What Are the Best Vegetables to Grow in Containers?
Container gardening is a versatile and satisfying way to grow vegetables and herbs. It doesn't matter whether you have a sprawling backyard or a cozy balcony. Even people with small windowsills can grow plenty of fruits and vegetables, usually reserved for large gardens.
Container gardening is a way for everyone to grow fruits and vegetables. You can grow leafy greens like lettuce and spinach and root vegetables like carrots and beets.
The secret to success is knowing what vegetables grow best in containers. While you can grow almost any vegetable in a gardening container, you have more success focusing on dwarf, compact, and determinate varieties.
Why Choose Container Gardening?
Container gardening offers many benefits, making it an ideal choice for gardeners of all levels.
First, growing plants in pots gives you better control over the soil environment versus garden beds. That ensures your plants get the precise nutrients and pH levels they require.
Second, gardening containers are movable. Mobility enables gardeners to optimize sunlight exposure and protect plants from harsh weather. For example, if you face a week of sweltering heat, you can move your vegetable plants to a more shaded location.
Third, container soil warms up more quickly than ground soil, extending the growing season for many vegetables.
Finally, gardening containers effectively protect your plants. They minimize the risk of soil-borne diseases and pests. They also significantly reduce weed problems, making garden maintenance simpler and more enjoyable. All these give you a better chance of growing healthy plants.
3 Essential Needs for Container Gardening
When embarking on container gardening, you must keep these three things in mind:
- Soil Quality: Container vegetables thrive in a high-quality, well-draining potting mix that provides essential nutrients.
- Watering: Containers dry out more quickly than garden soil, so consistent watering is critical. Some vegetables, like lettuce and spinach, require moist soil to flourish. Remember, however, that excess water kills plant roots. So make sure your gardening container has drainage holes.
- Sunlight: Most vegetables need at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight daily. Position containers in a sunny spot or move them to ensure they get enough light.
Choosing a Suitable Gardening Container
Don't enter into container gardening thinking any container will work for potting plants. Your gardening container must match your vegetable plants' growing requirements.
To have a successful vegetable container garden, choose deep and wide pots for your plant's root systems. This will allow the roots to grow vigorously and access the nutrients and water they need.
Vegetables That Need a Deep Container
Carrots, eggplant, and tomato plants have deep roots. Consequently, you'll need a gardening container at least 12 to 18 inches deep. That gives the roots ample space to extend downward.
For example, the EarthBox root and vegetable gardening container is nearly 16 inches deep, so it can handle the larger root systems of carrots, parsnips, beets, and onions.
Shallow-Rooted Vegetables for Smaller Gardening Containers
On the other hand, shallow-rooted vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and most herbs flourish in containers 6 to 8 inches deep. EarthBox offers a smaller herb box planter with a seven-inch depth, perfect for more shallow-rooted plants.
Width is equally important, particularly for plants that spread out or grow bushy, such as zucchini and peppers. These vegetables require wider gardening containers to support that spread. The added width also provides enough surface area for root expansion and stability.
The Best Vegetables for Container Gardening
The best vegetables for containers are those that you like to eat. As mentioned, however, some are better suited for containers.
Depending on your goals, you should also consider the time to maturity. Some vegetables, like radishes, spinach, and lettuce, grow quickly, reaching harvest in 25-45 days.
Others, like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, require 60-90 days before harvesting.
So, let's get to it with a rundown of the best vegetables to grow in containers. For more information, view the growing guides for each. You can also check out plant placement charts to avoid overcrowding your vegetable gardening containers.
Herbs
Herbs are versatile plants that add flavor to culinary dishes. They are also one of the easiest vegetables for container gardening beginners to grow. Some are valuable at repelling pests, so that they can be good companion plants.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 6-10 inches
- Sun Requirements: 2-4 hours of sunlight daily
- Soil pH Requirements: 5.5-8.0. Most herbs generally prefer slightly acidic to neutral soil.
Lettuce
Lettuce is a fast-growing, cool-season vegetable, prized for its leaves for salad greens. It is ideal for continuous harvesting and regrowth.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 6-8 inches
- Sun Requirements: 2-4 hours of sunlight daily, prefers partial shade in hotter climates
- Soil pH Requirements: 7.0-8.0; slightly acidic to neutral soil helps promote crisp, tasty leaves.
Eggplant
Eggplants produce beautiful purple fruits and large, bushy growth. They offer a substantial yield in the right conditions.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 10 inches or more
- Sun Requirements: Full sun, at least 6-8 hours daily
- Soil pH Requirements: 6.0-7.0; slightly acidic conditions favor eggplant growth.
Carrots
Carrots are a root vegetable that requires depth to grow. Otherwise, they are simple to grow and rewarding to cultivate, with a sweet, crunchy harvest.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 12 inches or more for lengthy varieties; shorter varieties can manage with 8 inches
- Sun Requirements: Full sun to partial shade
- Soil pH Requirements: 5.5-7.0; slightly acidic soil conditions are ideal for carrot development.
