Vegetables :Container crops yield an attractive, healthy harvest

Even if all you have is a flower pot, you have the makings of a vegetable garden. Growing vegetables in pots is easy, especially in spring, when lettuce, spinach, kale and other greens are at their very best. These vegetable crops thrive in containers, unfazed by the swinging temperatures of the season, and let you start eating garden-fresh food while you contemplate the possibilities of a more extensive summer vegetable garden in pots and planters of all kinds.

I love growing vegetables in containers its less prep, more style, says Lauren Mackin, an outdoor living designer who grows vegetables in pots on the roof of her condominium building in the Freight House District. It doesnt take much space, all you need is room for a pot and some sun. Then pick a few vegetable plants, and youre set to go.

Garden shops are well stocked right now with vigorous young transplants of many spring crops, and the supply of summer vegetable transplants is expanding rapidly, too. Ready-planted combination pots full of lettuce, peas, onions, spinach and lots of other leafy greens let you get started without even getting your hands dirty.

Vegetable gardening in pots is the only truly convenient solution for anyone who lives in an apartment or condominium. Its also practical for renters, who may be reluctant to dig holes (or are restricted from doing so), and for anyone who wants the convenience of fresh crops right at the back door. A pot or a vegetable planter on a deck or patio will support a healthy and beautiful harvest of ruffled kale, a quick planting of spring radishes or an impressive herb garden that will last all summer. Peppers, tomatoes and many other crops grow well in pots and look great, especially if you tuck in a few flowers.

Mackin likes to plant her vegetables and herbs in pots of different sizes, with one large, eye-catching pot as the focal point in a grouping. She prefers pots in neutral colors and tries to choose styles and sizes that do not visually compete. This year, shes planning to try broccoli for the first time, and she recently planted a large, living salad bowl.

Salad bowls are the easiest thing, she says. Theyre an instant container vegetable garden, and it makes the perfect centerpiece for an outdoor dining table. Vegetable gardening is growing more popular every year. Pots are a perfect solution for gardeners looking for ways to make room for more tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and other home-grown favorite crops, says Kevin Keilig, manager of operations at Heartland Nursery and Garden Center.

Keilig is the garden shops buyer for vegetable plants; the category has grown 20 percent in the past few years, he says. This year, Heartland will have at least 70 different tomato cultivars, Keilig says, and probably 50 different kinds of peppers. Customers are growing their own vegetables partly to save money, partly because they want to know where their food comes from, and, above all, because what you can pick out of your garden tastes 10 times better than anything you could ever buy, he says.

Just about any vegetable that grows in the ground will grow in a pot, Keilig says, although it is important to match the plant carefully to the pot and to keep up with watering and fertilizing through the summer. You’re probably going to get a little more production and performance in the ground than in containers, he says, but if youre diligent, you can come pretty close in pots.

Matt Bunch, horticulturist at the Heartland Harvest Garden at Powell Gardens in Kingsville, has tried many vegetable crops in pots. The gardeners have been planting spring greens in pots since early March, he says, along with lots of pansies and violas edible flowers that can be relied on to bloom until summers heat sets in. Swiss chard, especially the colorful variety Bright Lights, which has red, yellow, orange and snow-white midribs, is easy to grow in pots and is one of the favorites of visitors to Powell Gardens, Bunch says. Andrea Bellamy, author of Sugar Snaps and Strawberries, shared her tips for growing vegetables in containers at the Powell Gardens/Garden Center Association symposium in February.

Bellamy called Swiss chard one of the darlings of the ornamental edible world and recommended planting it as the tallest and showiest element in a pot, with several different crops around it. At Powell Gardens, a Swiss chard with rich golden ribs looks terrific all by itself in blue-glazed pots.Bunch prefers to grow herbs, lettuce and greens in pots, and tomatoes in the ground. You can grow tomatoes in a pot if you give them big enough pots, but from an aesthetic point of view, they dont look good, he says. Pamela Crawford, author of Easy Container Combos: Vegetables Herbs, says getting tomatoes to look good in pots was her biggest accomplishment, and she did it by planting them in large pots with room for annual flowers.

