Growing space
Containers
Match pots and grow bags to plant roots, drainage, light, and the watering routine you can sustain.
Photo: 999real / CC0
Plan the space
Match pots and grow bags to plant roots, drainage, light, and the watering routine you can sustain.
Containers are a method, not a place
Every other space on this site describes where a plant lives: a balcony, a windowsill, a patio, a backyard. Containers describe what it lives in. You can use containers in all four of those places, and most people do. This page covers the pot itself, which is why the What Can I Grow tool asks where you grow and what size container you have as two separate questions.
Depth and volume answer different questions
Depth decides whether roots physically fit — a carrot cannot bend around a shallow base, and a tomato will not anchor in one. Volume decides how forgiving watering is, because a larger body of mix dries more slowly and swings less between wet and dry. A tall narrow pot can satisfy depth while failing badly on volume.
Practical sizes
As a working guide, salad leaves, radishes, green onions, and most herbs manage in 12 to 15 cm of depth. Chard, parsley, and strawberries want around 20 cm. Peppers, beans, peas, kale, and carrots want about 25 cm. Tomatoes and cucumbers want 30 cm or more and roughly 20 litres of mix. Extension guidance commonly recommends at least 2 gallons for small crops and 5 gallons for large ones, which sits at the generous end of these figures and makes life easier.
Mix and drainage
Use a mix sold for containers rather than garden soil, which compacts and drains poorly in a pot. Drainage holes must be open and stay open. A decorative outer pot is fine as long as you are not leaving the inner pot standing in collected water.
Common mistakes
Choosing the pot before the plant is the usual one, and it tends to end with a full-sized tomato in a 5 litre container that dries out every afternoon. Oversizing has its own risk: a tiny seedling in a very large wet volume dries slowly and can sit cold and sodden, particularly indoors. Match the container to the mature plant, then check the filled weight before deciding where it stands.
Plants that can fit
These matches come from each plant’s graded suitability for this space. Conditions and limitations still matter.
excellent
Basil
A tender culinary herb that grows quickly with warmth, useful light, and regular harvesting.
excellent
Broccoli Microgreens
A mild, quick microgreen for shallow trays and a bright indoor position.
excellent
Bush Beans
A compact warm-season bean that avoids a tall trellis but still needs sun and steady picking.
conditional
Carrot
A patient container crop best attempted with short-rooted varieties and deep, stone-free mix.
good
Cucumber
A productive but thirsty vine for warm, sunny spaces with generous root room and support.
excellent
Green Onion
A narrow, space-efficient crop for troughs, window boxes, and repeated small harvests.
excellent
Kale
A cold-tolerant leafy crop that can supply repeated harvests from one well-spaced container plant.
excellent
Mint
A resilient leafy herb that tolerates modest light and regular harvesting in its own pot.
excellent
Parsley
A steady, cool-tolerant herb for moderate light and deeper pots than its leaves suggest.
excellent
Pea Shoots
A substantial indoor shoot crop with larger seed, more root room, and a longer harvest window than tiny microgreens.
excellent
Peas
A cool-season climber that uses vertical space but needs support from the day it begins to stretch.
excellent
Radish
A fast root crop that shows beginners quickly whether light, spacing, and soil moisture are working.
excellent
Radish Microgreens
A quick indoor crop harvested young, before root space becomes a limiting factor.
excellent
Rosemary
A long-lived woody herb for strong light and careful drainage, not a forgiving low-light windowsill plant.
excellent
Sunflower Microgreens
A crisp, larger-seeded microgreen that needs clean handling, even moisture, and room for strong stems.
excellent
Swiss Chard
A resilient leafy crop that tolerates repeated harvesting and a wider temperature range than lettuce.
excellent
Thyme
A compact sun-loving herb that prefers sharp drainage and less water than leafy herbs.
Keep exploring
Read the setup guide
Choosing the Right Pot Size
Use both depth and volume to choose a stable container that supports roots and buffers watering mistakes.
Build a watering check
How to Water Container Plants
Replace a fixed schedule with a simple root-zone check that adapts to weather, plant size, and container volume.
Understand useful light
How Much Sun Do Edible Plants Need?
Measure direct light in practical hourly ranges and understand why a bright-looking space may still limit growth.