Which plants are best for pots, planters and containers?

You can grow almost anything if you have a good selection of pots, containers and growbags. That said, some crops are better suited than others, so have a read of this before you decide what to grow.


Dwarf Bean Varieties

These smaller, shrub like bean plants are ideal for pots. Grow one plant to a 25cm (approx) pot.

Hestia Dwarf Runner Bean

Purple Queen Dwarf French Bean

Orinoco Dwarf French Bean (yellow)

Tender Green Dwarf French Bean

 

Honey Bear Winter Squash

Bush Squash/Courgette Varieties

Squashes tend to be big old plants, but we’ve got a couple of varieties that are perfect for containers – Bush Green Courgette and Honey Bear Winter Squash are both ideal, being compact bush-like plants. Grow one to a deep 30cm pot.

Honey Bear Winter Squash

Green Bush Courgette

Wild Rocket

Lettuces and Leaves

You can pack several plants in a single pot as lettuces and leaves don’t take up much root space. Treat them as cut & come again by harvesting the outer leaves regularly.

Wild Rocket

Mizuna

Spinach

Chard

Buttercrunch Lettuce

Soft Fruit

Berries and Currants are perfect for growing in pots and containers. Just make sure they are nice and big, 50cm wide and deep! It can actually be a bit easier was growing them in pots as you can move them around, support them easily with a cane where necessary, and keep them weed free and well-nourished with compost.

Berries

Currants

Strawberries

basil

Herbs

Herbs are often grown in pots and they are well suited to it. You can either pop several different plants in a large single pot or have each individual plant in its own smaller pot.

All herbs

tiny tim tomato

Tomatoes

Cordon tomatoes are easy to grow in grow bags or large containers, and bush varieties are ideal. Grow one plant per 20cm (and deep) pot. If growing cordon varieties, don’t forget they’ll need support.

All tomatoes

Potatoes

Potatoes are perfect for big planters or old buckets – as long as they have a bit of depth. Just fill the planter up half full, pop the seed potatoes in and cover with a few inches of compost. Keep topping up with compost until the planter is full.

Seed potatoes

peas

Other ideas...

Try any of the following:

  • Spring onions in shallow pots
  • Carrots in deep pots
  • Curly Kale in grow bags (4-5 plants per bag)
  • Aubergines, Peppers and Chillies in pots or grow bags (3-4 plants to a grow bag)
  • Peas in grow bag (10 plants would be fine)