Good Container Vegtables

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

Hello Gardeners

I'm thinking of building a couple of wooden planter boxes for growing vegetables next year.

In theory they would be about two feet wide, eight or ten feet long, with soil a foot or two deep.

What kind of vegetables would grow well in this proposed container?
I was thinking of onions, being that they have shallow roots. But that's just a guess.

Any advice on this subject would be much appreciated.

CFG

[Kisal]

Do you plan to put bottoms on your planters? A foot deep is enough for almost any veggie, except those with large root systems, like tomatoes. The width of the boxes would be sufficient even for tomatoes, if there were no bottom, so the roots could grow right into the ground.

A 2-foot deep planter would be sufficient for anything, except maybe potatoes. I've never grown potatoes in anything other than open ground, so as far as I know, it might even be deep enough for them.

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

The containers would have a bottom.
I might have legs on them too. That way I don't have to bend over when weeding or harvesting.

CFG

[Kisal]

A 5-gallon bucket is deep enough for any veggie, except potatoes. I think you need a container about the size of a garbage can to grow them. So, if your planter is at least as deep as a 5-gallon bucket, you should be able to grow just about any veggie you like.

For things like cukes, beans and peas, you will have to provide some kind of trellising for them to climb. For melons and squash, you'll need to either tie the stems to some sort of trellis and provide supports for the heavy fruit, or you will need to allocate space for them to spread out. They'll take up a lot of horizontal space. You'll have to figure out a way to make the trellises sturdy, because the vines can be quite heavy.

Have you searched our forum for information on square-foot gardening and raised-bed gardening?

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

I've had some experience with raised beds. I'll be using them when I start my own garden this fall.
The containers would just be a supplement to my garden.
Square-foot gardening is a new term for me, what is that exactly?

Thanks for all your help so far.

CFG

[Kisal]

Square-foot gardening is making a garden of small plots ... I think the original idea was squares that measured 4' on each side. Plants are placed relatively close together, and as soon as the crop from a square is harvested, the space is replanted with another type of crop.

Wikipedia has a good article about the concept:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_foot_gardening

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

Yeah, my Mom uses 4' by 4' raised beds. Works really good too.
I just never heard the term "square foot gardening" before.

Thanks for the help.

CFG