 10 years to get nice, black, crumbly soil. We all vent about how hard certain things are to grow down here, the heat, the rain, the cold, etc., etc. I always say that gardening in FL is like going to war with Mother Nature. You win battles and lose battles, but you never win the war.

Otto, Talking about blueberries, I became really addicted with blueberries and collected over 30 different cultivars (both Southern High bush and Rabbit eye inclusive) with single and multiple plants in the past two years totalling 46 plants (all of them in containers) so far. My target is maximum of 50 plants and I am nearly saturated with blueberry plants, lol. Spinosad (derived from the fermentation juices of a lowly soil bacterium called Saccharopolyspora spinosa) is a relatively new insect killer that quickly and safely controls a variety of caterpillars, beetles and thrips pests. To chemists, spinosad is a complex molecule known as a "glycosylated macrolactone;" but to gardeners with a hankering for safer products, it may be a godsend. Bacillus thuringiensis, known for years to savvy gardeners as "Bt", has been a standard weapon for the war against caterpillars. As an insecticide, Bt is a safe, selective product for caterpillars. However, Bt lacks staying power. Instead of Bt's one or two days' residual, spinosad keeps killing for up to four weeks. In addition, spinosad kills thrips, which Bt doesn't faze. If you grow citrus and have leaf miners problem, spinosad takes care of that as well. If you have fire ants problem, spinosad takes care of them as well. The only downside is spinosad also kills honey bees, the pollinator for plants. It is recommended to spray spinosad either very early in the morning or late at night.