Fruit & Vegetable Containers

Even if you’re short of outdoor space, that doesn’t mean you have to do without home-grown vegetables. There are lots of fruit and veg that will do brilliantly in containers, whether it’s a window box, grow bags, terracotta pots or even a display of tin cans/empty milk containers nailed to a fence.

Growing in containers is also a great way to experiment with fruit and veg growing – so if you’re brand new to growing this is the perfect option for you.

Growing in Containers

Container growing has many advantages including: perfect soil, easy planting and your crops are kept well out of reach of slugs. There are lots of innovative new ideas around to help you get started: look out for wall-hung vertical planters, automatic watering systems and even special varieties of veg bred for growing in pots, all available from Simpsons.

Golden Rules for Fruit & Veg Containers

There’s a huge range of veg you can try in containers, from herbs and salad leaves to tomatoes, chard, beetroot and even climbing French beans trained up against a wall. Here are our five golden rules for a summer of plenty from your patio.

1. Use the largest containers you can fit in the space you have available
   The more room veg roots have, the happier they’ll be (you can pack more veg in to larger pots, too!) So always buy the biggest containers you have room for. But don’t worry – you can plant in small containers and still get great results. Salads do really well in any sized container!
2. Water, Water and water some more
   Plants in pots are completely reliant on you for water supplies. Water container-grown veg every day – twice a day in hot spells. However, also be careful not to over water!
3. Feed, feed and feed some more
   After the first six to eight weeks compost runs out of nutrients, so add weekly liquid feeds to your watering routine. Look out for our great range of ready to use, concentrated and granulated feed options available in store.
4. Re-sow fast growing crops every month
   Keep picking continuously by sowing new containers of fast-growing salads, herbs, and quick crops like beetroot and turnips once a month. This will keep your supply of tasty goodies going all summer long.

Choose the right varieties
Look for the words ‘container veg’ or ‘patio veg’ on seed packets, we have lots of container specific varieties available in store. Special varieties like Courgette ‘Patio Star’ and Aubergine ‘Ophelia’ will crop brilliantly in pots.  

Need more advice? Please speak to our team of experts and enthusiasts in store about creating a container vegetable/fruit garden.