In the 12 years we've lived here, I've grown virtually everything in containers of different sizes, mostly with success.

This year, in containers I have grown strawberries, 7 varieties of tomatoes (Better Bush, Husky Red Cherry, Tumbling Tom Yellow, Tumbling Tom Red, Bush Goliath, Better Boy and Celebrity), about 8 or 10 varieties of edible peppers including Jalapeno (Senorita), poblano, Fish, Zavory, a red sweet bell, and 8 or 10 ornamental pepper varieties; yellow crookneck and straightneck squash, mint, chives, basil, lavender, Hansel eggplant, Gretel eggplant, 3 varieties of potatoes (one each with red, purple and blue skin and flesh), 2 varieties of sweet potatoes (Bugs Bunny and Carogold) and tons of flowers (Laura Bush petunia, purple coneflower, beonias, marigolds, Mexican Sunflower (tithonia), dianthus, periwinkle, dusty miller, ornamental sweet potatoes, large tree-sized brugmansias (in molasses feed tubs) and verbena bonariensis).

To succeed with growing in containers, you need to be sure you do all the following:

1. Choose containers that are large enough for mature plants. My tomatoes, for example, grow in molasses feed tubs that are roughly the size of a whiskey half-barrel, as do my large brugmansias. My potatoes this year were in a 4' round stock tank as are my sweet potatoes. Many of my peppers are in containers that vary from 4 to 10 gallons in size, and most of the flowers are in 4 or 5 gallon containers.

2. Use a very high quality soil-less potting mix with a slow-release pelleted fertilizer in it. Never, ever, use dirt from the ground as it compacts down and does not drain well enough for use in a container. You can mix up your own soil-less potting mix or purchase commercially prepared mixes.

3. Place your containers in an area where they have some relief from the heat. Even for tomatoes and peppers, 6 hours of direct sunlight is plenty for great production. The tomato plants I have in containers that get more than 6 or 7 hours of direct sunlight really struggle in the hot weather. It also helps them if they are not directly beside a driveway, roadway or building that reflects hot sunlight and heat back onto them.

4. Ensure they are watered adequately. If you have a high-quality soil-less container mix in your containers, you will need to water often. I water once or twice a day in average and summer weathr and up to three times a day if the temperature is exceeding 105 degrees. If your schedule doesn't permit you to be home to water that often, set up a drip irrigation system on a timer but keep an eye on it to ensure it isn't overwatering or underwatering.

5. Place an inch or two or three of mulch on top of the soil to help it retain moisture and stay cool.

6. Make SURE your containers drain well. We always drill lots of nickle-sized to quarter-sized holes in the bottom of the pots, and sometimes a few smaller holes in the sides of the pots about an inch above the bottom. These ensure the containers will drain well. To keep your soil from washing out the bottom of the pots and to help keep weeds from growing up through the bottom drainage holes, cut a piece of landscape fabric and place it in the bottom of the pot before filling it with your soil-less growing medium.

7. Ensure the plants receive adequate nutrition. Heavy watering and rainfall quickly leach nutrients from the soil and this can result in nutrient-deprived plants that fail to grow well and fail to produce. Even with a pelleted, slow-release fertilizer mixed into the soil-less growing medium, you'll need to feed regularly with a water soluable fertilizer, either of chemical or organic origin. Some people feed their container plants once or twice a month, others feed them every time they water, but they dilute the fertilizer to 1/2 to 1/4 its regular strength size they're applying it more often.

8. Don't crowd too many plants into one container. In the large molasses feed tubs, I'll plant one tomato plant, with one Laura Bush petunia plant that will shade the soil as it spreads out about 3' go 4' feet in all directions. In one five-gallon bucket, I'll plant one pepper plant and a couple of flowers, but not large monster flowers that will compete with the pepper for vertical space, but, rather, trailing ones that will hang over the edge of the container and shade its sides from the sun.

Most people try to cram too many plants into one container.

I don't know what part of Oklahoma you're in, but I'm in extreme southcentral Oklahoma where we're lucky to get rain twice a month in the summertime, and sometimes we don't even get that. That's why I have so many plants in containers....because at least in containers I can water them enough to keep them growing and productive in the dry years. With plants in the ground, in drought summers, I inevitably have to stop watering at some point because you just cannot afford to water enough to keep them going in those conditions. In those summers, my container plants at least give me something after I abandon the in-ground garden.

Tell us what you grew in containers and how it performed, and maybe we can offer specific suggestions.

Dawn

Dawn:
Thanks for the info. I am already looking ahead to next spring or this fall when the weather cools just a bit. So far I have done about everything you said don't do. My purpose for going with containers is to avoid bermuda grass. If there is enough direct sunlight to grow anything, bermuda takes over.
I am thinking, put the containers about 3/4 depth in the ground to avoid soil heat problems. Raised some pimentos this year, they about burned up until I moved them into an area where they only get two or three hours of direct sun a day. I have a preformed pool that I cut the bottom out of and sank into the ground a couple of years ago. Things do well in it and it holds the bermuda at bay.
How far are you from Kingston? I would like to see your setup.

I second everything that Dawn has said with the exception of #8--crowding.

I do crowd the plants, but I try to compensate by intensive watering and feeding. Since I work out of my home, I will take a break from my work and go out and water/feed the potted plants. Given this extra attention they seem to do fine and create a truly riotous assembly of vegetables, exotics and fancy bedding plants. But a word of caution, overcrowd only if you can afford to spend the time tending their needs, as they will expire quite quickly if neglected.