The 6 Best Vegetables For Container Gardening

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Container gardening is a smart way to add growing space without having to create new garden beds. You can enjoy fresh veggies anywhere you have lots of sun on your patio, deck, or balcony. Plus, you won’t have to struggle with poor soils, such as heavy clay or sand, because you’ll fill containers with the potting mix of your choice. Container gardens also warm up faster than garden beds to give you a jumpstart on the growing season.

You can grow almost any vegetable in containers, although some do better than others, especially those labeled as compact or dwarf varieties. Bonus: Containers help keep your veggies out of the reach of hungry garden visitors, such as rabbits.

Raised containers also make gardening easier for anyone with mobility issues (no more bending way over to reach the ground!).Containers with wheels or the use ofplant dollies also makes moving pots less awkward, and you can roll your pots to follow the course of the sun throughout the day, if necessary.

Here's what you need to grow vegetables in containers, as well as the best varieties for container gardening in the South:

• Sunlight: Most vegetables require full sun. Place your container where it receives 6 or 8 hours of direct sunlight per day.
• Water: Containers dry out more quickly than in-ground plantings and may need watered daily, or even twice a day, as plants mature. Ideally, containers should be within reach of your garden hose, which is less tedious than lugging heavy watering cans all over the place. Or consider investing in self-watering containers, which have reservoirs