Not everyone has a huge space they can dedicate to growing vegetables, that’s where these 5 handy veg come in.
They don’t mind being grown in pots and will happily produce gorgeous vegetables right on your patio.
1. Carrots
Carrots will grow just fine in a confined space like a pot, just don’t try and grow too many too close to each other.
You can sow them outside directly into the pot from April to July or alternatively start them indoors before transferring them to the pot later. If sowing direct to the pot sow thinly at a depth of around 1cm.
When the seedlings have started to appear thin them to around 5cm apart in all directions.
You can even sow some carrots early and grow them under a cloche. This will be fairly easy to do when growing in a pot and a sheltered patio spot will help them further.
- Developed specifically for its resistance carrot root fly
- 'Flyaway' has a natural sweetness, smooth skin, and blunt ended roots
- Awarded an RHS Award of Garden Merit
2. Potatoes
You can get special potatoes bags that make growing potatoes on a patio easy. Alternatively, any large pot will do just fine.
PLant potatoes in bags or pots at around 10cm deep with any shoots pointing upwards. Try and place the pots or bags in the sun and water regularly.
Harvest once the foliage has died back or you can leave them in the ground for even longer and harvest as needed.
As the plant grows mound some soil up around the foliage. This helps stop any light from getting to the tubers below the surface. If light does reach the potatoes they will turn green and should not be eaten.
You can grow whatever type of potatoes you like, new potatoes are normally grown earlier in the season than larger “main crop” potatoes. I would recommend growing something like the Cara variety below for delicious homegrown jacket potatoes.
- Great for roasting, jackets and chipping
- Oval-round, pinkish, red-eyed tubers with soft moist flesh
- Excellent disease resistance, including golden eelworm and blight, and withstands drought well
3. Peas
Peas can grow really well in a pot on a patio and provide delicious harvests.
You will just need something for them to grow up. This can be as simple as a bamboo cane wigwam or you could use a trellis, just make sure they have some support.
Peas are really easy to grow here in the UK and can be grown for large chunks of the year.
I like to start my peas off in seed trays on a sunny windowsill before potting them onto small pots. I will then acclimatise these plants to outdoor life over 1-2 weeks before moving them into their final pot.
If you have never grown your own peas before then you are in for a real treat.
Peas fresh off the plant are completely different to those you get in a supermarket, they taste so sweet!
- Outperforms other varieties
- Excellent yields of the highest quality
- Suitable for freezing
- Awarded an RHS Award of Garden Merit
4. Beans
Like the peas above, beans are really easy to grow in the UK. Again like peas, they will need some sort of support to grow up. This can be bamboo canes and some string or a trellis or anything you can think of really.
Indoors, sow seed at a depth of 5cm (2″) in 7.5cm (3″) pots or trays of free-draining, seed sowing compost. Place in a propagator or seal container inside a plastic bag at a temperature of 18-20C (64-68F) until germination which takes 7-10 days.
Once seedlings have appeared, grow runner beans in cooler conditions until all risk of frost has passed and runner bean plants are large enough to be transplanted. Gradually acclimatise them to outdoor conditions over 7 – 10 days before planting runner beans outdoors in your pot.
- The first completely self-fertile scarlet-flowered runner bean
- Will even set in high temperatures or poor weather
- Produces stringless beans which are slightly thicker, sweeter and more tender than other varieties
5. Lettuce
Growing fresh lettuce on your patio is a great way to cut down on shopping bills, plus fresh lettuce straight out of your garden tastes much better than the supermarket stuff.
Lettuce is really easy to grow and is a great veg to start with as a new grower.
Sow seeds indoors in a seed tray. Once the seeds have sprouted leave them to grow in the tray for a good few weeks. Once you have larger, stronger plants you can move them outdoors into their final pots.
Acclimitasing the seedlings to colder conditions is always a good idea before moving them out fully. Leave the tray with all your lettuce seedlings outdoors for longer and longer each day. This will toughen them up and mean the move outside isn’t as much of a shock to the system.
I like growing butterhead lettuce but you can grow whatever type you like. The tom thumb butterhead below can be grown close together, making it ideal for pot growing.
- A compact, solid butterhead type
- Deliciously soft leaves
- Very fast-growing
