The Flower Bin

How to Start a Patio Vegetable Garden 

  You don’t need a large space to start your own Victory Garden. Most crops can be grown in containers on your patio, balcony or deck. The keys to successful vegetable gardening in containers are: deciding what you want to grow, choosing the right container for your crops and planting your container properly. When you’re making a decision about what to grow, plan to plant crops you’re most likely to pick, prepare and eat.  Take into consideration there are three overlapping growing seasons: early, mid and late (spring, summer and fall). Early season includes leafy greens such as lettuce, spinach, cabbage and kale. Mid-season crops are planted after last frost. Tomatoes, peppers are mid-season crops. Late season plantings would be kale, collards, lettuce, cool weather crops similar to spring season.  Once you've determined which tomatoes and vegetables you want to grow, it’s time to choose a container. Balcony and patio vegetable gardening containers include planters, hanging baskets, flower pots, fabric grow bags and self-contained systems such as Earth Boxes.  

Clay pots add a more natural softer look and are still a favorite of gardeners everywhere. Ceramic pottery is available in many colors and offers a "finished" look.  It’s important to choose a container that drains.  It’s also important to match the container size to the crops you want to grow. Cooking herbs and leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale can be grown in shallow pots. Tomato and peppers need more space. 

Self-watering systems such as Earth Box™ take a lot of the guess work out of growing tomatoes and vegetables. Now that you've selected your container, choose a quality potting soil to grow your vegetables, herbs and tomatoes in. High grade potting soils are light and airy, do not contain clay, garden soil or water retention crystals.

 We recommend The Flower Bin Potting Soil Mix and Happy Frog Potting Soil. Don’t let the lack of space stop you from growing fresh vegetables and tomatoes.  You have a lot of options when it comes to container size and shape. If you have questions about starting and growing your patio garden, we’ll be glad to help you.