Zucchini
Zucchini is a prolific vegetable that can produce an abundant harvest in gardening containers. Plants grow quickly to produce large yields.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 10 inches or more
- Sun Requirements: Full sun, 6-8 hours daily
- Soil pH Requirements: 5.5-7.0; zucchini can tolerate slightly acidic to neutral soil.
Beets
Beets are a dual-purpose vegetable with both edible roots and leaves. They're also hardy, so that you can grow them in cooler temperatures.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 8-10 inches
- Sun Requirements: Full sun to partial shade
- Soil pH Requirements: 6.0-7.0; slightly acidic to neutral soil is best for root development.
Swiss Chard
Swiss Chard is a leafy green vegetable that's both ornamental and edible, with colorful stems and leaves. The plant is resilient and can tolerate both cool and warm weather.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 6-10 inches
- Sun Requirements: Full sun to partial shade
- Soil pH Requirements: 6.0-7.5; prefers slightly acidic to neutral soil for optimal growth.
Spinach
Spinach is a fast-growing leafy green rich in nutrients. Its upside is that you can harvest it at baby leaf or maturity for varied uses.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 6-8 inches
- Sun Requirements: Full sun to partial shade, with preference for cooler conditions
- Soil pH Requirements: 6.0-7.5; slightly acidic to neutral soil conditions promote leafy growth.
Peppers
Peppers, ranging from sweet to fiery hot, are versatile in cooking and thrive in pots with enough warmth and sun.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 12-14 inches
- Sun Requirements: Full sun, at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily
- Soil pH Requirements: 5.5-7.0; slightly acidic soil supports healthy pepper plants.
Cherry Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes are a garden favorite. They're known for their rapid growth and sweet, bite-sized fruits, which make them perfect for snacking and salads.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 12 inches or more
- Sun Requirements: Full sun, 6-8 hours daily
- Soil pH Requirements: 5.5-6.8; slightly acidic to neutral soil is optimal for tomato growth.
Beans
Beans (bush and pole varieties) are a staple vegetable that can be easily grown in gardening containers. They produce a steady crop with minimal care.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 8-10 inches for bush beans; 12 inches or more for pole beans
- Sun Requirements: Full sun, at least 6 hours of sunlight daily
- Soil pH Requirements: 5.5-7.5; beans prefer slightly acidic to neutral soil for best production.
Radishes
Radishes are among the fastest vegetables to grow, making them highly rewarding for gardeners who want quick results.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 6-8 inches
- Sun Requirements: Full sun to partial shade
- Soil pH Requirements: 6.0-7.0; slightly acidic to neutral soil conditions are ideal for radish growth.
Kale
Kale is a nutrient-dense leafy green that's as decorative as edible. It thrives in cool weather and even tolerates frost.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 6-10 inches
- Sun Requirements: Full sun to partial shade
- Soil pH Requirements: 6.0-6.5; kale is adaptable and can grow from slightly acidic to neutral soil.
Peas
Peas are a delight to grow in the cooler seasons, offering sweet pods. They're also a great companion plant as they boost nitrogen in the soil.
- Soil Depth Requirements: 8-12 inches for bush varieties; at least 18 inches for climbing varieties to accommodate support structures.
- Sun Requirements: Full sun to partial shade, with at least 4-6 hours of sunlight daily. They thrive in cooler temperatures and can tolerate light frosts.
- Soil pH Requirements: 6.0-7.0; peas prefer slightly acidic to neutral soil for optimal growth.
Grow Vegetables Successfully in Containers
EarthBox delivers proven systems for growing vegetables of all types in its gardening containers. Its growing systems are lab-tested and have proven results from thousands of gardening enthusiasts.
Best of all, EarthBox container gardening systems eliminate guesswork. Just add your vegetable plants, water, and plenty of sunshine to put fresh, homegrown produce on your table.
Someone suggested that pouring a cup of bleach over the potting mix or into the reservoir at the end of the growing season might be beneficial. Any thoughts on this?
I have a soil recipe I use in my boxes for tomatoes. This includes, equal parts of peat moss, topsoil and potting mix. Also, I mix blood meal and bone meal with iron, gypsum, plant tone and a 8-8-8 fertilizer. Lastly the dolomite with liquid cal. Thanks for the watering tip.
Just a warning -- that "cure" for BER using pickling lime almost killed all my earthbox plants last year. The VERY next day they were wilted and sickly. I'm surprised they even bounced back. I followed the directions exactly. Perhaps that recipe is too strong. I was growing Brandy Boy. Finally, it did NOTHING to stop BER, however I did not try to calcium nitrate.
