Great Vegetable Plants for Containers and Small Spaces

Whew . . . It has been a busy two weeks at the Garden center with the beautiful weekends for Mother’s Day and the Annual Garden Center Party; and now we are heading into the busiest planting weekend of the year. The greenhouse has been restocked and we are ready.

One of the exciting things that I am seeing this season is the variety of vegetable plants that are specific for container or small-space gardening. This is great news for the new gardener who doesn’t want to be overwhelmed by the large garden or for those who have had the large gardens and are in their “down-size” phase (like me). I could go on and on about the wonderful aspects of container gardening and how easy it is to start gardening with just one container and just one plant and then you’re hooked like the millions of gardeners that get excited each spring about growing plants that give us edible and/or visual pleasure, but for now I will describe some of the special varieties that are being grown for containers.

Cucumbers - ‘Salad Bush’ is a variety that is perfect for the container as it has a rounded shape with short, heavily- producing vines that could easily be supported by using a tomato cage in the container. The cucumbers are usually about 8” long.

Eggplants - Some of the varieties of eggplants that grow easily in containers are the Asian types like ‘Ichiban’ which has long slender dark fruit; dwarf types like ‘Rosa Bianca’ which is an heirloom variety from Italy that produces a round shape that is lavender colored with white streaks (what fun); ‘Fairy Tale’ which grows long purple striped fruit in clusters; and ‘Pinstripe’ which grows great in a hanger basket.

Peppers  - All pepper plants can easily be grown in a container but a variety that works well for a hanging container is the ‘Mohawk’ which has a slightly trailing habit with fruit that grows 4-5”, green but turning a lovely shade of orange for sweeter taste.

Tomatoes - All tomatoes can be grown in containers but determinate varieties which grow as bushes rather than vines do better. Some of the many varieties of determinate tomatoes include ’Jet Star’; ’Oregon Spring’ (an early tomato); ’Bush Champion’ a tomato bush with strong stems that doesn’t need support with a cage; and varieties that are great for hanging baskets include ’Tumbling Tom’ in both red and yellow and ’Cherry Falls’ a bright red cherry tomato plant that cascades 36-40” but with only 6” in height.

These are just a few of the many varieties of vegetable plants that are available to the gardener who doesn’t have a lot of space. Try them and you just might get excited by growing some “fun”!

When Can I Plant in The Garden?

This question is asked by so many once the garden center opens each year and the plants become available.

Typically, my answer is first preceded by the questions “What do you want to plant?” and “How much of a risk-taker are you?” ; and then the conversation continues about the weather, “last frost dates”, their “micro-climates”, cool-tolerant plants, and ways to work with the warm/cold spring days and nights. There are options.

Vegetable gardeners can get a head start with planting by using raised beds which will warm earlier in spring, up to 5 degrees warmer than regular garden areas. Cool-season vegetables such as peas, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, radishes, and onions can be planted when soil temperatures reach between 45-55 degrees. However, these same plants often deteriorate quickly (bolting or going to seed) when daily temperatures rise to the 80’s, so being able to get started earlier can result in higher yields.  Cool-season vegetable transplants that have become acclimated to the cold temperatures (hardened-off) can be planted before warm-season vegetable plants such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and vine vegetables.

Since we have had such a wide range of temperatures this spring, ( was it just a few weeks ago that temperatures in the 80’s and we were scrambling to find our short-sleeved shirts) and then dealing with this past weekend’s low temperatures in the 20’s, there are some tips to help our early plantings to survive.

Often, gardeners will use seedling protectors such as cloches (French word for glass bell) or floating row covers to help warm the soil around the plants and to protect from the wind and lower nighttime temperatures. One that I have used in the past is a gallon size plastic milk or water container, that has the bottom cut off. I poke a hole in the handle and thread either a small diameter dowel or a wire coat hanger that has been straightened, thru the handle to anchor the bottle to the ground. The cap of the bottle can be removed during the sunny day to avoid heat from building too much and then can be put back on at night to preserve the warmth. Once the plant has grown tall enough, the bottle can be removed, and stored for next year’s use or recycled. Row covers (made of spun plastic) have become more popular recently as they are useful both at the beginning of the growing season and in the fall for temperature control; but also covers can be used during the season for organic pest control. Another protector that can work is using tomato cages wrapped in plastic with the top open. The plastic should be removed once the danger of frosts have passed.

Traditionally, the vegetable garden planting date has always been the original Memorial Day weekend, although we have had cold frosty temperatures into June in years past. However, for all of  those risk-takers, we do have helpful ideas for working with Mother Nature.