The back wall on my roof garden, June 2010.

I cut my teeth as a young gardener growing edibles in containers on a very hot roof in urban Toronto. For 15 years I grew everything and anything you can think of there (all without an outdoor water source), and while some crops produced much better than others, I can say with certainty that there isn’t anything that can’t be grown in a pot.

My books You Grow Girl, Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces, and Easy Growing: Organic Herbs and Edible Flowers from Small Spaces all contain instruction on growing food in containers — the latter two are packed with the best information.

I may garden in a yard now, but I still grow just as many if not more containers here. I continue to experiment with new varieties every year and am always pushing the limits of what I think is possible for those of us with small garden spaces.

The Basics

• All about soil.
• Guide to choosing organic soil mixes for container growing.
• A few tips on watering containers.
• Steps for bringing potted plants indoors for the winter.
• Consider adding mycorrhizae (aka root fungi) to your container soil.
• RECIPE: Mix up your own basic potting soil mix and seed-starting mix.
• A simple way to keep track of plantings in a mixed pot or an entire garden.
• You’ll find more container growing help on the Handy Garden Tips page.

Cactus and Succulent Plants in Pots

For more articles please see the Cacti and Succulents tags.

• How to plant a trough of cold hardy sempervivums (hens and chicks).
• 4 Hardy succulents for your garden and pots.
• 6 Hardy sedums for your garden and pots.
• Tips for growing wreaths and containers with Katherine Tracey of Avant Gardens.
• Grow this mixed succulent container.
• An inspirational container full of frilly echeverias.
• Grow an Orostachys pot.
• Try this windowbox of easy-care succulents.
• How to keep your Holiday Cactus and alive and coax it to rebloom next year.
• Erica’s inspiring apartment garden full of diminutive succulents.

A planter box that I made using dresser drawers found on a street-side curb.

Potatoes growing in a recycling bin.

Edible Crops in Pots

• Tips for growing herbs and other edibles in a strawberry pot.
• Grow a mixed strawberries and herbs container.
• A beautiful and edible container planting for the Fall season.

Herbs and Edible Flowers
• See the Herbs and Edible Flowers Growing Guide for more…
• Herb Container Mix: Chives, thyme, and edible violas in a big wash basin.
• Mint in a vintage doll buggy.
• ‘Mojito’ mint grown in a container with two non-edible plants.
• An old shopping cart has a new life as an herb garden.
• Flea Market mint pot.
• Grow a Bay Laurel tree in a pot.
• Over-wintering ‘Oregano’ thyme in a pot.
• Tips for growing nasturtiums in a container.

Peppers:
• This pepper will produce in an exceptionally small pot.
• Two articles on over-wintering hot peppers in a pot: here and here.
• See also the Hot and Sweet Pepper Growing Guide for more, including varieties worth growing in pots.

Root Vegetables:
• Homegrown ginger root from a pot.
• Radishes can be grown in containers.
• Sweet Potatoes in a shopping bag
• Jerusalem artichoke.
• Grow ‘Sparkler’ radishes in a container.
• Grow ‘Parisian Market’ carrot in a pot.

Salad Greens
• Mâche and other salad greens in a fruit crate.
• Microgreens on a Windowsill
• Salad greens in a repurposed recycling bin. Note that I switched to binder clips. There is also an update on this project.
• Lettuce in a strawberry pot.
• Tips for growing lettuce in a pot.
• See the Lettuce and Salad Greens Growing Guide for more.
• Hanging colander lettuce pot.

Tomatoes:
• See the Tomatoes Growing Guide for more…
• Growing tomatoes indoors: The tale of the Office Tomato.
• Tips for growing in containers.
• Varieties to grow in containers (or anywhere else for that matter)
• Thrifty containers for tomatoes
• Thrifty ways to camouflage your ugly thrifty containers!
• ‘Hahms Gelbe Topftomate’: Prolific, yellow cherry dwarf variety that does well in containers.
• ‘Whippersnapper’: Early cascading variety for pots.
• Dwarf tomato varieties that are great for pots.

Other Edible Crops:
• Beans
• Grow ‘Mini Purplette’ onion in containers.

Other Ornamentals and Houseplants in Pots

• Grow gorgeous Japanese Maples in large containers.
• Keep amaryllis bulbs in small pots for winter blooms.
• Grow a mostly hands-off Earth Star Terrarium.
• How to make a Nepenthes (a carnivorous plant) terrarium.
• Crochet a coaster to keep the feet of your houseplants warm on a draughty windowsill.
• How to revive a potted plant from the brink of death.
• Easy-care plant for your college dorm room or office.
• Mixed container inspiration: Burgundy, Green,Chartreuse.
• Plant a Venus Fly Trap bowl.
• Iron Cross Oxalis in a pot.
• Growing Fritillaria Michailowski (a flowering bulb) in a pot.
• Coral drops (Bessera) are an easy bulb to grow in containers.
• An easy-to-grow clematis for containers.
• There are loads of tips and hundreds of unusual plant suggestions to be found under the houseplant tag.