What Are Good Fruits And Vegetables To Grow In Big Pots?
Posted by admin on February 26, 2010
I’ve already done tomatoes and peppers. I want to do something different this year. Can I do cantaloupe in big pots (letting it climb up the fence and have netting for the fruits), as well as strawberries (also climbing up our fence)? What else would grow well in big pots?
Comments
5 Responses to “What Are Good Fruits And Vegetables To Grow In Big Pots?”Leave a comment, and if you'd like your own picture to show up next to your comments, go get a gravatar!
Well I’d say anything but corn, but I know a guy who had a bunch of pots and grew corn. Curious but a waste of valuable space and time.
I’d suggest staying away from perennial vegetables and fruits like raspberries and the soil would have to be rejuvenated in a year or two and that’s no fun.
Artichokes might be too big, but frankly with super big pots, the sky is almost the limit.
Pole beans and peas are fine. Yes, maybe a squash or melon but realize their roots are extensive and they may resent the confinement in a pot. There are small bush cucumbers and squash bred just for pot culture. Of course greens grow well and are easily reseeded for successive croops. Garlic, onions, chives and shallots…..I’d not do onion as it takes up too much room for a single result. You want something that produces much in a limited area. Herbs of course, but beware the perennial herbs, even mint will find a way to escape even if it means sneaking out the drainage hole in the bottom. No on cabbage for the same reason as onions, one harvest, you want continual.
Cucumber is good in large pots with a 2-3ft depth of soil.
It’ll be best to stick a 2-3 foot tall trellis in the dirt, they will climb the trellis and overflow around the edges if it’s a happy plant. They like full sun, you can start them easily from seed.
Water deeply and slowly. If it seems to stop growing it may need more water. It’s sensitive to frost and needs warm soil and they respond well to fertilizer and compost. (Organic Gardening, 2000)
I gave mine Miracle Grow plant food once to twice a week, I harvested 5 nice size (6 inches) cucumbers over a one month period which was plenty for me, since I’m just one person. I never used compost because I had none. They were YUMMY!
If you choose cucumber be careful when handling, the stems snap and break easily.
I grew onion, radishes and leaf lettuce in shallow pots. I grew carrots in deep pots. None of the pots were real big.
I never got the timing right to grow a complete salad.
They have those strawberry pots with the holes on the side, so I guess they would do good in pots.
Anything will grow in a big pot if given enough water, but for looks and to be cool, grow the vines, pumpkins watermelon, cantaloupe, these look really cool growing up or down a deck/
Dwarf fig trees are supposed to be good for pots.