Container Gardening - Container Vegetable Growing

Most gardeners grow in containers, a hanging basket or a pot on a patio is container gardening. Indoor herb growing in containers is common as well but vegetable growing in containers is not usual.

Yet if you don't have enough space for a vegetable plot then vegetable container gardening is the way to enjoy your own fresh crops. Many of the champion show growers, those people with the fantastic leeks and onions actually grow in containers, admittedly large containers, but containers nonetheless.

Container growing of tomatoes is usual, a growbag is a container and so is a large pot. But you can grow nearly anything in a container. There are very few vegetables that you cannot grow in a container and you can even grow fruit in containers. Growing figs in a container that can be brought into the greenhouse or conservatory so that they avoid winter frosts is usual and enables a crop even in northern areas where growing figs out of doors would not be realistic.

Growing citrus trees in containers offers the same benefits, they can come into the warmth when the weather turns cold. Minaret apple trees, where the fruit comes directly off the single stem, do very well in containers. They look well in a large decorative pot on the patio, and taste well too!

Organic container growing is perfectly possible, although you will need to use fertilisers such as fish, blood and bone and dried blood to achieve good results. In fact, it is easier to garden organically in containers as it is easier to apply barrier methods to keep the pests away. You don't need chemical sprays if the pests can't get to your crop in the first place.

Some crops do much better in containers than natural soil. Carrots love growing in deep containers as do potatoes. Salad crops, lettuce, rocket, spring onions and radish do well. A few troughs on a patio can supply your needs right by the kitchen door. You can't get fresher than that.

These articles should get you started growing a wide range of vegetables and salad crops even if you only have a balcony!