BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Container Gardening What are you growing in your garden?

What are you growing in your container garden? I have peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers on my porch and I just planted an elderberry bush. I've never grown one and I'm excited to see how it does in a pot! What are you growing? What vegetables, fruits and flowers do you have?

I have a swampy yard, so grow many things in containers. When I found these wrought iron panels at a junk yard, I knew I needed a 'room' divider, so used containers for mandevilla, Carolina jessamine and duranta. The chairs belonged to my grandmother. I see the biggest problem with container gardening is the constant watering.

I'm growing tomatoes, cukes, squash and beans.
They are looking very healthy right now.

I never did this and wondered if I should expect lots of vegetables to ripen or not.

The size of your harvest will depend on lots of things, like the amount of water and sun your garden gets, the temperature in your area, fertilizer, and how many bugs decide your plants look like the best meal around:-). I live on the Central Coast of California and I've already harvested some cucumbers and have quite a few tomatoes about 2" in diameter (but still green). You can get a really great harvest from containers.

My harvests vary from year to year depending on all sorts of factors, even if I plant the same things. One year I may get an incredible squash harvest (they love hot weather) and the next I may have more cucumbers than I know what to do with but the squash don't do well (too cool for them)

But no matter what the outcome it's a lot of fun! and every year is a new learning experience and time to try new things.

What types of containers are you using?

I love your little garden room! thanks for sharing your picture. Those vines are going to be great on the trellises.

My yard is sandy (close to the ocean) and shaded, which is why I use so many containers. I have a sunny deck where I grow my vegetables and most of my flowers are in pots in the shady areas, with a climbing rose in a wine barrel in a rocky spot next to the garage.

You can also use containers for a tiny, easily manageable, yet impressive water feature.

This is my very first year of container gardening. Actually, it's my very first year of gardening. I've lived in a twinhome for 5 years now and can't have a regular garden. All of my neighbors have petunias in pots, but I wanted something different. I'd been staring at one of the upside down tomato gardens for 2 years and finally decided to just buy it this year. Looking back, I'm not sure that it was the best thing to do, but it did get me started. And for that I'm thankful. Because, now I'm having a blast. I have on my small deck:

Tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Other Peppers, including sweet banana
Squash (very young - we'll see if it makes it)
Zucchini (ditto)
Marigolds and a few other assorted annuals
Alice du Pont Mandevilla (now my favorite plant) and a couple of other tropicals
Blue Princess


I have pictures. But I just registered here. As soon as I figure out how to add them, I'm happy to post them.

My container garden has transitioned from the spring to the summer veggies. Just found my first cucumber and zucchini, this morning! You can check out my gardens by going to the site I've mentioned in another topic. I've really been surprised by the result because, last year, the bugs got my cukes and squash and I got nothing. Of course, I planted very late and the poor plants didn't have time to set a strong stalk.

I have the large container with eggplant, okra, onions, wax beans, baby limas, and snap beans, beets, chard, carrots, cukes, and peppers. My two lasagna beds have repeats planted two weeks later, and I've put most of my tomatoes in 5-gallon containers to see how they do.

I'm combining my gardening with solar cooking, this year, and having lots of fun -- not to mention the fuel savings. Have already seen a marked difference in my electric bill.

I'm growing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and sunflowers but I think where we live the Miami heat is putting them in danger of dying. They sprouted quick, but with the near drought the heat is slowing them down.

My tomatoes are doing pretty well in spite of getting a bad case of verticillium wilt. I've never had it before in container tomatoes and I don't know where it came from. I'm worried that it may spread to the peppers. Next year I'll be certain to grow resistant varieties.

The peppers are doing amazingly well. My climbing roses are happy and healthy, and most things are doing great. I had some powdery mildew on my columbine but neem oil spray has knocked it out pretty well. In all, a good summer. I just moved to a new home near the ocean in March I and didn't know what the summer weather would be like. Next year I'll try some melons, squash, beans and peas in addition to the tomatoes and peppers. My dwarf pear and meyer lemon trees took the move well, though the lemon lost some leaves right at first. Container gardening is great because you never have to leave anything behind when you move!