Top Ten Vegetables for Container Gardening

If you're a fan of cultivating your own food, then it's a good idea to plant some delicious vegetables in your garden. But it can be challenging to understand which conditions suit which plant and what is the best way to grow them. So, instead of going through the trial and error method, you can try out these vegetables and grow them in containers or pots.

With this, you not only save space by keeping the plant contained, but you can also organise your garden better. Also, the vegetables that we've listed produce heavily when grown in pots because those are the conditions that they thrive in.

Here are the top 10 best veggies for pots:

1) Tomatoes: Varieties like cherry tomatoes produce heavily in pots and can give you more than enough fresh produce to fill up your dinner table. Just keep them somewhere they can get ample sunlight.

Tomatoes

2) Cucumbers: Set up your pot with the right support like some trellises and then plant your cucumbers. Water them well, and soon you will have a healthy growth in your garden.

Cucmbers in basket

3) Lettuce: One of the more commonly container-grown vegetables, lettuce plants grow quickly and give you the opportunity for multiple harvests. For this, use a pot that is wider than usual.

Lettuce

4) Pepper: Not only do these plants grow well in containers, but they also look good while growing because of their bright colours! They don't need too much, just sunlight and fertile soil.

Red Pepper & its powder

5) Peas: You often see people growing peas in their balconies because this plant doesn't need too much space at all. Just choose a dwarf variety and water it regularly to keep the soil moist for best results. Read on how to grow green peas in your garden.

Green Peas

6) Radishes: One of the best suited to being grown in containers, radishes grow fast and will keep you harvesting. All you need is a pot that's six inches deep for the smaller varieties. You would like to read about how to grow root vegetables in pots.

Radishes along with carrots

7) Spinach: Another plant that grows extremely well in wide containers, you can also see it thriving on people's windowsills. It doesn't need too much attention, and you can pick it right from your kitchen window. Learn to grow spinach in pots.

Spinach leaves

8) Carrots: The smaller varieties are popularly grown in pots because they don't take up too much space. They need cool weather to flourish so keep them somewhere they can get fresh air. Learn about how to grow carrot plant.

Carrots

9) Kale: You can have full access to this king of healthy plants by growing it in a pot in your garden. It grows better in cooler weather and matures quite often.

Kale vegetable growing in field

10) Garlic: Feel that getting garlic from a grocery store is too expensive or cumbersome? Then you can grow it yourself! Garlic bulbs are usually grown in containers, and you can do that too.

Garlic

With these many options, you can finally put all those excess pots you have lying around the house to good use and grow your food. It's the healthiest way to eat!

Importance of NPK fertilizers

We all adore our plants and our home gardens and want to do the absolute best for them always. But in our naïve efforts to go the extra mile, we sometimes end up causing more harm than benefit. Of course, this is always unintentional, but half knowledge can be a dangerous thing! Especially when you're dealing with something as delicate and precious as your home grown plants.

Nowhere is this more evident than with the use of fertilizers. Contrary to belief, more and more isn't better for your plant. Not all the time…

The overuse of NPK fertilizer is a popular cause of the failure of home gardens; it's something that gets you every time, but you never see it coming.

So, let's shed some light on not just the usage of NPK fertilizer but also what it means and how it affects soil and the growth of plants!

What is NPK fertilizer?

NPK is short for Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K), which are the three major elements in this kind of fertilizer. They are essential for plant growth and increase the fertility of the soil lacking these macronutrients. NPK fertilizer bags have number values that list the ratio of Nitrogen to Phosphorus to Potassium. These can be laid out as such: 10-10-10 or 10-8-20 or any other three-pronged combination. Why is this important? We'll find out soon!

How does NPK benefit the plant?

Nitrogen helps in plant growth and development. It also positively affects the quality of leaves, seeds, and fruits. Finally, Nitrogen is a crucial component of chlorophyll, which not only gives the plants their green color but also helps out in photosynthesis.

Phosphorus, on the other hand, plays a significant role in the development of plant oils, sugars and starch. During the process of photosynthesis, it is phosphorus that aids in the transformation of solar energy into chemical energy. Also, phosphorus not only encourages the growth of roots and blooming but also helps plants to withstand stress.

Potassium fertilizer is the third cog that completes the NPK trio. It is essential to plant growth and is greatly active during the process of photosynthesis. It is responsible for producing good quality fruits as well. Potassium builds up a store of protein in the plant and also helps prevent diseases and increases plant immunity.

Tips on how to use NPK fertilizer

Before you use any fertilizer, you need to check your soil type, check its pH level and check which are the nutrients that it has, and it is lacking. This will help you get the right ratio with your fertilizer.

Try organic methods like compost first and use fertilizers as add-ons to this. Don't have random patterns of fertilizer usage or don't use odd (too much or too less) amounts. Instead, create a schedule listing your plants' needs and use fertilizer a little more sparingly.

Keep the soil aerated for a high percolation rate so that these nutrients reach all your plants in an even manner and spread out throughout the soil.

To make sure that your efforts count, ensure that there is always a fixed thought process behind the use of NPK fertilizers!