minimum planter depth for different vegetables

[Grandma99]

I want to purchase a specific planter here: https://www.amazon.com/Adams-Manufactur ... way&sr=8-4

I already have a few of them but I want more. I want them because my dog wants to see out and she can do so if I raise the plants up off the ground.

So question is: what vegetables can I grow in them? The planter is 7" deep. I currently use them for tai basil and italian green parsley. I figure I could grow strawberries in them also, right? How about pineapple ground cherries? Anything else? Is there anywhere which lists the minimum depth required for various vegetables? Maybe swiss chard (probably lettuce also). I guess root vegetables are out, LOL!

I have other planting locations for some of the bigger items but I want to use these planters as much as possible along my fences so my dog, Ginger, can see out. Thank you for any ideas!

[applestar]

Agree with strawberries, lettuce, basil and parsley, pineapple ground cherries. Swiss Chard will get too big (fill with roots)

You’d have to group them by their needs, but ...

- drought tolerant smaller herbs like thyme, sweet marjoram, oregano, young rosemary can manage too, though it will try to take over the root space so only one or two plants
- smaller pepper plants especially smaller stature hot peppers max 12-18 inch plant height.
— Bulgarian carrot, Peru white hab (Peruvian White Habanero, I think), Hot Lemon... Hanoi Market, Sun Thai, Takanotsume, Bolivian Rainbow,... Donkey Ears (Sweet) is a dwarf and can grow in 7 in depth. All will be stunted compared to having larger space but will produce, and you don’t need a whole lot of hots. Lemme see... what else ... Pasilla Bajio was tolerant of small container, too
- micro dwarf tomatoes up to 18 inch plant height — they’re determinate cherries
- radish and round carrot like Tonda di Parigi (Paris Market) maybe if you can keep up watering (same for lettuce)
- onion bottoms (onions for green onions)

[Grandma99]

Wow! You've given me quite a bounty - thank you so much! I don't like hot peppers but I'm tempted to plant one or that multi-color one just because they're so gorgeous but I'm unsure I want to devote the real estate to them. However, I spent a lot of time learning about the sweets. What an incredible group - for sure the Donkey Ears and Albino Bullnose! The round carrots are wonderful too!

I want to plant a lot of the ground cherries - I had never even heard of them before but after researching, I can't wait. And my grandkids will enjoy them as much as I will! What perfect pick-and-eat snacks! Thank you for all the inspirations! And I think I'll be expanding my garden far more than I am capable of handling; it just all is so exciting and delicious looking! What a miracle watching things grow!

[Grandma99]

Oh! I'm growing Walla Walla onion right now in one of the Fairfield planters. Can they be grown in the 7" planter-depth planters too? You mention "onion bottoms (onions for green onions)" ... but could bulb onions be grown?

[applestar]

I don’t know/suspect not that you could expect to grow good bulb onions that way — I have yet to be successful growing good full sized bulbs in the ground, let alone a container. I recently mentioned onion bottoms in my own thread so I didn’t elaborate... {let me go find the link} ......

Here we go.... They don’t grow to full size (at least for me) but will form small bulbs as if they were onion sets if left to grow under right conditions — mostly I use them to trim the greens as they grow / regrow for ready source of green onions.

Subject: Applestar’s 2019 Garden

- Onion bottoms that were growing in the Garage V8 2018-19 Winter Garden and transplanted out in spring — the bigger pair on the left had been a large Spanish onion that had twin green core. I think the cluster had been separate onion bottoms in a 4 inch pot (or planted close together in a large pot and deemed too difficult to separate).
(ignore the weeds)
Ref Subject: You are NOT throwing away your onion bottoms are you?

[Grandma99]

I'm going to grow lots of greens this way - thank you for the link! I saw a video on Walla Wall onions and to get big ones, one must 'ring' them (move the soil away from the bulbs so the expand out). I did that on mine when they were about as big around as golf balls and they DO seem to be growing in diameter. Unfortunately, I think I planted them too close together so I can't ring them very much.

Also they would shoot up these thick stalks that had bulbs on the top. I cut those off thinking it must 'bolt' them or 'send them to seed' sooner and I wanted them to focus on bulb size. Yes, I know very little about gardening and I can't research quickly enough.