Growing A Container Vegetable Garden 🍅🪴 Tomatoes, Peppers, Zucchini & More!

The weather has finally warmed up enough for me to plant my vegetable garden. I love having home grown veggies in the summer and the taste between a tomato you grow and one you get at the store is incomparable!

Varieties I’m Growing (got these at Gethsemane garden center)
~ Artisan Sunrise Bumble Bee Tomato
~ Sure Rush Tomato
~ Lunch Box Pepper
~ Chocolate Beauty Pepper

Items Used
~ 30 gallon grow bags: https://amzn.to/4dh4b4Q
~ 7 gallon grow bags: https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Pots-7-Gallon-Soft-Sided-Container/dp/B0055E8RUG
~ Large tomato cages: https://www.gardeners.com/buy/tomato-cages/8587040.html?variationId=23302
~ Short plant cages: https://www.homedepot.com/p/19-in-Evergreen-Grow-Cage-89717HD/323961336

Hello everyone. Today I’m going to set up my container vegetable garden. Now I pretty much grow my vegetables in the same spots every year. I don’t know why. I just got used to it. But over the years I have gone a little bit more uh flower crazy than vegetable crazy. So I am trying to add in a few more throughout the other flower beds this season. But what we’re going to do today is just the main what I call veggie patch. I don’t start many vegetables from seed, although I do have some, because if I only grow a certain number, like one to two plants, even sometimes three. It’s much easier for me to just go to the garden center and grab some than it is to buy the seeds, know that I’m going to take a long time to go through them, keep them alive for a few months inside, which I’ll talk a little bit more about that in just a second. So, I do grab things like indeterminant tomatoes, peppers, and I do have one herb I want to talk about, but if it is something unique like the tiny Tim tomatoes that I don’t know if I’ll find those I will start from seed. So, I’ll go through what I got from Gethsemane garden center and then one non-vegetible thing. We’ll head over to my veggie patch. We’ll get everything planted and watered in. I don’t think I’m going to be done with everything today because I’m trying to go a little bit slower this year to make sure things are in the places where I want them and I’m not just throwing things everywhere. But um I tell myself that every year and we’ll see how long that lasts. But first, I got two indeterminant tomato types. There are two types of tomatoes. There are indeterminant, which again is what I have, and determinant. Indeterminants will basically keep growing and get very tall throughout the season. They’ll also continue to produce fruit throughout the season. Whereas determinant tomatoes have a predetermined height that they’ll grow to, so they won’t get as tall and they will set their fruit all at once. So if I wanted to can tomatoes or make a sauce and I don’t really have space for that many tomatoes, I would go with determinant. But the way I use it is just picking off the tomatoes as they come and probably eating them before they actually make it out of the garden. I also find that the cherry-sized tomatoes do a lot better for me when I grow beef steak tomatoes or some that are a little bit larger. I always get cracks or some sort of end rot on the tomatoes. Whereas with the smaller fruits, I don’t have that issue. So, I now pretty much stick with cherry tomatoiz plants. This one here is artisan sunrise bumblebee. It’s really cute. Most of these I chose because they were cute. Uh, this is mostly yellow but has some red stripes in it. And then the other tomato I got is called Sugar Rush, which I’m pretty sure I’ve grown before. So, it’s just Sugar Rush Cherry tomato. This says matures in 50 to 55 days. This one’s probably Oh, this one’s a little bit longer. 70 days. I’ll usually start getting fruit on these sometime mid to end July. I then got two peppers, which peppers, starting them from seed, take longer inside. I think most people in this area will start them in February, if not maybe January. And I just don’t want to keep something live that long. So I got sweet pepper, which is called lunchbox. This is full sun. All these are full sun. And 60 to 80 days maturity. Fruit size is going to be 2 to 3 in. So little petite peppers. I also have grown jalapenos in the past, but I don’t eat them as much. So I want to use my limited space for the actual vegetables I eat all the time. I’m going back and forth on if I want to get an eggplant because I used to have one and I did eat it but not as much as the other veggies. Anyway, the other sweet pepper I have is chocolate beauty and this is a full-size pepper, but I just chose it because it was brown, which brown in general isn’t like the most exciting color, but it is when it’s abnormal. So, it’s not like green, red, yellow, orange. It’s going to be brown. So, that’s exciting. Again, just picked that because of the color. So, we’re going to plant these today, and I’ll talk you through how I have my veggie patch set up. But, I did want to mention, I got pineapple sage. This is an herb that is in my top two. This and chocolate mint are probably my top two. I use this 95% of the time for teas. It smells like pineapple candy. There’s also another pineapple. I have pineapple mint. There’s pineapple something else, but this is the one that smells just like a pineapple candy, and I love it so much. I especially love this tea in the summer. I will dry it for my tea. You can also dry it and like sprinkle it on something to get this pineapple flavor, but it just smells so good. So, I there were only two left at Gethsemane. It’s usually one that I can find pretty easily at garden centers, but I didn’t want to take both of them, so I just took the one of them. And this one is actually sun to part shade. So, I just wanted to mention that in case you are looking for a delicious pineapple scented and flavored herb. But what we’re going to do now is I’m going to head over to the veggie patch. Now, I have done some things