Planter Boxes: What to Grow Throughout the Year
Summer is coming to a close, but that doesn't mean you should pack up your planter boxes for winter and wait for spring and the next growing season. With planter boxes, you have the opportunity for seasonal gardening and to enjoy a year-round harvest.
We'll walk you through how to keep your gardening containers flourishing with vegetables to match each growing season. From cold-tolerant plants like spinach to summer lovers like tomatoes, here's how to keep your planter boxes thriving all year.
What is Seasonal Planting?
Seasonal planting is all about choosing suitable crops for the right time of year. By aligning your planting schedule with the seasons, you can optimize your harvests and get the most from your investment in your planting boxes. Each season has ideal crops that thrive under specific conditions, such as temperature, sunlight, and moisture levels.
Succession Planting
Succession planting is a technique where you stagger your planting times to ensure a continuous harvest. During summer, you can plant fast-growing crops like basil, lettuce, and radishes at intervals. This way, you'll always have something fresh to harvest throughout the season. Succession planting maximizes your planter box space and ensures you’re never short on homegrown produce.
Factors to Consider
Before you start planting, consider your local climate zone and weather patterns. Different regions have varying growing seasons, so it's essential to know when to plant each type of produce. Also, consider the sunlight your planter boxes receive and temperature fluctuations. Proper timing is critical, so plan your planting and harvesting cycles accordingly.
Spring Planting - Early Spring Vegetables for Gardening Containers
Spring is the perfect time to start planting cool-season vegetables. As the weather begins to warm up, lettuce, spinach, peas, radishes, Swiss chard, and carrots are perfect spring vegetables to plant. These easy-to-grow vegetables thrive in cooler temperatures and are perfect for kickstarting your garden after the winter.
Place your planter boxes in an area with plenty of sunlight. If the nights are still chilly, consider using a frost cover to protect your young plants.
You can also get a jump on things by starting indoors. Once you determine your spring vegetable selections, you can plant seeds indoors, where they have more protection. Then, when temperatures rise, you'll have starter plants to move outdoors in your selected location.
Transition to Late Spring
You can transition to planting warmer-season crops as the weather continues to warm. Tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers are excellent choices for late spring planting. These plants love the increasing sunlight and warmer temperatures, and they'll start producing fruits that you can enjoy in the summer.
Summer Planting - Heat-Loving Vegetables
Summer is when your planter boxes can shine, producing a bountiful harvest of heat-loving vegetables. Top summer vegetables to grow include tomatoes, eggplants, zucchinis, and bush beans. Each thrives in the summer heat.
Remember to monitor your plant's water needs, as they can dry out quickly in the heat. Water regularly and use mulch to retain moisture in the soil.
You can pick up a self-watering planter box if watering isn't your thing. For example, EarthBox planter boxes feature sub-irrigation to ensure you don’t overwater or underwater your plants. The fill tube lets you add water to the reservoir where plant roots access it as needed.
Fall Planting - Cool-Season Vegetables
As summer winds down and the temperatures cool, it’s time to switch back to address your fall vegetable garden. Kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, beets, and turnips are excellent choices for fall planting. These vegetables can tolerate the cooler weather and even improve in flavor after a light frost.
Here's a tip to extend your growing season as temperatures drop: Use row covers or move your planter boxes to a sheltered area when the weather gets colder. This process protects your crops from early frosts and keeps your garden productive well into the fall.
Preparing Your Planting Boxes for Winter
Preparing your planter boxes for the colder months is essential as you transition from summer to fall planting. Remove any remaining summer crops and refresh the soil with compost and lots of organic matter to replenish nutrients. The enhanced soil will help your fall crops thrive and prepare the soil for winter planting.
Winter Planting - Cold-Tolerant Vegetables
Winter doesn’t have to mean the end of your gardening season. Some vegetables are surprisingly resilient and can thrive in colder winter months.
Cold weather doesn't kill these hardy plants; it slows their growth rate. The hardiest winter vegetables to grow include:
- Spinach
- Onions
- Garlic
- Leeks
- Broccoli
- Kale
- Cabbage
- Brussels sprouts
These vegetables can withstand heavy frost of air temperatures below 28. They can each withstand freezing temperatures and provide fresh produce even in the depths of winter. During the most frigid days, you can move containers to a more protected location.
You can also use cold frames or insulate your planter boxes with straw or other materials. These materials will create a microclimate that keeps your plants warm and allows them to continue growing.
Indoor Growing Options in Gardening Containers
If outdoor gardening isn’t feasible in winter, you can still enjoy fresh produce by growing herbs and small greens indoors. Planter boxes are perfect for indoor gardening. They allow you to grow herbs like basil, parsley, and mint on your windowsill. You can keep your indoor garden productive throughout winter with proper lighting and care.
Year-Round Planting Tips
Year-round planting in planter boxes allows you to enjoy fresh produce regardless of season. You can keep your garden productive throughout the year with the right planter boxes, soil care, and strategic planting. Here are some tips to ensure your planter box garden thrives every season.
Choosing the Right Planter Boxes
Planter boxes differ in quality and performance. So, choose the ones that suit your gardening needs. Look for boxes with proper drainage to prevent waterlogging. Consider insulated or double-walled boxes to help regulate soil temperature.
Mobility is also a plus, as it allows you to move your planter boxes to the best location for each season. So you might want to consider a planter box with casters.
Soil Health and Fertilization
Maintaining healthy soil is crucial for year-round planting success. After each growing season, refresh your soil by adding compost or organic fertilizer. Doing so replenishes nutrients and keeps your plants strong and productive.
Check your soil's pH levels regularly and adjust them as needed. These checks help your crops get the nutrients they need for healthy growth.
Generally, most fruits, vegetables, and herbs grow best in a pH range of 6.0–6.8. When the soil pH is outside this optimal range, it can be harder for plants to get nutrients and water.
Consider Planter Kits
Regardless of what season you start planting, you can get off to a fast start using a planter kit. Kits include everything you need for successful gardening—a planter box, fertilizer, mulch cover, growing medium, etc. Just select your plants and quality soil mix, and you're off to the races.
For example, EarthBox sells an herb garden kit for $34 and a vegetable planter box kit for just $64. Best of all, EarthBox systems have a track record of success for gardeners at all levels.
Enjoy Fresh Produce Year-Round with Planter Boxes
Seasonal planting in planter boxes offers a simple and effective way to grow your produce all year round. By understanding what crops to plant each season, you can enjoy a continuous harvest of fresh vegetables and herbs.
Whether you're a veteran gardener or just starting out, seasonal planting keeps your garden thriving throughout every season. So, grab your planter boxes and start planning your year-round garden today!
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