Why would you need to grow in a small space? 

Apartment living

Physically close crops without walking to a garden

Moving and want to take crops with you

All About Containers

• Anything can be a growing container so long as it provides drainage
• Vertical planter towers offer multiple pots to grow food in one vertical space
• Some folks use fabric shoe organizers that hang on the backside of doors to grow food in pockets
• Hanging baskets offer a great option growing; think upside down tomato baskets, strawberries, etc.
• Plastic pots retain moisture better
• Black and other dark-colored pots get hot and heat the soil quick
• Terra Cotta is attractive and eco-friendly but dries out faster

Pro Tip: ​​Double Potting! Place a smaller pot inside a larger one in the summer time. Water the space between the pots so the inner pot can wick moisture as needed. To avoid terra cotta pot dry out, simply place a smaller plastic pot inside a larger terra cotta pot. Same look, more moisture retention.

Pro Tip: Adding one inch of gravel in the bottom of the pots helps with drainage.

Growing in Pots

• Consider Sun: Most crops require 6-8+ hours of sunlight per day, crops like lettuces will grow with 4-6 hours
• Water: Keeping soil moist but not soggy is essential
  • Water must be able to drain out! Plants hate soggy feet!
• Soil: Vegetables need rich, nutrient-dense soil. Source vegetable potting mix (not seed starting, not raised bed mix) for growing vegetables in containers. 
• Fertilizing: Container crops can deplete the nutritional content of their soil quickly. A 2-4 week fertilizing program is recommended. Research which nutrients and fertilizers those crops require… lemons do not need the same food as tomatoes, blueberries need acid, etc.

Container Appropriate Crops

• Look at compact varieties (18-24” for bushing varieties)
  • Corn: Tom Thumb has small cobs, grows to around 36” tall
  • Tomato: Early Girl, Red Rocket, Tiny Tim
  • Peppers: Almapaprika, Habaneros, some Chili varieties
  • Green mixes such as mesclun, tatsoi, oak leaf lettuce
  • Strawberries grow well in gutters and flower boxes
  • Espaliered fruit trees
  • Meyer lemons

Other Ways to Grow in a Small Space

• Companion Planting can save space
  • Plant shade loving crops like lettuce under tomatoes in pots
  • Radishes can grow in pots with cucumbers
  • Herbs grow well with many crop varieties like brassicas
• Trellising
  • Grow up, not out: Keeping tomatoes trained to a trellis in a pot leaves space for more crops around the base of the tomato plant.
• Succession Planting: Replacing crops that grow from seed to harvest quickly like lettuce allows for reuse of the space for a new harvest or new crop all together.
  • Typically succession planting is a 2-3 week rotation
• Window Sill Gardens: Great for growing herbs, microgreens, vegetable scrap gardens
• Potato Towers: Grow potatoes “lasagna-style” within towers to maximize space and increase harvests

Which crops for which containers?

Recommendations from The Farmers’ Almanac

Beans, snap

Container: 5-gallon window box

Varieties: Bush ‘Blue Lake’, Bush ‘Romano’, ‘Tender Crop’

Broccoli<