Container Gardens 101
by: Charlotte Gill
Growing your own garden is a great way for all to enjoy nutritious, delicious foods. While garden space is not accessible to all, especially those living in the city, a container garden is the perfect alternative for urban dwellers (with some green space) to enjoy fresh, home-grown produce. Containers can come in all shapes and sizes and are suitable for almost any variety of fruits and veggies that you please. Whether your space is a roof, balcony, alleyway, or patio, a container garden is a perfect way to make use of your small (or not-so-small) spaces, while contributing to the urban biodiversity and reducing your ecological footprint. Growing and eating your own organic produce is not only great for your mind, body, and soul but when done using strategies that are adapted to local agronomics, resources, and cultural traditions, this type of home gardening is a sustainable way to improve good security with low risk and at an affordable cost .
Space
The first step to starting your garden is to consider is the space that you have! Is it sunny? Is it mostly shady? Is it big? Is it small? Is it an alleyway, backyard, roof, balcony, or patio? These will all be determining factors for which containers you use and what veggies you decide to grow! . Many fruiting vegetables require full sun, so it is preferable to have a space that will get at least 6-8 hours of full sun.
Plants
Next, you will need to determine the goals of your garden. If working to feed yourself or your family, you may want to prioritize vegetables that make sense with both your space and your dietary needs and preferences. Another consideration is the climate you live in, and the seasons you hope to grow in. Living in Toronto, it makes the most sense to grow summer/autumn maturing veggies. This could mean a garden of hot season fruiting crops such as tomato, squash, and cucumber. While plants such as lettuce and herbs can thrive in less sunlight and could be more easily grown indoors, if you want to grow certain fruiting veggies, such as tomatoes, you’ll need to ensure they have access to at least 8 hours of sunlight.
For container gardens, in particular, finding the right variety of plants to optimize your yields is a must. It’s best to plant dwarf versions of crops, fast-maturing cultivars, or veggies that offer decent yields from single plants, such as tomatoes and peppers to make the most of your limited space. Many other veggie varieties have also been developed specifically for containers, such as squashes, melons, beans, peas, and tomatoes. Most root veggies, on the other hand, require many plants to yield enough for a meal, so it’s suggested to only plant one type of root vegetable per growing season to not take up too much space. If you are looking to plant beans, tomatoes, or another type of climbing plant, you should set up a trellis or support system to let the plants climb vertically, to take up as little space as possible.
Containers
Once you’ve decided on the plants you wish to have, now it’s time to pick your planters! The choice of containers is seemingly endless, but can be determined based on your space, veggie varieties, and most importantly, budget and resources! The great thing about container gardens is that the plants will grow in almost anything. Large clay pots, tubs, buckets, tubs, big, small, plastic, wood, anything goes as long as you have good drainage, airflow, and the right volume for your plant’s needs.
Planters should always have decent drainage, as standing water can lead to disease and fungus in the roots. If your container doesn’t already have drainage holes, you can drill holes in the bottoms of your containers yourself. About ½ an inch in size spaced 2 inches apart, and you’re set! When picking containers, it is good to think about the needs of your plants and their root systems. A shallow container can work for crops with shallow root systems, such as onion, celery, and lettuce . For moderate to deep-rooted plants, a good rule of thumb is to use containers that are 5-gallons or more. At the same time, be conscious of size as we should avoid a container that is too big for the plant because the roots will dry out fast. Containers that are porous allow for further moisture loss, whereas non-porous materials such as plastic or metal, will reduce moisture loss. Lighter-colored containers may be a better choice for hot and sunny areas because dark containers will heat up fast and overheat the soil and roots.
Soil
It is recommended to use a soil-less potting mix as your growing medium, as it has better composition and nutrients for growing in containers. If you have access to topsoil, this can be a great, nutrient-rich alternative, although it tends to get compact too easily, which may interfere with drainage. Additionally, as a sustainable and affordable option for offering your plants a nutrient-rich growing medium, try using your own compost and mixing that into any soil you use! This can be a great way to replenish your plant’s nutrients throughout the growing season.
Planting & Care
Now you’ve chosen your containers and choice of plants, so it’s time to get gardening. You can either buy seedlings at your nearest garden center (or grow them indoors until the garden is ready) or plant directly from seed. Once you have your seedlings, you should give them a day or two outdoors to acclimatize before plating. Once you plant your seeds/seedlings, water them right away.
Growing veggies in containers require more care than in the ground cause roots cant forage for water and nutrients in shallow containers. Because the soil tends to dry out quickly in containers, most plants will need watering at least once a day in the summer months to stay hydrated. Throughout the summer it is best to do your watering early in the morning, to minimize water loss during the peak of the day. If it is quite hot, you may want to water again in the late afternoon. Further, because of the frequent watering and low volume, the nutrients get depleted fast, so it is recommended to apply additional fertilizers and nutrients regularly throughout the growing season. Nutrients needs and frequency will vary depending on the crop, so make sure to know the needs of the plants you are growing so you can keep them well-fed and healthy!
There are a number of tricks to make sure your container garden is as successful and productive as possible! Ensure you do your research to find the best ways to prevent plant disease, pests, and attracting pollinators, and be the most sustainable and ecological gardener you can be. A small container garden on your front patio can truly go a long way!
Citations
Hentges, C., Dunn, B., Layman, K. (2019) Container Gardening. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.
Bookman, P. A. (1987). Container Gardens Are Intrusive and Edible. The American Biology Teacher (1987) 49 (4): 240–242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/4448500
Carpenter, N., & Rosenthal, W. (2012). Chapter 7: Container Gardens. In The Essential Urban Farmer. Penguin Books.
Deveza, K.S. & Holmer, R. (2002). Container Gardening: A Way of Growing Vegetables in the City. DOI:10.13140/2.1.4083.5368
Garmain, A., Gregoire, B., Hautecoeur, I., Ayalon, R., Bergeron, A. (2008). Guide to Setting up You Own Edible Rooftop Garden. Alternatives and the Rooftop Garden Project.
Marsh, R. (201*) Building of Traditional Gardening to Improve Household Food Security)
Novak, A. (2016). The Rooftop Growing Guide: How to Transform Your Roof into a Vegetable GArden or Farm. Ten Speed Press.
Michaels, K. (2020). Vegetable Container Gardening for Beginners. The spruce.