The Best Vegetables for Container Gardening

Container gardening can be a great way to have a vegetable garden that gets rid of some of the hassles of a regular traditional backyard garden. With container gardens, you reduce the threats that regular gardens have, threats like weather, pests, and some disease. When you just start out with a container garden it’s a good idea to try to stick to the best vegetables for a container garden.

Many vegetable plants are great to grow in a container garden. In this post, we go over good vegetables for container gardening for beginners.

It can be good for beginners to stick to easier to grow vegetables in a container garden and then work your way up to vegetable plants that require more attention to detail when growing them.

Related Reading: Fast Growing Garden Vegetables

What are the Best Vegetables for a Container Garden

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are one of the most popular and easy to grow plants for a container garden.

They are easy and provide great rewards with their yummy fruit.

When growing tomatoes in a vegetable container garden you will want to make sure you have big pots for them to growing.

And depending on the type of tomato you choose to grow in containers you will need to have a trellis or of some sort of support such as a tomato cage for the plant to grow on and be supported.

You will also want to make sure that your tomatoes have at least 6 hours of sunlight per day.

For more information and tips on growing tomatoes in containers check out Tips for Growing Tomatoes in Containers.

Potatoes

Growing potatoes in containers can help protect your potatoes from fungus or blight. These spread much easier from plant to plant when in the ground.

When you do choose to grow potatoes in a container you will have to use more soil than other vegetable plants need when being grown in containers.

My favorite container for potatoes is the Grow Bags. Since they are made with fabric they allow the soil to breathe and prevent overwatering. They also have a convenient opening on the front of the bag that makes it easier to get your potato harvest.

When you are growing potatoes in containers, make sure they have full sunlight.

With many vegetables growing in containers you have the option to move them around, but with the size of potato containers, it is usually best to make sure that the place you put your container is in the sunlight throughout the day.

Lettuce and Leafy Greens

Lettuce is a super easy vegetable for a container garden. So are other leafy greens.

It doesn’t require big containers and it also doesn’t require full sunlight. You can even get indoor planter systems for leafy greens and lettuce.

You do need to make sure that lettuce has ample amounts of water.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are fast-growing that can easily be grown in containers.

Like squash and tomato plants making sure your cucumber plant has support is necessary.

Cucumbers grow like a vine, so a garden trellis of some kind is best to allow the plant to grow upon.

Cucumber plants will need a good amount of sunlight, but can also stand a spot with partial shade. The warmer the soil can be for cucumber plants the better, as they love heat.

You will also want to make sure they have plenty of water since they are a water-loving plant.

Radishes

Radishes are a very quick-growing vegetable that is great for container gardens.

You can grow these from seed to harvest in just about a month’s time.

You won’t need big containers for these either, only one that is about 6 inches deep.

Radish plants don’t like getting too warm, so you can control the temperature by moving the plant into the shade. Adding water will also help with cooling them down.

Both the radish itself and the tops are edible so you can use the entire plant that you harvest.

Peppers

Both hot and sweet peppers can be grown in a container garden.

You will need a larger container for them.

Make sure they are able to get plenty of sun (at least 6 hours per day) and the container they are in has good drainage.

Watering of peppers being grown in containers is something you will have to pay close attention to. Too much water is bad and if they dry out it’s also very bad.

Squash/Zucchini

When growing squash or zucchini plants in containers you will want to make sure to have some kind of trellis to help the plant have a place to grow.

Squash plants do require a large amount of space so you do need larger containers for these vegetable plants in your container garden.

They like to have full sun, so you will want to make sure the spot that you pick isn’t shaded heavily.

Consistent watering is also needed for squash plants, so a drip irrigation system is ideal for these vegetable plants.

The Best Soil for Growing Vegetables in a Container Garden

Soil is very important when you are growing vegetables for container gardening.

You want to make sure that you choose a high-quality potting mix, organic is best. This way you can be sure no toxins are getting in your vegetables before you eat them.

I like to use Espoma Organic Potting Mix with Perlite to help control moisture in the soil.

Make sure not to use garden soil in container gardens, it is very dense and doesn’t allow proper drainage or aeration of the soil. That will affect the outcome of your crops as drainage and aeration of the soil is important.

Fertilizing Your Vegetables in a Container Garden

When growing vegetables in a container garden you won’t have the natural ecosystem that occurs in the ground of a vegetable garden, so it is important to fertilize your container garden plants.

Making sure you have a regular fertilizing schedule is vital to make sure you get an abundant harvest from your container garden.

 Jack’s Classic All Purpose Plant Food is the main fertilizer that I use for my vegetables in my container garden. It has a 20-20-20 ratio of nitrogen, phosphorous, and magnesium along with calcium and micro-nutrients. So it cuts down on the number of products I need to keep track of in my container garden.