In This Post:
– Growing peas at home
– How to grow cherry tomatoes
– Growing brinjal at home
– How to grow spinach
– Growing lettuce in a pot
– How to grow fenugreek
– Growing beets at home
– How to grow onions at home
Not everyone is lucky to have a green space all by themselves. If you don’t have a garden or backyard space, try your hand at kitchen gardening on a balcony. Take your kitchen gardening skills up a notch and plant some seasonal vegetables so that you don’t have to go on buying simple daily use veggies from the market. Just imagine how lovely it would be if you can cook your home grown vegetables fresh from the windowsill kitchen garden.
In this blog, we will discuss some vegetables you can grow in pots and containers. So, let’s begin.
Vegetables You can Grow in Pots and Containers
The following are some of the vegetables you can grow in pots and containers and keep them in your balcony or terrace.
- Peas
- Tomatoes
- Brinjal
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Fenugreek leaves
- Beetroot
- Onion
Let us discuss how you can grow these vegetables in detail.
Peas
Pots are not only valuable for those living in the city, having lack of space, but also to those homeowners who have a property with a garden, but the soil is poor and can’t harvest vegetables. To help grow vegetables from scratch i.e. from its seed, you need a smaller pot. Seeds germinate well in a well-drained soil containing fresh organic compost.
Take a large pot or container. You can sow peas in a pot by digging a 1-inch space. Place some peas around 5 cms. apart in the soil. Water the area using a water can. Make sure you don’t water a lot or else the soil will be waterlogged and the seeds might rot. When you see small sprouts, place them in an area where it gets 5-6 hours sunlight a day. When the plant starts to grow, place some stakes like bamboo sticks or pvc pipes in the centre of the pot to help the pea plant get some support.
Tomatoes
If you are wondering how to grow tomatoes in a pot, then read further to know about the process. You can grow tomatoes in a small pot before you shift it to the main soil. The next time you use tomatoes in a curry, scrape off some of the seeds and dry them out on a piece of old newspaper or tissue paper. The seeds should be completely dry and should not have the gel like substance around it. Wait for a couple of days and sow the seeds in the container.
Water only when the soil seems dry. You can check this by inserting your finger into the soil. If the finger comes out dry, then water the plant through a water can. Once the seedlings are big enough, you can transfer it to a larger container or if you have a garden of your own, transplant them onto the spot where you want your tomato plant to grow.
If you want to grow tomatoes in a pot, then buy some seeds of cherry tomatoes from any local gardening store or you can also order online. Sow these seeds in a pot or container and you will see bunches of cherry tomatoes grow in a short period of time. Toss it in salads and enjoy a juicy treat!
Remember cherry tomatoes can be grown in a pot provided they are given enough room to grow. Sow them in a container at least 14 inches wide. In an ideal situation, a 20-inch wide pot is the best option. Make sure it holds about 5 gallons of soil to yield best results.
Tomatoes need a good mix of compost and high-quality soil. You can make your own organic compost from vegetable peels and fruit rinds. The soil should have low amounts of nitrogen, average potassium level and a high dose of phosphorus for the perfect yield. The phosphorus helps fight all sorts of environmental stresses, the nitrogen ensures the growth of the cherry tomatoes and the quality of the fruit and its ability to fight off diseases can be enhanced with the help of the right amount of potassium in the soil. So, if there are any ripe bananas or banana peels, add it to your compost mix to provide maximum nutrients to the soil.
Brinjal
A basic guide for beginners: You need to grow brinjals in a large pot having a 5 gallon soil capacity. If you want to grow more than one plant, then space them out 12-14 inches apart. You can place three plants in a 20-inch container. For brinjals to thrive, a lot of sunlight is needed as they need warm soil. Get clay pots for this instead of the plastic ones as clay is better at retaining heat and since eggplants grow well in warm soil, clay pots are ideal.
They also need moist soil but it should not be waterlogged as that can kill the brinjal plant. Mix one part sand and two parts soil which can act as the perfect medium for brinjals to grow. Make an inch deep hole into the pot. Place about two seeds in each hole. Having two seeds in each hole increases the chances of at least 1 seed to sprout. If you place more than two brinjal seeds in the hole, it can decrease your chances of getting the sprout.
It usually takes 3-4 months for the eggplant to yield. You must keep a lookout on pests or fungus. Don’t spray store-bought harmful pesticides as they poison the fruit and it will not be fit for human consumption. Try out organic homemade pesticides for an environment-friendly garden.
