What success have any of you had on planting vegetables in containers on a patio? What vegetables work best? I'm trying to plan a small container vegetable garden, but I don't really know where to start. Any ideas, tips, or hints are much appreciated!

Dwarf tomatoes, pretty much any peppers, eggplant, bush beans, possibly zuchinni since they're bushy, lettuce, radishes, and now I'm drawing a blank. There are others. No corn. They get too tall and you need to many to get a harvest usually.

I have 6 fake plastic half wine barrels. I plant dwarf tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, yard-long beans and bush beans, onions and herbs, peas... I think you can plant just about anything you want but use decent pot sizes and good quality potting soil.

There are varieties of just about every kind of vegetable that are suitable for growing in containers. I recall even seeing a variety of corn called "On Deck" that was bred to be suitable for that purpose. Certainly lettuce and various greens, peppers seem to particularly thrive in pots, dwarf tomatoes, bush cucumbers...

Last year I had cherry tomatoes in a large pot on the patio. I put it in the back to keep it away from the many clever herbivores that visit my front yard. The plant did well, grew like crazy and had lots of fruit.
Somehow my small dogs (I thought they were carnivores) developed a taste for tomatoes. They picked and ate them all as soon as they were ripe.
Use as large a pot as practical, a good quality potting mix, put a tomato cage in at the same time you plant, and fertilize regularly. Look for a short-season variety if possible. They grow slowly until the soil warms up.
Enjoy the harvest, or share it with your friends. And pets.

I can vouch for dogs loving tomatoes. Carrots and lettuce also.

I never had any dogs that liked tomatoes; but there were a couple that loved green beans and carrots!

Something else to consider is that dark-colored pots can heat up too much in the sunshine for the plants to be happy; lighter colors are better.

pepper23 said: I can vouch for dogs loving tomatoes. Carrots and lettuce also.

I know a dog in town that eats tomatoes & strawberries.

My cats eat tomatoes, also squash, watermelons, cucumbers, strawberries, mushrooms, beans, corn, irish potatoes, sweet potatoes... even kale...
Here is a pic of cat eating turnip...

Use a good potting soil so the pots drain properly.
I grow just about any vege in pots or bins.

All for your responses! I definitely would like to try growing cherry tomatoes, and eggplant sounds good too. Lots of good vegetables to consider

Happy gardening, Grill - and thanks for the nut!

I would advise against using "grow bags". Never had any success with them. Tried tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, even flowers, etc. They all developed mildew and the bottoms fell apart, the carry handles quickly tore off. Very disappointing. And they weren't cheap!

I agree that most vegs will grow on patio in containers, but the biggest problem will be watering. I have found that as they increase in size and begin producing you will have to keep them uniformly well watered which on very hot sunny days can be as many as three times a day. They will also need regular fertilization, minimum every 7-10 days. Best of luck!

Fieldsof_flowers said: All for your responses! I definitely would like to try growing cherry tomatoes, and eggplant sounds good too. Lots of good vegetables to consider

Indeterminate type tomatoes don't do too well in pots/containers. Trust me. Never, never, never plant a indeterminate tomato in anything smaller than 15 gallon otherwise plants will get leggy and barely produce. Been there, experienced that. Dwarf tomatoes are fantabulous. I grew a great deal of them in fabric pots last summer and, except for the BER, I got good results. Dwarfs don't go all over the place, and you can fit more into a space.

I totally agree - the dwarf tomatoes are perfect for growing in containers, and there is a huge selection of them now. And tall indeterminates are pretty much a nightmare - they can be hard to control even when grown in the ground with good supports!

Weedwhacker said: I totally agree - the dwarf tomatoes are perfect for growing in containers, and there is a huge selection of them now. And tall indeterminates are pretty much a nightmare - they can be hard to control even when grown in the ground with good supports!

Ain't that the truth!!! I grew Beefsteak once. That one plant turned into a jungle all itself.
Also true there are lots of cool Dwarfs to choose from, especially from Victory. There are dwarf cherries I believe if cherries are your preference.