What kind of veggies can I NOT grow in containers?

My husband and I bought our house two years ago. It sits on less than a 1/4 acre and the gardens are already well established with trees, shrubs and perennials. So, most of my gardening is 'contained'. I'd like to grow veggies. I do have an idea to build a raised garden for some veggies, but most of them will need to be in containers. Are there veggies that are best NOT grown in containers? I'd like to grow things like tomatoes, peppers, radishes, potatoes (in the raised bed I was talking about) and herbs... There are other things I like, but not sure what's not good in containers. Any advice???

You can grow any vegetable in containers. Some need to be bigger than others.

For perspective, here's some ideas. First: sweet potatoes in containers.....I have 4 containers of sweet potatoes going. This one is busting its seams!

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A homemade earth box (e-bucket)

This message was edited Apr 12, 2009 7:47 AM

I call this "Tomato Island".....I ran out of room in the garden and it appears I have a tomato obsession! ;~) 24 plants at last count.

Last one.....this year's upside-down tomato. It's a Black Cherry. There's one little green tom on it now....more to come - we hope.

I am with Boca Bob. I am an avid container gardener and veggie grower. I have raised beds, in ground gardens etc also, but I really find the highest amount of enjoyment from container growing.

Any veggie can be grown in containers, though there are a few significant differences between inground/raised bed growing and containers growing.

In a container as in the ground drainage is critical, but in a container it is more difficult to get optimal drainage. Potting mixes should be more coarse/larger sized particles than what works well for in ground or raised beds.

Size also matters. Not so much for root space, but to meet the watering needs of the plants. A large plant in a small pot is going to run out of water pretty quickly. I can't think of anything that can't be grown in a barrel half though (holds around 3 cubic feet of potting mix).

I have even grown Atlantic Giant pumpkins in an Earth Box successfully.

With containers the sky is the limit - any veggie can be grown in them.

Well said justaguy2

OK, so if pretty much any veggie can be gardened in a container (given the right size), what do you think about planting radishes in a typical hanging basket? I know that they are small veggies and possibly lighter in weight, so I thought maybe this would be a good idea...

It should work fine, but hanging baskets have a tendency to dry out quickly and lack of water with radish=hot radish. If you are able to use a free draining potting mix and prevent it from ever drying out it will work just fine. Of course if you like hot radishes, go ahead and let it dry out a bit every now and then :)

'hot' radishes? as in spicy?

I was thinking of growing radishes in a window box. I grew lettuce in one last year.

I was given four cucumber seedlings and I need to grow them in containers. How big of a container do I need? How big of a trellis?

It is very hot here. Over 100 in the sun is not unusual and over 90 for most of the summer is expected. I'm pretty sure this is too hot for cucumbers? If I can give them enough shade will they be okay?

I tried to stick my kids in a container, but they noticed the shipping label was going over seas... oh, nvm.. wrong type of containers!





And I was just kidding...




sorta...

can someone help me please... my son wanted to plant carrots in a big container (approx. 50 gal.) ... I think they all sprouted!! **LOL** I have been trying to thin them out slowly so he doesn't notice ((he's 6, and notices everything!!)) I also have green onions in there too... so the question is.. how long till I pull them out? so far none have produced carrots , some have a tint of orange when I thin them out.. and none of my scallions have come to bulb yet...

I wouldn't try growing corn in a container unless it was a HUGE container.

This year I have patio tomatoes growing in my window boxes, artichokes growing in the lg. tubs in front of my garage, and broccoli growing in large tubs too.

I'm not too concerned about anything but the broccoli. I have grown lots of broccoli before but until we get some landscaping done I don't want anything in the ground this summer.

All my veggies are in tubs...LOL Time will tell

Why not corn?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=6560521

LOLOLOLOL...OMG...THAT IS A RIOT!

I dunno...guess because I was spent a lot of time in Idaho...and they grew a LOT of corn... and it always seemed to need a lot of room.

I SIT CORRECTED....lol Very cute photo...thanks for sharing that one!

I've got yellow squash in a container

I've got peppers, green onions, tomato, carrots and English peas in containers! all seem to be doing great! thought about corn, but, I was also under the impression it need tons of space, I was so wrong. oh well, too late now to start them

I put in a large Zucchini plant yesterday. It was only $1.29 and I figured what the heck. It's up on my deck so it will probably sprawl all over, but it will be fun to see how it does.

I hope we all post photos of our our successes with growing veggies in pots and containers.

DirtyGirl...

I have a gardening friend who pulls them as soon as he notices the germination rate...and crowding. I would say go for it. If you let them get too big I worry about the removal disturbing the other carrots you want to stay.

Highmtn, I am using containers this years. I had grown tomatoes in containers before but nothing else
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/994711/

I did pull a bunch of them out yesterday... thinned them out quite a bit... my son hasn't noticed yet... pulled one carrot out, and man oh man it's short and stubby *LMAO* was the only one like it...all the rest are still nubs.

Gessie..
I looked at the link you posted! Your container "veggie garden" is an inspiration! I will be much more bold in the future! Loved it!

DirtyG
Funny about the chubby carrot. You can plant a carrot variety that is nubby-chubby like that! Maybe it was a wayward seed. Cute about your son the "eagle eyed" mini-gardener. He will be great at spotting cootie damage to his plants when he's older.

The carrots are Nantes...they are supposed to be short and stubby... I think they were cultivated for hard soil / clay.

I'm anxious for my potatoes too.... we grew up growing 'tators in the ground...but container gardening is new... but we always dug them up on the Fourth of July. (but that was in Kansas).

The bf was looking at the containers, reading the labels, and shaking his head. He looked at me and said, "At least you had the sense not to try to grow corn in one of those totes." (My original couture grow bags, not totes, tyvm). Well, you know what i have to grow NEXT YEAR....and I have from now to then to figure out how. thanks for the link to the corn box. I wish my containers were so perfect. Another goal for next year.

heres a shot of the carrot I pulled out... I sure hope the rest of them get bigger than this... can't find anywhere or anyone who can tell me how long they should grow!?!?!?!

Dirty Girl...
I know people who just toss straw over their carrots and let them winter like that in certain climates. They just go out and pull up what they can beat the gophers to...lol

The pkg description usually gives you the approx size and time to maturity. You can pull them any time (there is no hard fast rule that i know of). My dad was a HUGE veggie gardener and if my mom wanted carrots for something he would pull young ones... or old ones. To get the most band for your buck you should at least let them get to near full size. Ck the pkg info. It will either show you a little drawing, or tell you "matures in" so many days.