Growing Tomatoes, Peppers, and Lettuce in Pots - Ep. 298

Just Grow Something | Evidence-Based Home Gardening

Last week on the show we talked about the basic considerations for growing in containers, and that included how to evaluate whether a crop is a good candidate for growing in a pot.

This week we’re digging into the three crops I get asked about the most often when it comes to growing in containers: tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce. And while, technically, you can grow most anything in the right sized pot, these three are the ones folks tend to try first, so we’re going to get specific on them. And yes, each one of them can be very productive in a container.

Welcome back to Just Grow Something, I’m Karin Velez, a horticulturist and market farmer who has grown in containers in some way, shape, or form for probably 18 of the 20-plus years I’ve been gardening. I have grown in 6-inch pots all the way up to 100-gallon grow bags – yes, I said 100-gallon and, in all fairness, that’s more like a raised planter bed than a pot – but I’ve been really successful in most instances with just a few failures along the way and I want to teach you how to avoid those mistakes with these popular crops. Let’s dig in.

University Extension References

Penn State Extension — Container Vegetable Gardening: Four Keys to Success: https://extension.psu.edu/container-vegetable-gardening-four-keys-to-success

Penn State Extension — Growing Vegetables and Flowers in Containers: https://extension.psu.edu/growing-vegetables-and-flowers-in-containers

Oregon State University Extension — Grow Your Own Peppers (EC 1227): https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/ec-1227-grow-your-own-peppers

University of Missouri Extension — Container Gardens to Supply Your Salads: https://extension.missouri.edu/news/container-gardens-to-supply-your-salads

North Carolina A&T State University Cooperative Extension — Growing Fruiting Vegetables in Containers: Tomato, Pepper and Eggplant: https://www.ncat.edu/caes/cooperative-extension/covid-19/fruiting-vegetables.php

Resources:

Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com

Gardening Courses: https://justgrowsomething.com/courses

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Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/

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Get 10% off and FREE shipping on my favorite raised planters at Planter Box Direct using code JUSTGROW10: https://planterboxdirect.com/?ref=593


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2026-04-28 26 min

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