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In 2004, container gardening became an interest to gardeners with a focus on flowers and grasses. Not much was written about the possibilities of growing vegetables in containers. Seed developers took up the challenge and started investigating and developing varieties suitable for growth in a container. In many cases it was a matter of going back and finding the smaller variety of the vegetable, a variety with a less aggressive root system but still retaining the integrity of the flavor.

Articles gave instructions on the correct size container to use. A container that is 8 to 10 inches wide and 10 inches deep or larger would do well for herbs, salad greens and some small varieties of compact veggies. A container 16 inches wide and 10 inches deep does well for broccoli, peppers, tomatoes and eggplants. If you use a container 20 inches wide and 16 inches deep or larger, including small wine barrels, you could add a trellis to grow pole beans, peas or small variety cucumber.

There are two main types of container materials, non-porous and porous. Examples of non-porous would be glazed pots, plastic, metal or glass. Although terracotta pots look decorative and are very popular, their porous nature allows water to evaporate very quickly. Grow-bags came to the market when container vegetable gardens became popular. Grow-bags are lightweight, breathable and drain well. Unlike plastic, the fabric prevents plants from becoming root bound. When the roots reach the sides of the container they “air prune.� The process encourages the plant to make new roots providing a more robust system with many small roots. The material is a polypropylene felt-like, BPA-free and food-safe fabric.

Containers need to have adequate drainage holes. Plastic buckets will need a few holes drilled for drainage. The grow bags are self-draining. Planters placed on wood decking or patio will need risers to preserve the wood.

If containers are watered too heavily or too frequently, most of the soil nutrients can be washed out the bottom. Gauge the moisture need of the soil by sticking your finger or a popsicle stick into the soil; if the soil sticks to your finger or the stick, water isn’t needed. A perfect solution is to purchase a good quality water meter.

Garden soil is often not satisfactory because it can be too heavy and may contain disease or undesirable insects. Check with your garden center or local nursery for a good quality potting mix. Before adding the mix, cover the drainage holes with landscape fabric or screen to retain the soil mix. Thoroughly saturate the mix the day before planting.

There are two types of fertilizers: timed release and water soluble. Timed release is added at planting time, and is thoroughly incorporated into the soil mix. Look for a complete, balanced type such as a 10-10-10, 13-13-13. The ratio to soil mix is ½ tablespoon of fertilizer to one gallon of soil mix. A 3-gallon container would need l ½ tablespoons of fertilizer, a 5-gallon container would need 2 ½ tablespoons.

When planting think about adding a few pollinator plants to the vegetable containers. For planting an all flower container, use the design formula of thriller, filler and spiller. The thriller would be the largest plant in the center and most dramatic, a filler would be a plant to enhance the thriller either in color or in texture, and a spiller would fill around the bottom and spill over the container.

Create your favorite vegetable dishes in containers.

Pizza sauce could be bush tomato, sweet green pepper, onions and oregano.

Salsa garden: Bush-type tomato, hot pepper, cilantro planted around the edge. If you want onions for your dishes, plant in a separate container.

Kids’ corner: Bush beans, carrots and radishes planted together in a circle. The radishes will be ready and pulled before the carrots are ready to harvest.

Plant salad green in successive plantings rather than all at once.

What combinations can you come up with? This is a good time to start planning and plotting.