Best Root Vegetables for Container Gardens

Tomatoes, salad greens, and peppers all do well in containers on your porch. This is great for those who don’t have a ton of space in the yard for a veggie patch, or maybe no yard at all.

Things like potatoes, onions, beets, and carrots seem like they need a lot more space, and should be left to those with great gardens. That simply isn’t the case, though. If you have some big enough containers, you can get into the root vegetable business, too.

There are a few things to consider before you steam ahead, so check these tips on how to grow yourself a crop of root vegetables right there on your porch or balcony.

Source: Natural Ways/YouTube

Pick the Right Container

Size- If you think about it, what root vegetables need is downward growing space. You are going to have to pick a container that is deep enough for your seeds to develop those big juicy roots you are looking for.

Some vegetables are going to need a much deeper container than others. If you’re thinking potatoes or sweet potatoes, you will need a large bucket or even a trash can if you are going for it. Radishes and beets, on the other hand, require much less space.

Drainage- Almost all root vegetables like loose, well-draining soil. For this reason, be sure that the container you chose has really good drainage holes at the bottom before you fill it with soil.

Potatoes

Source: Expedition Homestead/YouTube

Amazingly, you can grow a healthy crop of spuds in buckets, bags, and even bins. There is a great OGP article here that shows you how to manage growing potatoes in buckets.

The amazing thing is that you don’t even need to use soil to grow your potatoes. You can just use straw and maybe some compost tea to keep your potatoes well-fed.

Carrots

Carrots are another great root veg to grow in pots. Since carrots tend to be long and thin, you want to make sure that they have all the downward space they need. You can check the seed packet to see how long the variety you have chosen tends to grow.

In general, however, chose a pot that is at least 15 inches deep. You also don’t need to just plant one carrot per pot. You can get away with about 16 18 carrot plants per square foot. Just make sure that each plant has 2-3 inches of space for itself.

Beets

Source: GrowVeg/YouTube

Choose pots that are at least 8 inches deep if you want to sow beet seeds. These are a great option for container gardening as they are reasonably fast growing, and should ideally be picked when they are golf ball sized. This is when they are their most sweet and tender.

Beets need a little more outward room than carrots, so plant only about 8 beets per square foot. You can always plant more seeds in the beginning and thin them out later.

Radishes

Radishes are a fantastic vegetable to have in containers as they are super fast and most require little downward space. Pots that are at least 8 inches deep should suffice. That said, you should check the variety of radish seeds that you have as some radishes are super long whilst others stay short and round.  You can grow about 16 radishes per square foot.

Radishes are a cool season crop but do like a sunny spot. Too much heat will cause the greens to bolt and little root forming will occur. Note, that radish greens can be pretty tasty, too.  Keep the soil moist but not waterlogged to avoid the roots from spitting.

Green Onions and Garlic

Garlic and onions are a great choice for container gardening. The fun thing is that you don’t need to wait for the bulbs to fully form to start enjoying this vegetable. You can simply snip as many greens are you need from the plants and wait for them to grow back.

If you aren’t looking for the bulbs to fully form, you can plant them quite close together. Otherwise, full onions can be planted at about 4 per square foot.

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