Vegetable gardens seem to be growing smaller by design. Baby Boomers are downsizing to smaller yards, millennials are choosing apartment living and developers are planning places with less landscape.
Even with smaller planting spaces, people can still grow their own fruits, vegetables and herbs if they contain their idea of what a vegetable garden should look like.
Jessica Walliser, horticulturist and author of Container Gardening Complete and Gardener’s Guide to Compact Plants, started growing vegetables in pots when she ran out of room in her in-ground vegetable garden.
“I wanted to grow more varieties of vine crops in particular, but I ran out of space, so I switched to growing bush varieties of vine crops, like cucumbers and squash, in containers instead,” she wrote in an email exchange.
Even in small yards, on patios or on balconies, gardeners can grow a lot of edibles. Some benefits of container planting include reduced pest pressure, the ability to maximize the amount of light containers receive, and “best of all, there are no weeds when growing in containers!”
Walliser gardens near Pittsburgh where she plants containers of dwarf and compact tomato varieties, like Glacier, Tumbling Tom and Patio. Salad Bush cucumbers and Sugar Pot watermelons are two of her favorite compact vine crops.
Container combinations of space-saving plants that grow well together include Spicy Globe dwarf basil with Tangerine Gem marigolds and compact Totem tomatoes. Another easy-to-grow combo includes Lipstick Pimento pepper, sweet marjoram and Tiny Tim tomatoes.
Just like with a conventional vegetable garden, the best advice is to start with the soil. Walliser fills her containers with either her homemade potting soil or a 50/50 mixture of high-quality commercial potting soil and compost.
The potting soil-compost mix retains water, yet is well-draining which means watering less often. The compost in the soil mixture adds nutrients and beneficial microbes that plants appreciate.
She also recommends adding a few tablespoons of organic granular fertilizer to the soil of each container before planting. The fertilizer combines with the nutrients in the compost to reduce the need for more fertilizer over the summer. However some fruiting crops, like tomatoes and peppers, get a boost with a monthly application of a liquid organic fertilizer.
When it comes to containers, Walliser explains that almost anything that holds soil can be used to grow a plant, as long as you can put a drainage hole in the bottom. “Don’t try to grow a tomato plant in a tea kettle,” she said, “You’ll want to make sure you choose an appropriately sized plant to grow in the container.”
One of her important to-dos for container gardening is to make sure pots get plenty of water. Her advice is to apply enough water to each container until it starts draining out the bottom. “Then, I return to each pot three or four times, applying more water until it drains out the hole repeatedly.”
Another option is to plant in a DIY self-watering container set up that uses the bin-in-bin system, she said. “Commercial self-watering planters are really expensive and mine works just as well, if not better, at a fraction of the cost.”
The system uses two plastic storage bins of the same type and size, an old cotton hand towel, potting mix, old bricks and plants. The towel acts like a wick to draw water out of the bottom bin to moisten the soil in the upper bin. Instructions for this container project and many others, are included in “Container Gardening Complete” (Cool Springs Press, 2017).
A good reminder for container vegetables is to harvest the fruits and vegetables as soon as they’re ready. “For most fruits and veggies, the more you harvest, the more the plant produces,” she said.
Herbs also need to be pinched or harvested on a near-daily basis when the season is in full swing.
Walliser’s other tips for good container growing include setting up trellises early in the season while plants are still small, asking someone to take care of planted pots while on vacation and storing expensive glazed ceramic or terra cotta pots in a garage or shed during winter.
The container gardening expert has an additional piece of advice: “Don’t forget to partner some ornamental plants with your edibles when growing in containers. Pop in a few annuals or flowering herbs around the edges of the containers. They’ll lure in important pollinators and add some color to your container garden, too.”
Jodi Torpey is author of “Blue Ribbon Vegetable Gardening” and “The Colorado Gardener’s Companion.” More information at WesternGardeners.com.