Spinach
Get some seeds for the spinach from the local gardening store, or you can buy seedlings and transplant them in large containers. Spinach is great in pots as you can use them fresh for your salad dressings.
Sow seeds that are half inches deep into large containers. If you are growing spinach from seeds, then about 14 days seedlings will appear. You don’t need a deep pot for spinach – an 8 inch deep pot is fine. Wider pots or containers are the best choice for spinach to grow. Go for wooden boxes or wide crates or containers for spinach to thrive. Once a few leaves appear, you can then transplant the spinach plant into separate containers to get more leaves per plant.
Lettuce
One of the best vegetables for container gardening is lettuce. Lettuce grow well in cold climates. Plant it in early spring when the weather is still chilly or during the fall season when the heat from the summer season has gone away. There are different varieties of lettuce you can pick and choose from.
The easiest to grow is the loose lettuce which doesn’t take on any shape and its leaves can be plucked anytime. You can also go for romaine lettuce that has a tight central bunch.
The leaves are dark green in colour and turn pale in the centre. They are great in salads. You can harvest the entire plant or pluck leaves as the plant continues to grow.
In order to grow lettuce in a pot, water the pot and cover it with mulch or straw. Once the container or pot is cool enough to germinate lettuce seeds, sow the seeds about ½ an inch deep into the soil.
The loose leaf variety of lettuce matures quickly and can be best grown in batches. Grow a fresh batch of lettuce after every 15 days for a continuous supply of lettuce leaves throughout the spring or fall season.
Fenugreek leaves
If you have always wanted to grow fenugreek leaves in a pot, then follow this guide and have your own patch of fenugreek leaves on the balcony. Fenugreek leaves don’t need a deep large pot. They can fairly grow in wide planters, which is around 8 inches deep and should have a better drainage system. Fill the container with some potting mix, sand and soil. A compost made of tea leaves is a good choice for fenugreek leaves to thrive.
You need to make sure that you don’t overwater a plant or else the root will rot. Keep a check on the roots, if it feels that the root is rotting, shift it to a well-drained warm soil to avoid rotting of roots.
To harvest the plant, trim off the top leaves as the plant continues to grow. The more you cut the leaves from the top, the plant will continue growing. Seed harvesting requires more patience. You will have to wait for about 3-5 months. Once the plant has produced flowers, which have wilted and the leaves start turning yellow, you can gather the seed pods. Each seed pod contains about 20 seeds. Remember to carefully pluck the seed pods or else the seeds will scatter everywhere. Fenugreek leaves and seeds both have great medicinal properties and are used in many herbal medications.
Beetroot
Deep red stems are a characteristic feature of beets. You can easily sow beetroots in containers. Unlike fenugreek, beetroots need a deep pot for the roots to flourish and develop beets. The container you are choosing should at least be 10 inches deep. Because the fruit develops in the roots, it is important to keep some pebbles in the container below. This will help the soil drain out well.
When you get the seed packet of beets, you will have to soak them in warm water for a couple of hours. This is because the seeds are in a pod which contains several seeds. Soaking them in water helps open up the pod. Extract the seeds and space them apart in the container. Use some nutrient-dense compost and a bone meal to provide the necessary phosphorus for your plant.
Beets love sunshine. So, keep your pot on a bright sunny spot. If you keep them in a wooden crate box near the brightest window, it will help the plant flourish.
You can harvest the beet greens whenever you are in for a refreshing salad treat. It takes about 8 weeks for the bulbs to fully develop. You can uproot the plant and enjoy the juicy bulbs!
Onion
One of the best vegetables for container gardening is onions. If you want a continuous supply of spring onions, then sow a few onions in a container or a pot. Sow the bulb of the onion in an upright position which should be about 2-3 inches deep. Onions also need adequate sunlight of about 6-8 hours a day. Place the pot near a sunny window if you are keeping the container indoors.
This way you can harvest the spring onions as they grow. Use the lower stiff leaves and leave the tender leaves in the centre for it to grow further. Since you have planted a bulb, you won’t get a ripe onion in return. However, you can wait for the seeds to develop. First, you will see a large round onion flower, which will then have seeds. Save those black seeds and sow them to get onion bulbs.
So, these were some best vegetables for container gardening. Check out the numerous benefits of kitchen gardening. Living in an apartment? You can also explore the option of vertical gardening. For homeowners, rooftop gardening is quite trending these days. Don’t forget to write to us at blog@zameen.com and we will surely get back to you. Subscribe to the Zameen Newsletter appearing on the right hand side of the page. For regular updates, stay tuned to the best lifestyle blog in Pakistan.
