What Are Some Easy Vegetables to Grow in Pots?
I’m thinking about growing some vegetables in pots on my patio…live in an apartment complex so I obviously can’t have an in ground garden here, lol. So I plan on buying some big 5 gallon pots and putting them on my patio, which faces southwest and gets plenty of afternoon sun.
The growing season here (when frost stops) is about from late April to early October (I live in NY). So let me know what you recommend, thanks!
Oh yeah…and one thing I just thought of…how can I keep animals like deer from eating my stuff??? There are a lot of animals around here (a black bear once walked up to me while I was reading the paper on my swing out there) and I would be pissed if they ate my vegetables. Only things I can think of are a fence (impractical) and dog hair.
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Filed under: Your Garden Q and A
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Vegetables that grow fast or have small root system fare well in pots. Pick your pots according to the needs of the veggies. Salad greens, radishes, baby bok choys would be ideal candidates. If you want to grow any of the night shades (tomatoes, peppers and eggplants) you will need one pot per plant to accommodate their root system. You will need to fertilize your plants more often than you would grow them in the ground, as when you water the plants, nutrients tend to leach out of the pots. Relatively speaking, growing herbs in pots are easier and can save you a lot of money if you cook for yourself. Parsley, green onions and basil can be grown as annuals, and are well worth the time and energy you put into it. You can also grow perennials like thyme, rosemary and oregano. Make sure you trim them to keep them under control. The trimmings are great for cooking…
One other option is Hydrostacker. This is a hydroponic growing system that can be fit on a patio easily. It is also easily movable so you can bring it inside when it gets cold. The system comes with its own nutrients, you will need to use that to water your plants. You can grow pretty much anything in it. (http://www.hydrostacker.com/single_stacker_manual.html).
I am not sure what to do with your deer/bear problems though, moving your plants inside might be one option.
Lettuces, radishes, smaller bush type tomatoes and peppers do well in containers
Odor deterrents may help with the critters. Hanging bars of deodorant soaps (Irish Spring, Lifeboy, etc.) or coyote urine based repellents may help.
A "scarecrow", a water sprinkler with motion detector. can be very effective also – http://www.safehomeproducts.com/shp2/sc/shopexd.aspx?id=1187&PLC=1&GFM=41&referer=http://www.safehomeproducts.com/shp2/product/water-scarecrow-motion-activated-sprinkler/bird-animal-repeller/repeller-water-scare/1187/1187.aspx&EOR=x&ESR=2&dir=shp2&b=ff2c&w=1024&h=602&f=N&tp=12074&frompg=99&topg=99&menupage=0
-Brian
GOOD JOB for deciding to have a garden the best way you can! Plant all you can, you’ll need all the food with the bad economy coming on. Tomatoes and cherry tomatoes would be great! I’ll bet you could even do cucumbers, just one plant will give you alot and they grow to sprawl out all over, so it only needs the dirt for the seed. Peppers, green beans and peas but do a little lattice for them to climb on. They don’t get too high, even two sticks with some string stretched back and forth will do. Oh, get "everbearing" strawberries, you’ll be eating them all summer long!!! If you’re pot is deep enough, you could grow some carrots. Broccoli or cauliflower would work, but will take up alot of space above ground. At least a whole foot in diameter per plant. Good luck!
I believe tomatoes do very well in pots. You can also try lettuce but i haven’t had success with that in pots
Tomatoes grow well in pots, as well as herbs. You could also try peppers or eggplants, which are in the same family as tomatoes (don’t try more than one to even a large pot, though). A large pot might also hold smaller vegetables in a grid, like 16 carrots or radishes, 4 turnips (or other similar sized vegetable), etc. You’ll need to make sure they’re well watered, since the water will drain more quickly from them than in the ground. Put some gravel or broken clay pots in the bottom of the pot to allow for better drainage.
It sounds awful, but there is a product on the market to scare away deer, rabbits, and other prey animals–coyote pee. You can buy it at some garden centers, and buy small plastic bottles to pour it into. Be SURE to do this outside, though–it smells terrible.
I grow everything in pots. Corn,peppers,eggplant any veggie will grow. the trick is to not put to many seeds in and watch what comes up. If some of them do not come up then replant the ones that do not. Go to Do it yourselff (dyi) web site and look up there. As far as bears go be glad you did not have a dog. The dog would have pissed the bear off.