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Avoid These 8 Mistakes for a Better Vegetable Container Garden

March 4, 2020

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This year I had visions of a beautiful container garden filled with vegetables on my back deck.  I would make it interesting by adding flowers to some of the pots and create a space that was both beautiful and edible.  However, my dreams and reality did not meet.  Here’s the mistakes I made and how you can learn from them.

Really quick gardening disclaimer: I garden in zone 3b in Saskatchewan, Canada, and as such, my gardening advice is best suited to the Canadian Prairies.  While I try to make my gardening tips applicable to as many locations as possible, it is impossible to be 100% relevant to every single zone in North America and beyond.  Thanks for understanding!

Second disclaimer: Nobody really wants to see pictures of practically dead plants.  The pictures here are of my pots when they last looked good, around the mid-point of the growing season.  They went downhill shortly after.

Do you dream of having a container vegetable garden on your patio, balcony, or other small space?  Gardening in pots can be tricky for beginners--here's 8 mistakes you'll want to avoid. #gardening #containergardening #pots #vegetables #vegetablegardening #beginners #plantcare

Mistake 1: Your Location has Too Little or Too Much Sun

My back deck is south-facing and receives little wind.  This means that when the temperature soars to 30 degrees celsius, that spot on the deck feels more like 35.  It’s a great spot for starting a milk jug garden in the spring, but a terrible spot for young vegetables to grow in pots without watering at least twice a day.  In retrospect, I should have moved my pots to a shadier location when the heat wave hit, but I was determined to be a purist, because my apartment-dwelling readers would not have said-luxury.

On the flip side, if you have a deck that is covered in shade for most of the day, you’re probably not going to have much success either.

A Quick Fix: Make sure that none of your pots are touching the wall in this situation. They should all be placed at least 18 inches away, so they will be less scorched and will get rainwater when it rains.

Do you dream of having a container vegetable garden on your patio, balcony, or other small space?  Gardening in pots can be tricky for beginners--here's 8 mistakes you'll want to avoid. #gardening #containergardening #pots #vegetables #vegetablegardening #beginners #plantcare
This Hungarian Wax Pepper was the only vegetable in my container garden to be truly successful this year.

Mistake 2: Not Keeping Up with Watering

Further to mistake 1, I had a hard time keeping up with watering once the middle of July hit.  The initial excitement of gardening was over and I was busy having summer fun.  I generally watered once a day, but with the heat wave we were having, I should have watered twice a day or surrounded my plants with mulch.

Related: How to Keep Your Garden Alive on Vacation

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Mistake 3: Planting Too Many Things in One Pot

We’ve all seen those pictures on Pinterest where someone has planted basil in with their tomato in a pot and it looks wonderful.  I probably should have used a bigger pot, because my tomato flourished and my basil stayed baby-sized.  Same with the nasturtiums I stuck in with another tomato.  They grew, but they never bloomed.

Update: I tried the basil and tomato combination in a larger pot the next year and I still couldn’t get it to work. I can only get it to work in a raised bed.

Do you dream of having a container vegetable garden on your patio, balcony, or other small space?  Gardening in pots can be tricky for beginners--here's 8 mistakes you'll want to avoid. #gardening #containergardening #pots #vegetables #vegetablegardening #beginners #plantcare

P.S–Like the blue painted pots?  Here’s how to make them.

Mistake 4: Your Pot is Too Small

I thought I had it all sorted out.  I planted my larger plants in larger pots and smaller plants in smaller pots, but none of them seemed to be big enough.  My kale never grew more than 8 inches, my bush beans barely produced, and I finally had to give up on my melon and baby-pumpkins.

Mistake 5: Stop Trying to Grow Regular Sized Tomatoes in Pots

Can it be done successfully?  Yes.  Is it easy?  No.

This year I put mine in bigger pots (that still weren’t big enough), added nutrients and used better soil when planting, and still ended up with a disappointing crop compared to the ones in my garden.  Lesson learned–either use a huge container or just stick to cherry tomatoes.

Related: The Best Tomato Varieties to Grow for Your Needs

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Mistake 6: Thinking You Don’t Need Fertilizer

Every plant can benefit from fertilizer, but potted vegetables really need it to thrive.  Ideally, you should use a slow release fertilizer twice a season, or some sort of water-soluble fertilizer, like Miracle Grow or a homemade compost tea, once a week.

Do you dream of having a container vegetable garden on your patio, balcony, or other small space?  Gardening in pots can be tricky for beginners--here's 8 mistakes you'll want to avoid. #gardening #containergardening #pots #vegetables #vegetablegardening #beginners #plantcare

Mistake 7: Letting the Bugs Eat Your Garden Alive

If there’s any lesson I learned the hard way this year, it’s to protect my investment.  From birds eating all my young beets and lettuce, to moths eating my cruciferous vegetables, to an outbreak of powdery mildew, my garden had a hard time flourishing.

Most of the damage could have been prevented with a bit of netting and removing infected leaves as soon as I spotted them.

I swore I would “get to it later,” except later never came.

Related: Companion Planting with Flowers in the Vegetable Garden

Do you dream of having a container vegetable garden on your patio, balcony, or other small space?  Gardening in pots can be tricky for beginners--here's 8 mistakes you'll want to avoid. #gardening #containergardening #pots #vegetables #vegetablegardening #beginners #plantcare

Mistake 8: Giving Up and Labelling Yourself a Brown Thumb

If you’ve had an experience like mine this year, it doesn’t mean you can’t grow anything.  It just means that you made some mistakes and you’re going to learn from them next year.


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And if your garden has fallen into neglect because of illness or family emergency?  Be kind to yourself.  Sure, it sucks to see your vegetables go to waste, but there is always next year.  People are generally pretty happy to take your harvest off of your hands if you can’t deal with it.

