How to Have a Vegetable Container Garden

There is nothing better in the summertime than to have the taste of fresh vegetables. To go out in your own vegetable garden to get them is even better.

Not everyone has the room to plant a vegetable garden or is able to keep up with taking care of a larger garden. A vegetable container garden is the way to go for many people.

The first thing to do is decide what your favorites are, your top three or five or ten? From there you can figure out what kind of containers you will need. This does not mean you have to go out and buy all new containers or planters. You may have some at home, get some buckets from a restaurant (by us Charcoal Grill will save their large barbecue sauce buckets for you) or you could pick different kinds of containers up at a thrift store.

What you can use for a vegetable container garden:

Large containers you could use wooden boxes, bushel baskets, a half barrel, garbage cans, a large bucket from a bakery or restraint, plastic drum, large flower pots. A 5 gallon container is a perfect container; it can be used to plant just about anything. In these large containers you can plant tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peas, beets or green peppers. Make sure there are drainage holes on the bottom. Proper drainage in container gardening is very important. You can have a tomato cage right in these pots to help them grow vertically. A small plastic swimming pool is also great for growing vegetables in.

Smaller containers such as pails, ice cream buckets, old window boxes, paint cans, and one or two gallon containers are all good for growing green onions, carrots, radishes and herbs. You can twine 4 ice cream buckets together for a nice little plot for radishes or a head of lettuce in each.

Hanging baskets are good for growing vegetables too. If you have one of those 3 tiered vegetable baskets you could plant herbs on top, sprouts in the middle and some cherry tomatoes in the bottom.

You might also consider dwarf plants which you can get in lettuce, cabbage, corn, snow peas, baby carrots, baby eggplant, and tomatoes. There is also a cucumber plant called 'hanging basket cucumber' that is suppose to be a very successful plant.

Best kind of Soil mixture for a vegetable container garden:

Peat based soil mixes are good for container gardening. Mixed with some perlite or vermiculite is perfect for the plants to get air and good water drainage. Also compost, wood chips or Styrofoam peanuts can all help keep your soil from packing down.

Fertilizer for a vegetable container garden:

If you use a slow released fertilizer once a month should be all it needs for the season. There are water soluble fertilizers you can use, according to the package every two or three weeks.

Watering a vegetable container garden:

Container gardening requires more water than if your plants are in the ground. A good watering daily should be adequate. In the hot days of summer you will want to check them more. If the soil is still moist it does not need to be watered. It also helps to put mulch on top of the soil to help keep moisture in.

Light for a vegetable container garden:

Most of your plants will need 4 -5 hours of sunlight each day. You can move a container to get more sunlight or you can shade any plants from the hot sun with a garden cloth or an old sheet.

So even if you only have a small balcony for space, grab yourself a container and plant your self a tomato plant and a few radishes, they will be done before your tomato plant starts to get to big. Happy gardening!