You don't even have to have a small patio to grow vegetables. A front stairway stoop will even work for a container garden.
Just because you live in an apartment or condominium and don’t have any land doesn’t mean you can’t grow a vegetable garden. Even if you have a small patio, you can still grow your favorite vegetables in containers.
If you don’t even have a patio, you can still grow a garden. All you need is a windowsill or balcony. Even a doorstep can provide enough room to grow a thriving mini-garden. Or, maybe you do have land but the soil isn’t good. Then consider container gardening, which is a great option.
Advantages of Container Gardening
More control over elements---When you grow plants in containers you can easily move them around to where they receive more sunlight, as well as control the amount of moisture.
What’s more, you can maneuver the temperature more than if you grew them from the ground. You don’t have to worry about weeds and there’s less chance of soil disease destroying your plants.
Disadvantages
On the down side, container gardening requires more watering as the exposed sides of the containers causes more evaporation. In addition, you’ll need to fertilize more often than with plants grown from the ground.
Types of Containers
The possibilities are endless as you can use anything from wooden boxes, hanging planters, milk jugs to cake pans. However, be aware that plastic pots (especially cheap ones) deteriorate in sunlight. Terracotta ones are sturdier, but can quickly dry out. On the other hand, glazed ceramic pots work well, although you may need to drill more draining holes.
Make sure your containers have enough room for the plants’ roots to spread out when fully grown. For most vegetables (such as tomatoes, eggplants, cabbage, beans, peppers, cucumbers) use five-gallon containers. Other vegetable plants such as beets, carrots, lettuce and green onions can be planted in three-gallon containers. And, you can use containers as small as one-gallon jugs for most herbs and radishes.
For warmer climates, choose light-colored containers, as this will reduce heat absorption, as well as help roots grow evenly.
Soils
Choose synthetic (man-made) soils when growing vegetables in containers. You can either buy them from garden centers or concoct them yourself. Just be sure they drain well, are lightweight, and able to hold moisture. .Also, make sure your potting soil is free of disease organisms, as well as insects and weed seeds. It should be absorbent, yet able to hold water and nutrients with a slightly acidic pH.
Creating Drainage in Containers
Even more important than the type of container is ensuring your plants get proper drainage. A good way to do so is by cutting holes one half inch across (about ¼ to ½ inch from the bottom of the container.) Then to avoid losing soil, line the pot with newspaper.
Lighting
Although there are crops, such as leafy vegetables (lettuce, cabbage, and spinach, for example) that are more shade tolerant, just about all vegetable plants will do much better growing in full sunlight rather than shade. If you see that a plant needs more shade all you have to do is place it in another position.
Finally, remember to water your plants regularly. Most container plants fail to thrive because they either don’t receive enough water or they’re over watered. A good test is to test the soil. If the soil is dry up to depth of one to two inches, then it’s time to water. After watering, you’ll probably see dry spots or gaps within the potting mix. Then water again, filling in the gaps.
