As planting season arrives, experts highlight benefits of container gardening

SALT LAKE CITY – As we have been gearing up for the spring planting rush, we have also been looking at gardening options for those who don’t have the space available for full, in-ground gardens.

In apartments, patios, balconies and even windowsills, you can start a container garden for your vegetables and flowers. Container gardening will bring a splash of color and texture to your home. With such a range of options for containers — be it a traditional pot, bushel basket, metal drum, or even leftover cans and tubs — you can make a great garden without too much of an investment of time, money, or space.

When planning your container garden, you’ll want to think of the area you’re planting in. Sun exposure has a big effect on the plants that will thrive around your home.

The extension service at Oregon State University said “Leafy and root crops — such as lettuce, beets, cabbage and mustard greens — tolerate some light shade, but vegetables grown for their fruit, such as tomatoes, green beans and peppers, require 6 to 8 hours of direct sun daily. More sun is even better.”

If you are looking at flowers instead of vegetables in your container gardens, it is hard to go wrong with pansies, violas, primroses, tulips, wave petunias and daffodils — again, looking at what sunlight exposure is recommended for each species.

Container plants can be easily moved around so they have the best sun exposure day-to-day, but if you don’t want to worry about the hassle, you’ll want to plan ahead.

When looking at your plants, you also need to take into consideration how much space they need to grow. As a general rule, the bigger the volume of the container, the better off you’ll be. Larger containers can hold more water, so you don’t have to water as frequently and the roots can grow deeper and healthier in the soil.

The extension service at Penn State has a great guide for planning your plants in accordance with container size:

“You can grow most annual vegetables in containers, with the exception of sweet corn… [and] vining crops… When choosing tomatoes, look for determinate cultivars that grow to a predetermined height. Indeterminate tomatoes grow too tall… Plants for one half-gallon container are beets planted 2 to 3 inches apart, Swiss chard or lettuce planted 4 to 6 inches apart. Plant one cherry tomato in a one-gallon container. For two-gallon containers, plant bush beans 2 to three inches apart or bell peppers one plant per container. Plants for five-gallon containers are cabbage planted 12 to 18 inches apart or cucumbers spaced 14 to 18 inches apart. Plant one eggplant, one summer squash, or one tomato in a five-gallon container.”

Once you are ready to plant, you need to get a good potting soil and plan your fertilization strategy. You absolutely need special potting soil, not normal garden soil or dirt from your yard, when planting on a container. Normal soil will become extremely compact over the course of the growing season with regular watering due to its fine texture. Potting soil uses larger particulate matter that will stay loose during watering throughout the season.

It is recommended to use fertilizer throughout the growing season in container plants since vegetables in containers need frequent feeding. Use liquid fertilizer every three to four days or slow-release dry fertilizer every three weeks. Soil in your containers tends to dry out more quickly than that in their in-ground counterparts, so it is important to keep an eye on their moisture levels. You never want the soil to become totally dry, so check it daily to ensure proper watering levels.

When watering, you want to wet the soil all the way through, so water until it runs out of the hole or pores at the bottom of the container. Whether your goal is the functionality of vegetables or the beauty of flowers, container gardens are a great and accessible way to start your gardening journey.

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