Are you a pro at container gardening?  We’d love it if you’d share your best tips with us in the comments!  Please remember that I am currently gardening in zone 3b, and it is really helpful if you mention your zone/general location along with your comment.  Thanks!

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

13 Comments
Filed Under: Gardening, Vegetables Tagged: beginner gardener, beginner gardening, container gardening, containers, growing vegetables, pots, small space garden, vegetable garden, vegetable gardening, Vegetables

About Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

Comments

  1. Liz says

    January 17, 2019 at 7:37 am

    Thanks for sharing the challenges you faced with your container garden. I had similar challenges, in addition to having squirrels eat all my grape tomatoes. So many sites tell you "how to", it's refreshing to have someone share honest experiences that are less than perfect. Hopefully we can learn from these and improve our results next year. Happy gardening!
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      January 23, 2019 at 6:38 am

      Thanks so much Liz! I was so worried to share a post about my failures, but I'm glad you (and lots of other people!) can relate. We don't have a lot of squirrels where I live, but that would be so frustrating having all your hard work eaten by a sneaky squirrel!
      Reply
  2. Lori says

    July 3, 2019 at 12:41 am

    I grew up on a large ranch, and always had a garden to work in, but when I moved to the city I decided to plant on my deck. Everything grew great until the blooms brought bees. With a baby enjoying the deck too, I decided to spray ....not a good idea. I ended up using a paintbrush to pollenate all my tomatoes. Just wasn't thinking...
    Reply
  3. Francine says

    July 10, 2019 at 11:02 am

    I'm in Edmonton Alberta. I planted 6 tomato plants in pots (3Manitoba and 3 sweet millions). They don't get much sun unless I commit to moving them every 15 minutes. I baby them and they're actually doing well. It's been raining here every day since the end of May so the Good Lord is helping me keep up on the watering. My volunteer raspberries are flourishing (thank you to my neighbour for sharing) and I have 19 strawberry plants (6 in a pallet planter and the rest in crates and containers) and I am so excited for those. I have sapped almost every space I have and it makes me so happy. There are 116 marigolds as well, they help keep the pests away. The worst I have so far is alot of ants, but I've read they aren't harmful so I'm not worried yet. I'm having the greatest time, I grew up in an extremely rural area in Alberta so a green thumb is expected. Your article is real, you tell us like it is and don't pretend to be perfect. Some of my tomato plants have yellow leaves from too much rain and the strawberries I planted yesterday were purchased almost dead but only 30cents a plant; I couldn't resist. If what I've done works then super! But if it goes to crap, I had a wonderful time doing it. Have a great year and much success with your current garden😁
    Reply
    • Eleanor says

      September 8, 2019 at 10:51 am

      Tell me how to keep strawberry plants in a container over the winter. I live in Ontario Same questions for Geraniums. thanks
      Reply
      • Kristen Raney says

        September 13, 2019 at 8:55 am

        If you want to overwinter them, you'll have to keep them indoors. The geranium can function as a houseplant, and the strawberries need to be dormant in a dark place in the basement.
        Reply
    • Fran says

      April 9, 2020 at 12:39 pm

      I want to try potato bags. Purchased the bags a few years ago but didn’t try them. Have you ever growen potatoes in bangs and if you have do you have any advice for me. Thanks for your honest updates on what works and doesn’t work. Happy gardening! Fran PS. I live in zone 2b as well c
      Reply
      • Kristen Raney says

        April 13, 2020 at 1:22 pm

        It's funny you should mention that, I have one sitting in my closet that I haven't tried either! I'll try and actually do it this year and let you know.
        Reply
  4. Rehan says

    October 12, 2019 at 3:29 am

    Very helpful article, thank you !
    Reply
  5. Jacquie says

    April 26, 2020 at 7:47 am

    Good morning!! Love your article. I live in Winnipeg. Moved from a house to a condo 2 years ago and have had little success gardening on my deck. I think I think I tried to many plants last year and had little success. This year I’m going to control my erg to buy everything I see in the gardening store (covid 19 really helps this year) and stick to 1-2 maybe 3 things that I know will work. I do have 1 question for you. What potting soil do you use? I find the purchased potting soil does seem to be heavy enough Does that make sense? Any help would be appreciated This year I’m sticking to lettuce, spinach and possibly a cherry tomato Thanks
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      May 3, 2020 at 10:04 am

      I've used any and every brand, and haven't had any issues. With pots, it really helps to add some perlite and vermiculite to your mix. You can also add a little bit of mulch around your plants to help with the water issues/plants that dry out too fast. I like the shredded wood chips at Canadian Tire. I haven't seen them anywhere else.
      Reply
  6. Anita says

    May 8, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    Hi, I love your article!! Thank you so much for sharing I live northern Alberta (on a farm very rural also zone 3b )and it’s so nice to read a post Knowing you have to deal with the same temperature swings and short growing season that we have. We normally have a huge garden but this year I’m trying the pots because the last 5 years we have lost 80-90% of our garden due to rain and drought (we fight the drought by watering we loose to the rain because it is rotten by the time to dig up so the pigs are very happy!!) so if it’s in pots at least we can regulate how much water they get (works in theory just like everything else on Pinterest lol) anyway thank you again for sharing and if there are any more tips of do or don’t do please update thank you again 😃
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      May 9, 2020 at 10:22 pm

      Have you thought about raised beds instead? If you have the space, it would be easier to grow stuff in there than in pots. I'm still a bit disappointed with some of the harvests in my containers, but as I figure different vegetables out I will definitely update.
      Reply

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

P.S. First time gardener? You'll want to download the quick start gardening guide below!

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Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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