Potted Veg?

Spender£

I have limited space for a veggie patch in my garden however i do have lots of pots, tubs and troughs, can i grow veg in these pots. Does anybody grow veg in containers and what do you grow, i would love some leeks, carrots, lettuce and broccoli but i only see them growing in the ground.

elsien

I grow in containers but it’s harder work. More watering and they don’t seem to do as well as stuff in the ground. 

If you have limited space it’s better to grow things that grow more quickly and which you can’t get stupidly cheap in the supermarket. 

Carrots I didn’t find worth the space they took up. Ditto potatoes.
I do grow tomatoes, strawberries, leeks, Blueberry, courgettes, mangetout, spring onions, chilli plants, radishes, herbs and cut and come again salad leaves in my limited space. Cucumbers do well if it’s a hot summer but I have no greenhouse so they sulked last year.
Tried sweetcorn but it didn’t ripen in time.  Chard did well till I discovered I didn’t like it.  Aubergine I tried for the first time last year but something ate it. 

Also to add, I do like my garden but I’m not the most green fingered of people and my time can be limited. This is what works for me. Sowing in stages so you have an ongoing supply. I try to get two lots of courgettes, for example, by sowing a few weeks apart. 

MovingForwards

I grow potatoes in £1 supermarket bags. Carrots, beans, leeks, parsnips in builders sacks.

I've previously grown carrots in supermarket flower buckets and runner beans in old flower pots. 

I've also got a garden where I've all of the above, plus spinach, kale, peas, beets and anything else I feel like growing.

Late last year I moved my strawberries from a plastic storage tub into the garden.

I enjoy the peace and solitude when watering the garden, lets me see small changes.

Lettuce tends to grow in anything and some people have flipped a pallet to grow upwards in small spaces.

A selection of herbs grown in pots will make a huge difference to how your food tastes, some are winter hardy.

Have a read through the pinned 2022 thread and you'll get loads of hints and tips..

Aidanmc

I also grow potatoes in plastic bags. I've been using old bags that originally had dried dog food in, also old compost bags and fertilizer bags.

Just poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Throw in a little compost/soil mix in the bottom, place seed potato on top, cover with a good layer compost/soil. Whe the shoots appear after a few weeks, keep putting in more compost/soil.

Water when required.

When it comes to harvest, just empty out the bag and collect the potatoes.

I usually reuse the compost/soil for other veg.

joedenise

I've grown tomatoes, courgettes, French beans, peas and butternut squash in pots.  Some years are more successful than others!  I actually found butternut squash was better grown in a pot than in the garden because they didn't spread as far!  I think the most successful things for me are probably tomatoes and courgettes.

Murphybear

I grow a lot of tomatoes, especially the interesting and unusual types from our local garden centre.  They grow very well in pots/tubs but can be hard work.  Last year they grew like beanstalks 

Strawberries also do well in pots.   I tried carrots last year in some troughs but they didn’t do well.  I have lots of herbs, I start them off indoors then move them outside when the weather improves.  We live in the south and it generally doesn’t get too cold. 

I bought an apple and pear tree last year that were specially designed for large pots.  They did very well, I am hoping we might get fruit this year but that may be wishful thinking.  I bought my husband a small cherry tree this year for Valentines Day, he’s getting too porky with all the chocs.  We found some massive pots from the local recycling centre, that practically gave them away.

We have a communal garden no room for growing fruit and veg but our property has its own small space so there’s room for lots of pots etc.  I bought a small plastic greenhouse last year from Aldi but the recent storms destroyed it 

GreenCat80

I’ve put a small pallet on my wall for lettuce this year. I used some slats leftover from making a strawberry planter to fill in the bottom of these 3 sections, lined them with a compost bag (and poked in drainage holes), filled with compost and sowed the seeds. I don’t know if anything is going to grow yet but I’m feeling optimistic 😁

MovingForwards

@Murphybear I had one and now configure the frame as I want, cover it with netting and protect spinach and kale.

@GreenCat80 that looks great, it should work as a lot of people with small spaces grow in them.

I did a little harvest yesterday from one of my builders sacks, got just over 2.5lbs of carrots and nearly 5lbs of leeks. While the sack doesn't look pretty, it certainly does make a useful planter.