Grow vegetables in pots to save space in the yard or home.
Individuals with limited garden space or those who live in apartments may want to consider planting vegetables in pots. Pot gardening, or container gardening, creates a flexible medium. You can move plants to areas that have room or where the lighting and heat conditions support the chosen plant. As an additional benefit, botanists have begun creating seeds specifically for container or pot gardens that don't require as much space as traditional vegetables.
Instructions
1. Choose your pots. Garden supply stores offer a variety of pots suitable for vegetables. Make sure that the purchased pots can support the fully grown vegetable matter and have good drainage. Vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers have a very low tolerance for soggy soil. On average, you need pots with at least 8 inches of root space.
2. Put good potting soil in the container. Vegetables prefer light soil, especially root varieties like radishes. The loose soil allows them to grow unhindered and provides aeration.
3. Sow your vegetables into the soil using a trowel. It's easiest to keep each separate choice in a different container so you know what's growing. As a general rule of thumb, put seeds down twice as far as their width or diameter. When planting seedlings, put them as deep as possible without covering the first set of leaves.
4. Water the pots. You don't need a lot, because there isn't much soil. Nonetheless, that small bit of soil dries out quickly. Monitor it daily. Stop adding water when you see it seeping from drain holes. The potting soil should feel damp to the touch but not soggy.
5. Fertilize the soil initially, then again in two months. Remember to adjust the amount based on the smaller size of the growing pot.
6. Put the pots in suitable locations for the vegetables. Generally speaking, leafy vegetables and root crops can withstand lower temperatures and less light than fruiting vegetables, like tomatoes.
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