You may not have room for a vegetable patch or time for an allotment, but many delicious varieties of salad, vegetable and fruit will thrive in containers and don't take up much space. Follow our guide if you want to grow crops on patios, balconies, windowsills and roof gardens.
There is a whole range of crops suitable for growing in pots. For the greatest choice of plants, grow from seed, but if you don't mind too much about the variety, buy ready grown plants or plug plants from garden centres or mail-order suppliers.
It's best to try compact plants such as sweet peppers, chilli peppers, aubergine and tumbling varieties of tomatoes, rather than tall growing vegetables such as Brussels sprouts that demand lots of water and can be blown down easily. With lettuces, go for varieties that you pick a few leaves at a time rather than the whole head at once. Herbs can be planted on their own or try growing ten different varieties in a strawberry planter. Most plants are ideal in multi-purpose compost, but some have special needs, for instance thyme prefers well-drained soil and blueberries need acidic ericaceous compost.
If growing from seed, check the instructions on the packet. Either raise in small pots before planting into larger ones or scatter across the surface of the compost and water in. For larger fruit bushes such as blueberries, figs, peaches and apricots, select a larger pot and make sure you check the compost requirements on the plant label.
Choose containers that are large enough for the eventual size of your plant. A good rule of thumb is to choose pots between 20-45cm (8-17in) in diameter. Many compact herbs are ideal in smaller containers, while vigorous plants such as mint will need a bigger pot to spread. Root vegetables need deep pots with plenty of compost and big pots are needed to support top-heavy plants such as tomatoes. Plastic pots are cheap to buy, while glazed or plain terracotta look attractive. However, these absorb water which makes compost dry out more quickly. Remedy this by lining the inside of the pot with polythene, pierced at the base for drainage.
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