Growing vegetables in pots

There are so many benefits to growing vegetables in pots and planters (and fruit, too!), but how can you make the most out of them? Here are some pointers to get your container crops thriving this season.

1. Pick the right soil
The sky’s the limit when it comes to filling your new container with soil. You can choose whichever compost will suit the plants you want to grow. Ericaceous compost is a favourite of acid-loving crops like blueberries, while multipurpose composts will cater for a wide range of vegetable crops. By choosing the most suitable growing medium, you can get your plants off to a healthy start. Adding biochar is a great way of increasing the soil’s water-holding capacity too. In a nutshell, biochar is organic matter which has been turned into carbon under really high temperatures.

2. Beware of soil compaction
Though composition is rarely a concern, the soil in containers will inevitably become compacted over time. This is never good news for your crops: soil compaction prevents aeration from taking place, so less oxygen and nutrients are taken up by the plant roots. Using a mixture of soil and compost, or a specific potting compost, is a good way of ensuring a healthy growing medium and to ensure growing vegetables in pots goes successfully. It should be lightweight and drain well.

3. Keep it rich
When growing vegetables in pots, the soil ecosystem exists within a container, all confined to a small space. This means that the soil can quickly run out of nutrients, and it’s relying on you to put them back in. So, best practice is to keep container crops fed throughout the growing season according to their needs. Applying a comfrey or nettle tea every so often can make a big difference to your crops. Simply stew the leaves in a covered container filled with rainwater, leave for a few weeks, strain, and voila – a nutrient-rich drink for your pots and hanging baskets.

4. Remember containers are thirsty
Raised above ground level, containers dry out a lot faster than veg patches in the ground. They’ll therefore need a lot more watering, so keep them topped up throughout the season, especially in dry periods during the summer. An easy way to see if the container needs watering is to push your finger into the soil, about an inch below the surface. If it feels dry, it’s time to get the watering can ready.

5. Mulch more
If you’re trying to cut down on your water usage, consider mulching the surface of your containers. By shielding the soil from the sun, a layer of mulch will help your containers retain as much water as possible. Try anything from decorative pebbles or gravel to straw or bark, but keep in mind that the latter materials can be a prime hiding spot for slugs and snails.

6. Choose the right varieties
Some varieties may be better suited to container-growing than others. For example, if you’re hoping to grow a tree in a pot, a dwarf variety would be the best choice as its rootstock prevents the tree from growing large enough to need more space. Plus, for most vegetables out there, there are compact varieties on the market, so have a look around.

7. Reuse and recycle
When you open your eyes to the potential of used items around you, you’ll find that so many items can be transformed into useful garden containers for your plants. An empty beer keg or barrel, an old tyre, a pallet destined for the dump: all of these items and more can become a free way of growing more in your space with a bit of DIY. Just make sure you add drainage holes and cover or file off any sharp edges.

8. Opt for the right size
When growing vegetables in pots, the container you choose must be large enough to house the entire root system of the crop you want to grow, or even the root vegetables themselves. Take potatoes, for example. These bulkier crops can be a really great choice for pots. While this may seem counter-intuitive, it can actually help you allocate more space on the veg bed to other crops.

9. Adapt to the weather
When freezing weather hits, you’ll want to protect your container crops in much the same way as the rest of your garden. A big bonus of garden pots is that they’re often portable, so bring them under cover or against the lee of a house to protect them from frosts. Or, wrap pots in horticultural fleece. A makeshift cover can be made by digging some old canes in around the soil of the potted plant, popping some upturned pots on the end of them and throwing a tarpaulin or equivalent cover over your vulnerable crops.

10. Experiment with height
When we think of containers, single pots and troughs usually spring to mind, but there are so many other options. Hanging baskets are a great way of utilising the space above ground to grow more – and you’ll feel the reward when they’re brimming with strawberries or tomatoes! You could even try tiered growing: by layering up plants atop one another in tiers, you’ll be making the most of vertical space and allowing yourself to harvest more no matter the size of your garden, allotment or balcony.