How to grow vegetables in pots

Video by BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine. This guide draws on the "Grow lots of VEG IN POTS" video from BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, which demonstrates that you do not need a plot or a raised bed to grow proper food. Practical, unpretentious, and full of useful detail on which vegetables work best in containers and why.

1. Choose containers that are large enough

The single biggest mistake with container vegetables is using pots that are too small. Small pots dry out quickly, leave roots cramped, and tend to produce poor yields no matter how well you feed them.

For tomatoes, courgettes, and cucumbers, use containers that hold at least 30 to 40 litres. Salad leaves, radishes, and spring onions can manage in smaller pots of 10 to 15 litres. Old compost bags, large buckets with drainage holes drilled in, and wooden half-barrels all work perfectly well — it does not need to be expensive.

2. Pick varieties bred for container growing

Standard vegetable varieties bred for the open ground often struggle in pots. Look for ‘patio’ or ‘dwarf’ versions — tomato varieties like ‘Tumbling Tom’ and ‘Balcony Red’, courgette ‘Patio Star’, French beans ‘Speedy’, or dwarf runner bean varieties.

Salad leaves, radishes, spring onions, cut-and-come-again lettuces, and beetroot are all naturally well-suited to containers without needing a specialist variety. They are also a good starting point if you are new to growing your own food.

3. Use a good-quality peat-free compost

Garden soil used alone in containers compacts badly, drains poorly, and usually produces disappointing results. Use a good multipurpose peat-free compost, mixing in some slow-release fertiliser granules at planting time.

For tomatoes and other hungry crops, add some well-rotted garden compost or vermiculite to improve moisture retention. A layer of crocks or broken pot pieces at the bottom of the container helps drainage without blocking it completely.

4. Water consistently — containers dry out fast

This is where most people fall down with container growing. In summer, large pots may need watering once or even twice a day in warm weather. Push a finger into the compost — if it is dry an inch down, water thoroughly until it runs out of the drainage holes.

Inconsistent watering — letting pots dry out then soaking them — is the main cause of problems like blossom end rot in tomatoes and bitter, bolting lettuces. A watering can works fine for a handful of pots, but if you have a larger setup, a drip irrigation kit on a simple timer takes the pressure off significantly.

5. Feed regularly once plants are established

Unlike open ground, containers contain a finite amount of nutrients that get washed out every time you water. From mid-summer onwards, feed weekly with a liquid tomato fertiliser — this is high in potassium, which promotes flowering and fruiting across most vegetables, not just tomatoes.

Before plants start to flower, a balanced liquid feed encourages good leaf growth. Switch to the higher-potash feed once flowers appear. It makes a noticeable difference to yields.

6. Position containers where they get the most sun

Most fruiting vegetables — tomatoes, courgettes, French beans, cucumbers — need at least six hours of sun a day to crop well. That is one of the advantages of containers: you can move them around as the season progresses to follow the best light.

Salad leaves and spinach are more tolerant of partial shade, which makes them useful for shadier patios or north-facing balconies. Mind you — no vegetable does well in deep shade. Some sun is always better than none.

7. Succession sow to keep harvests coming

Rather than sowing or planting everything at once and having a glut followed by nothing, sow a small amount every three to four weeks through spring and early summer. This is especially effective with salad leaves, radishes, and spring onions.

When one container finishes, empty it out, refresh the compost, and start the next sowing. Spent compost can go on the garden or compost heap — it is still useful for soil improvement even after a season of vegetable growing.

When to call a handyman

Container growing is genuinely something you can manage yourself. If the patio or garden area needs setting up properly — surfaces levelled, raised beds built, or water supply added for an irrigation system — that is something Richard can help with as part of a broader garden project.