Gardeners can grow lots of produce in planter pots
The cool weather of early spring is perfect for greens of all kinds – spinach, lettuce, kale, Asian greens and chard. On a recent trip to Mount Vernon for work, I purchased starts of romaine, red leaf lettuce and spinach to plant in the large pots on my deck and the garden. With the prediction of a warmer and dry April, they should do well and make it very easy to harvest greens for salads until the end of May when it’s time to plant the pots with warm season plants.
Another option would be to just leave them in and plant the warm season stuff around them. The lettuces will add leafy texture to the pots until they bolt in the early July heat. Kales, especially Tuscan kale, planted now will add a very bold texture to pots through the summer. Picking leaves for salads will keep them in bounds.
In reviewing the seed catalogs for this year’s crop of new introductions, I found several old garden favorites that have been miniaturized to fit into small spaces and pots. The Burpee Company’s catalog lists several, including a tomato, two cucumbers and, for the first time, corn. The tomato Patio Princess produces 2-inch fruits on a 2- to 3-foot-tall plant in 65 to 68 days. There is still time to order seeds and start the plants for planting in late May.
Spacemaster and Salad Bush cucumbers both produce an 8-inch-long fruit on very compact plants in around 56 days from seed. They can either be trailed over the side of the pot or trellised to grow upright which makes them quite versatile when designing your deck garden.
Burpee is also offering for the first time a corn that will grow in a container albeit nothing smaller than 12 inches wide. On Deck will grow 4 to 5 feet tall and produce one to two, 7-inch ears of corn on each plant in about 60 days from seed. The ears of corn are merely a benefit for a very dramatic tall plant that can continue to serve as fall and winter decoration.
The Territorial Seed company out of Cottage Grove, Oregon, has two pint-sized watermelon and butternut squash varieties for containers. Sugar Pot watermelon can grow to a respectful space of about 18 inches and produce at least one, 8- to 10-pound fruit in about 80 days from seed. Growing conditions are often warmer in containers but this would still benefit from starting the seeds indoors in early May.
Butterbush butternut squash maintains courteous 3- to 4-foot vines that produce 1- to 2-pound fruits in about 80 days. Just the perfect size for a single-serving meal and a nice set of trailing vines.
Pat Munts is the co-author of “Northwest Gardener’s Handbook” with Susan Mulvihill. Munts can be reached at pat@inland nwgardening.com.