Growing Vegetables in Containers

If you use clean potting soil, container plantings will eliminate problems with:

• Soil borne diseases 
• Infestations by harmful nematodes 
• An invasion of weeds

Try these vegetables in a container:

Tomatoes 

Peppers 

Spinach 

Chard 

Herbs 

Eggplant 

Green Onions

Beans 

Lettuce 

Squash (Bush varieties) 

Radishes 

Carrots 

Parsley 

Cucumbers (Bush varieties)

Vine vegetables such as cucumbers and pole beans will also do well if they’re given some sort of support in the form of a pole, cage or trellis.

Choosing Containers

Use certain containers, wooden tubs, planter boxes, bushel baskets or anything deep enough to accommodate roots. Lettuce, peppers, radishes, herbs and the leafy vegetables need to be in a container that holds about eight inches of soil. Plant tomatoes in containers that are at least two feet wide and two feet deep.

Make sure you have drainage. Drill holes along the bottom edge of the container about a half-inch up from the bottom. If you’ve chosen a container that can’t be drilled, add two inches of coarse gravel in the bottom.

Watering

Container plantings might have to be watered more than garden plantings, particularly if the container is porous, such as a bushel basket or an un- glazed terra cotta container.