Eggplants or peppers would be Bunchs choice for summer crops in pots, because they are smaller than tomatoes and easier to support with stakes or a tomato cage, but, like any gardener, he experiments with new possibilities every year. Malabar spinach, a handsome vine that loves heat, would grow easily on a trellis in a pot, he says, and a bush variety of patty-pan squash might be great in a pot. Its worth a try: no matter how they look, theyll be good enough to eat.

Growing vegetables in pots is convenient. You dont need large, loud or heavy tools, and you dont have to bend over so far to take care of your crops, but you do need to pay attention to plants needs. Here are some tips and suggestions from Lauren Mackin, an outdoor lifestyle designer; Matt Bunch, horticulturist at the Heartland Harvest Garden at Powell Gardens; and Kevin Keilig, grower and director of operations at Heartland Nursery and Garden Center.

Most crops need at least six hours of sunlight a day. Parsley, basil and other herbs will be fine with less light. Plant in large pots. Big pots give the roots more room, and the plants will need less water than those in small pots. Use fresh potting mix. The mix should contain perlite, vermiculite and peat. If you like, you can choose a mix with moisture crystals or slow-release fertilizer, but you’ll still need to water and fertilize.

Large pots may be heavy once they are filled with soil; decide where they will go and plant them in place. Plan for pretty and productive. Pansies, violas, calendulas, nasturtiums, dianthus and other edible flowers look pretty among the vegetables.

For tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, pole beans, cucumbers or other crops that need a trellis, stake or cage, fit the support into the pot at planting time to avoid damaging the plants roots later. Most potting mixes do not contain nutrients. Powell Gardens uses fish emulsion fertilizer (available at garden shops) to help keep plants healthy and productive. Keilig at Heartland likes organic granular fertilizers. Use the compost.

At Powell Gardens, gardeners mix about one-third compost into containers for summer vegetables. Pay attention to watering. Water thoroughly when you plant, Keilig says, and then make sure its gosh-darn dry when you water again. The idea is to encourage the roots to grow deep into the potting soil. Poke a finger into the soil; if it feels dry, its time to water.

Herbs: They will be right at your fingertips when you cook, and they thrive in containers. Parsley, basil, sage, rosemary, thyme, French tarragon and other herbs are pretty and prolific. Chives and mint will quickly fill a large pot. Pineapple sage is nice in a pot, Bunch says; use the leaves for tea, and toss the bright red flowers in a salad.

Transplants: The selection right now at garden shops is at its peak. Lettuce and greens can be planted now. Traditionally, summer crops (tomatoes, squash, peppers, eggplants and others) are planted around the first of May in Kansas City. Pamela Crawford, author of Easy Container Combos books, experimented with hundreds of vegetables in her garden and on her deck in Georgia to find the most productive varieties for pots. Cherry tomatoes and other small-fruited varieties produce a bigger yield in pots than beefsteak tomatoes, she says. Crawford also found that small pepper and hot pepper plants were more prolific than large bell peppers.

Fruit: Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and other small fruit will thrive in pots. Two more excellent books on vegetable (and fruit and herb) gardening in containers are: The Vegetable Gardeners Container Bible, by Edward C. Smith (Storey, $20)/;The Bountiful Container, by Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey (Workman, $18)

Resources: Lauren Mackin, outdoor lifestyle designer, Beaver Creative Environments, a href =”http://beavercreative.com/” target=”_blank”beavercreative.com/a/ppbull;Heartland Nursery and Garden Center, 10300 View High Drive, 816-763-7371, Facebook/ppbull;Powell Gardens, 1609 N.W. U.S. Highway 50, Kingsville, Mo., 816-697-2600, a href =”http://powellgardens.org/” target=”_blank”powellgardens.org/a

Grow your own fruit and vegetables with Bill & Sheila

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