Hello Lee, thank you for your feedback and we're sorry to hear you almost lost your crop. We would love to learn more about the problem you experienced, so we encourage you to please call or email our Consumer Service Team so we can try to understand a bit more about this issue you experienced. We can be reached Mon.-Fri. 8:30a-4:30p ET at 1-800-4GARDEN if you would like to speak with someone in our office. Thank you!
Too late for us this year. Better Boy, Zebra, and sweet peppers all have BER. Only Sun Golds have been harvested. Better luck next year, now that we know.
Aww...that's too bad, Marylyn. We hope you try again next season and have better success with your tomatoes the second time around!
Hi! Am loving the earth boxes, but my tomatoes have BER. If I put clean egg shells in the water reservoir, would that help?
Hi Karen, if you want to use eggshells in an EarthBox, we recommend that you dehydrate them and then grind them into a fine powder. They can then be added to the soil alongside the dolomite. We do not recommend that eggshells be put into the water reservoir as they do not break down quick enough to supplement the soil in any meaningful way. We offer a calcium nitrate packet that can be added to the water reservoir weekly that does help prevent BER. You can purchase that as part of our Tomato Replant Kit - https://earthbox.com/earthbox-accessories/earthbox-tomato-replant-kit
Any other ways to treat BER? My two tomatoes have morphed into an octopus of branches covering the patio and I can't possibly dump the earthbox. Also, any alternatives to Pickling Lime? Doubt I can find this during the Pandemic. And should I fertilize with again/regularly since I am growing many more tomatoes than expected?
I started adding a liquid concentrate of Calcium/Magnesium (10ml) once a week down the water tube and I only had a few tomatoes with BER from my 6 boxes. I also installed your watering system this past year and had the best harvest I have every had. The constant water paid off.
Hi, I’ve planted Armenian cukes for the past two years in my earthboxes, two plants side by side. Numerous flowers appear but never any fruit. They are outside so pollinators have access. We even rent mason and leaf cutter bees every year to help. Any thoughts on how I can get fruit to develop?
As a master gardener, I was taught that nightshade crops, particularly tomatoes, need to be rotated and not planted in the same soil year after year. Are you saying that this is not necessary with the Earthbox system, and that the same soil is safe to plant nightshade crops for up to 10 seasons?
That's correct. You should be reusing the soil season after season unless you have a confirmed plant disease like blight.
I've heard that dropping a Tums into the watering tube occasionally can also help prevent BER. Would love to know what your advice is on this, and if others have had success with this cheap and easy method?
Barbara, you would need to add something like 275 Tums to equal just setting up using the correct amount of dolomite
On my better boy tomatoes, looks like one or two small tomatoes are developing blossom end rot, the others are not. Planning n adding calcium to the boxes today, but should I pluck off the small ones that appear to be developing blossom end rot?
Hi Kathy, Any tomatoes that have Blossom End Rot (BER) should be picked and discarded as soon as possible. Picking off the affected tomatoes as soon as possible will allow the plant to put energy into producing more flowers and fruit. Be sure to add 1 teaspoon of Calcium Nitrate to the water reservoir one time each week to help prevent BER.
Where do purchase calcium nitrate and all I could find is Bonide Rot Stop.
Your local garden center should have some, or you can also buy it from us by calling 800-442-7336.
I have used the earth box planting mixture.. Bought the refertilizer packs... I followed instructions to a tee.. but my zucchini have big leaves and my zucchini get about 2-3 inches long and rot off... not sure what is happening. Can you tell me what is wrong?
Hello Sharon, thank you for your question. The problem you are describing with your zucchini plant is lack of fertilization. Basically, your female squash flowers (the ones with the tiny zucchini fruits behind the blossom) are not being pollinated. The fruit will only grow so much and then it begins to rot if the flower did not receive pollen from the male flowers (the flowers without the fruit and with just a straight stem behind the blossom). You can pick the male flowers and manually pollinate the females if you do not have any bees, butterflies, or other pollinators in your area, which will allow the tiny fruits to "set" and mature into full-size.
Don't you mean "lack of pollination" rather than "lack of fertilization"?
How do I apply rot stop (Calcium 9.2% solution to earth box container to prevent blossom end rot. My plants are small now. Two in one earth box. Thank you
Hi Laura, Bonide Rot Stop is a foliar spray. Directions on their label state to "apply to the point of run-off onto the foliage and fruit during periods of rapid growth or following excessive rain fall." We advise you apply this in the evenings when temperatures are lower to avoid foliage burn. They do not recommend using this regularly, as it can cause leaves to burn if used more often than every 7 days.
I had a bad time with BER a few years back and started adding calcium nitrate once a week. Since then I’ve started adding it before it starts and so far so good. I was reading and noticed that I should reuse the soil every year, I haven’t been doing this but I’m really glad I don’t have to empty the boxes and buy new soil every year 😮. This year I got mixed up and have been adding it to tomatoes and squash, not peppers. Now I have quite a few peppers to remove.. 😐. I’m at the age where I have to learn things over lol Julien Bowles