Pot sizes for growing vegetables in containers

[Happy hen lover]

I love them for mater's and cukes.i did discover about 3 weeks into them my cuke tub needed more water from above as it bubbled when I top watered it and the cukes were looking puny up to then. Make sure your top soil is watered all the way through. My opinion is those plants would do well with deep roots. I do have herbs planted with mater's and they're also doing good. I have tubs in part shade that top soil never dries out so the wicking is really working as it got to 107 degrees a couple of days 2 weeks ago.

How are your wicking tubs working out for you\? I have one in operation right now and not sure of the efficiency. But I have kale in it and am not sure the root system gets deep enough to take advantage of the concept. I want to try it on some perennials, mostly my wife's young mango tree and plumeria. Not cold hardy@ all and growing them in a pot , watering is a PITA. No potting media will store enough water by itself and they have to be watered every day

 

[HillGuy]

I grow potatoes in the 20 gallon bags. After they're topped off, I plant a couple of bush beans.

 

[gtaus]

Here is a link to Gardening With Leon's Wicking Tubs....

I built some elevated self watering planters for our deck. They work great. This spring/summer has been very hot for us, and almost no rain. So I have to fill my elevated self watering planter every week. The last 2 summers, with good rain days on and off, I think I only had to fill my elevated self watering planter about 3x for the entire summer. I put a strip of swimming noodle in the fill tube of my planters as a water level indicator so I can visually see how much water is still in the bottom and when I have to refill the reservoir.

The big trick is to think of the self wicking planter as needing potting soil that will soak up the water from underneath. If you try to put regular topsoil in the planter, it will not self wick/water like it should. I use peat moss, compost, and vermiculite as my potting mix for the self watering planters. That works well for me.

I am not into watering my plants everyday. It takes a few minutes to fill the bottom reservoir of my elevated planter with a garden hose and then it's good for a long time. Well, last year, only had to fill it maybe 3x for the summer. This year, with hot weather and no rain, I am refilling the reservoir almost every week. Still, lots easier than watering everyday and I don't ever worry about the planter drying out.

Here is a closeup pic of the strip of swimming noodle I cut to fit into the fill tube to act as a water level indicator. Nothing fancy. No batteries needed. Just works. As the water gets used up, the noodle indicator falls down into the fill tube. When the indicator is level with the fill tube, I refill the reservoir.

 

[Birdsonghill]

I have grown huge squash plants and tomato plants in 15 to 20 gallon grow bags, even full sized watermelons, with extra attention to trailing the vines and feeding/watering. A #3lb. (and several over one pound) Suddeth strain Brandywine tomato from the first flush of fruit on a vine this year, in a 20 gallon bag. I admit ,the squash and melons are easier and more productive in my garden hills, rather than the bags, but it has worked with a little effort. I sometimes place bags of varieties needing more isolation for good seeds(not crossed up with neighbors of different varieties) in locations far(hundreds of feet) from the main garden grows. I grow so many Peppers/Chiles varieties that I frequently do that for those seeds. You can grow about anything in containers/bags, successfully with practice and diligent attention to water , nutrients and the growing medium. Many failures are due to missing trace elements, lack of Organics/biologicals in the soil/medium, PH and poor attention to maintaining the proper moisture conditions. The same growing medium is seldom right for every crop( especially in containers) and sometimes needs adjusting for different crops. I grow most of my food in my in ground gardens, but I produce large amounts in the bags/pots as well, many just outside my backdoor for quicker trips to and from the kitchen. Chives, oregano, parsley, sage, dill, cilantro, basil and more are in my raised beds and bags, close to the kitchen. If I had only the grow bags , I could still produce a lot of vegetables and herbs( as I do, with them!). My plan for my failing health and age related deterioration, is to drop more of the big garden patches(already doing this) and eventually be only caring for a few raised beds and a dozen grow bags or so, outside the backdoor, but until I am forced to do that, continue to raise as much as I can manage in my larger field gardens! Good luck, best wishes and happy gardening!

