Tending to veggies for growing in pots can help you achieve some level of sustainability at home. The cost savings for food aren’t bad either – and you have a wide variety of vegetables to choose from.
Table of Contents
10 Best types of Veggies for Growing in Pots or Containers
Beans
Minimum pot depth:
12” is the minimum for most types of beans, including porch pick and scarlet runner.
When is the best time of the year to start planting?
It’s best to plant beans during spring when the temperatures are mild.
How to plant:
Beans thrive in well-worked kinds of soil with lots of aeration. Do this only after the last expected date of frost. Additional batches may be planted up to midsummer.
How long to grow & when is the expected harvest?
Beans mature in sixty to ninety days. Bean pods that are tender and young will begin to bulge and become plump and ready for harvest, and that’s when you’ll know they’re ready for picking. If the bulge is too prominent, then the beans are past their ideal age for harvesting.
Beets
Minimum pot depth:
You need a minimum of ten to twelve inches of soil to plant beets.
When is the best time of the year to start planting?
Beets grow best in cool climes, and these can be planted either in early spring. The plant season can be extended up to late summer when the days are slightly warmer.
How to plant:
Plant beet in loamy soil with an average pH level of 6.0 up to a maximum of 7.5. Soil with a higher content of clay or rocks must be layered with at least an inch of loam.
How long to grow & when is the expected harvest?
The Chioggia beet variant requires only fifty-five days to fully mature before harvesting. Make sure that your potted beets are under a good amount of shade.
Chili Peppers
Minimum pot depth:
Chili peppers need at least twelve inches of soil depth.
When is the best time of the year to start planting?
Most chili plants do well when planted any time from February to April.
How to plant:
Many chili pepper plants are slow to germinate and respond, so just be patient. It may be a good idea to germinate and grow them indoors with some extra LED grow lights before transferring them outside. Be careful not to shock them during the transfer.
How long to grow & when is the expected harvest?
The harvest depends largely on the species. Jalapeno Early plants, for instance, only need sixty-five to seventy days for a good harvest. Thai hot chili peppers need about eighty-five days.
Kale
Minimum pot depth:
You need at least eight inches of soil for planting kale.
When is the best time of the year to start planting?
Kale grows best during the cooler months of the year. You can plant kale either during the early spring or during the fall season.
How to plant
During the coolest weeks, some mulch or ground cover is necessary to protect kale—position kale pots in the shade and use fertile compost.
How long to grow & when is the expected harvest?
Harvest time is usually done in late spring or summer, depending on the time of planting. If you planted late in the year, harvesting can take place even during winter. Harvest time is 55 days or more.
Lettuce
Minimum pot depth:
Lettuce needs at least six inches of soil to grow in a pot.
When is the best time of the year to start planting?
Lettuce can be planted in fall and spring. It is a crop that grows best during the cool season.
How to plant:
Plant only ten seeds per square foot of potting soil. In a traditional setup, rows must be six to eight inches apart.
How long to grow & when is the expected harvest?
Varieties like Burgundy Delight require thirty-five to sixty days before harvesting.
Onions
Minimum pot depth:
Onions need just four inches of potting soil for planting. A little more depth won’t hurt.
When is the best time of the year to start planting?
The best time to start planting onions is early spring, right after the last frost date.
How to plant:
Space your onion seeds four to six inches apart, using half-inch holes dugout with your finger.
How long to grow & when is the expected harvest?
Tokyo Long White can take sixty-five to one hundred days of maturation before harvest. White Lisbon can be harvested after sixty-five days, but wait one hundred and twenty days for full maturation.
Radishes
Minimum pot depth:
Four to six inches
When is the best time of the year to start planting?
Plant two to three weeks after the last expected frost date.
How to plant:
Successive radishes may be sown every two weeks during the warmer days in early spring to summer.
How long to grow & when is the expected harvest?
Harvest radishes in twenty-two to seventy days
Spinach
Minimum pot depth:
Six inches
When is the best time of the year to start planting?
Spinach is a cool-weather crop that grows best when planted in fall.
How to plant:
Plant in alkaline soil and get ready to provide a lot of fertilizer.
How long to grow & when is the expected harvest?
It will take around thirty-seven to forty-five days before spinach is ready to be harvested.
Sweet Peppers
Minimum pot depth:
Plant in a pot with at least twelve inches of soil depth.
When is the best time of the year to start planting?
Plant in early spring for best results.
How to plant:
Sow indoors and keep indoors for ten weeks before bringing outside.
How long to grow & when is the expected harvest?
Sweet peppers mature in sixty to ninety days.
Tomatoes
Minimum pot depth:
Plant with at least twelve inches of soil
When is the best time of the year to start planting?
It can be planted in early or late spring, except in zone ten areas.
How to plant:
Plant seeds or mature transplant grafts, just one tomato plant per pot.
How long to grow & when is the expected harvest?
On average, you will need to wait at least fifty days before a tomato plant is harvested.