 

[greenwos]

I found this article helpful when I was planning things this spring. https://harvesttotable.com/pot-and-container-sizes-for-growing-vegetable-crops/
This is my second year using 5 gal buckets for tomatoes. Drilled a drainage hole about 2” from bottom and did the self wicking reservoir thing. Last year we used only the reservoir and this year we’ve been watering from the top and haven’t found much difference honestly.

Since this pic was taken we’ve removed one pot from each level of the rack to give more air space.

I’ve done bell peppers for the first time and they are huge. I don’t have a good pic though.

 

[Boppo]

Very helpful. I do a lot of container gardening these days, but getting ideas on proper sizes and good companion planting is very helpful

 

[gtaus]

This is my second year using 5 gal buckets for tomatoes. Drilled a drainage hole about 2” from bottom and did the self wicking reservoir thing. Last year we used only the reservoir and this year we’ve been watering from the top and haven’t found much difference honestly.

In theory, if you only use the bottom water reservoir, the roots will grow long and deep to reach the water in the bottom. Long healthy roots should result in bigger and more productive plants. If you top water only, then the roots find the water close to the surface and don't reach down deep to drink. So you end up with a plant with surface roots and not able to produce as much compared to a bottom fed plant. That is the theory, from what I understand.

Like you, I don't know if I can swear to much of a difference, either. However, most summers I only have to refill my bottom water reservoir maybe 3X in my elevated sub irrigated planter. Since the planters are outside, they also get top watered every time it rains outside. Having to refill the reservoir only once a month is a great time and labor saver for me. I cut a strip of swimming noodle as a water level indicator in the fill tube and that ensures I never run the elevated planter dry, reducing stress on the plants.

Last year, we had a drought with only a little rainfall early in the year and then again right before winter (but after the growing season). Almost all my plants in my main garden without running water dried up and died. Only my plants in my hügelkultur raised beds out in the main garden lived long enough to give some produce. I think those plants in the hügelkultur raised beds survived because what water I could give the plants was soaked up into the wood debris down at the bottom of the beds. My regular raised beds were dry and the soil was pretty much dust by mid-summer. Again, we had no rainfall last summer.

I built some new hügelkultur raised beds up closer to the house where I have running water. I put a sprinkler on them for about 10-15 minutes every other day, and those plants exploded with produce. Again, I think the wood debris in the bottom of the hügelkultur beds soaked up and retained any water not used by plant at the time of watering.

Until last summer with our terrible drought, I too never saw much of a difference between my hügelkultur raised beds and my normal raised beds. If we have a normal summer rainfall, all my plants do well. However, the drought last summer really showed me how much better the hügelkultur and sub-irrigated planter concepts are for growing plants if you can't top water the plants with a sprinkler.

A couple years ago, pre-COVID, I was at a gardening show where some guy was showing his bucket system for growing tomatoes. He had all his buckets sitting on a level foundation, and all buckets were connected together with a hose from one bucket to the next. At the front of this system was one fill bucket where you filled it up with water from a hose, and it automatically filled the reservoirs on all the other buckets. If I ever get into bucket planting, that is a system I would consider using.

 

[raingarden]

Goodness. What are you using for soil/media? Without a supply of top soil and/or compost the cost of the media is more than the pots.

We have a bunch of 27 gallon containers that are 55 gallon plastic barrels cut in half. Every spring we mix in more compost and some gravel into each and try to fill one more container.

 

[Emma-Daisy]

Pumpkins and tried out a 3 gallon for my zucchini .

What. Variety are these? I love growing pumpkins at my allotment garden but would really like to grow some in my pots, I didn't think it was really possible unless the pot was HUGE.

 

[Emma-Daisy]

I grow potatoes in the 20 gallon bags. After they're topped off, I plant a couple of bush beans.

Great idea, I may do that this year when my potatoes are finished too.