already because I panic planted, which means that my seedlings were starting to look sad inside, so I just chucked them outside and hope for the best. Um, didn’t really work, which it never really does. So, I should have been more patient, but one thing I did definitely did not work out well. Another thing I did, I feel like it’s a bad idea, but I don’t know yet. So, I’m going to call that an experiment, and we will see how that goes. So, let me head over. I’ll talk about the containers I use and then what’s already planted and what else is going to go where. So, this is what I call my veggie patch. There are three 30gallon grow bags in the back. They’re also about 30 in in diameter. I have had these since 2019. These exact same bags. The soil I never swap it out completely. So, that’s all been the same. I just refresh it the way I do my raised beds. And this is where I put my indeterminant tomatoes. I don’t just grow one indeterminate tomato in each of the 30-gallon bags, but I will grow like basil or maragolds, other things with it that are a bit shorter and don’t take up as much space. I did one year grow two indeterminant tomato plants. They both grew, they produced, they were healthy, but it created such a tangled mess because I didn’t keep up on pruning as much as I should have. So now I just do one per container. In the front of those are seven gallon grow bags which have become my default. I used to do five gallon and that still worked really well but I feel like it just dried out a little too quickly especially because they are grow bags and 10 gallons is just a little bit too big. So in order I feel to maximize my space the seven gallon grow bags is what works best for me. There are wheels under the 30-gallon grow bags because I could not move those without it. And then I just have little plant lifts here underneath my sevengallon grow bags in order to keep them off of the deck because when they’re wet they do act like sponges and you don’t want to leave a wet sponge sitting on wood. Now in the 330 gallon grow bags I have upgraded my tomato cage because I’ve been using for the last few years a very flimsy one from Home Depot. These are from Garner Supply and every year my tomato plant would fall over. So, I got tired of trying to uh tie it with twine and get it back upright, which always failed anyways. So, I finally decided to get some sturdy tomato cages. In my seven gallon grow bags, I have 19inch tomato cages. These are also from Home Depot. I have at least 20 of these because I use these for shorter vegetables. I use them for my dalia. I have one on one of my poppies right now. This just seems to be a really good height for most of the things in my garden. So, that’s everything that is currently making up my veggie patch. Oh, except for all of the poppies that I threw in threw the seeds in either in January or February. I’m going to leave them here until they bloom if they bloom. So, I’m just going to plant my tomatoes directly in the little pile of poppies. Obviously, some of them will get removed when I do that, but I’m just going to let whatever happens happen in the garden. Now, I will take you up close to show you what I panic planted. And I will start with what looks the healthiest, but I feel like I’m making a poor choice, but I’m also interested to see how it does. So, these are four bean plants. I have two green bean. I think two of them are purple. I don’t know which one is which, but I planted four in one 7gallon container. Normally, I would do one. If I wanted to try to save some space, I might do two, but we’re just going to go crazy and do four and see how it works. So, I’m interested. Now, again, I can always pop one out and plant it somewhere else if they all seem like they really, really hate this setup. So, I might do that. But for now, I’m just going to see how this goes. I also have one round zucchini plant that is in here. So, the zucchini are actually just little round balls. Well, maybe they’re about like 4 in in diameter, but they’re really cute. Taste like normal zucchini. And then this is what I did that was not smart. I also kicked my cucumbers out. And one of the seedlings died right away. I think it was just still too cold for them. And the other ones don’t look great. So, I don’t plan to leave all three of these in here. Right now, it’s basically just uh survival of the fittest. And whichever one potentially two doesn’t die over the next week. That will then be moved to the center of the bed. I’m going to plant the tomatoes first in the 30-gallon grow bags. This one and this one, just because it’s easier to plant in the back before planting up in front and trying to reach across it. Even though I did already plant these, the center one I usually grow flowers typically giant zenyas. I think that’s what I’m going to do. But again, since I’m not 100% sure, I’m going to wait and be patient and decide what I do want to put here. So, I think I’m going to put the sugar rush, the red colored one here. And then what was the name of the other one? The artisan sunrise bumblebee I’m going to put here. And I’ve already positioned the cages. So, this one here that’s going to have zenyas or some other giant flower is more directly centered. The two where the tomatoes are going to go are basically pushed a little bit to the back of the 30-gallon grow bag just so I have more room in front to plant whatever it is I’m going to plant. Again, basil, maragold, I might do some ntoriums cuz I really like those, but that is to be determined. Now, since I threw poppies in over the winter and they grew, I did not get a chance to refresh this like I have my raised beds because I would disturb the roots of the poppies and kill them. So, I’ll link below the video showing how I refresh the beds, but basically I take everything out, add compost and perlite to make the soil a little bit looser. This one, what I’m going to do is I will dig the hole and then I will put the compost in the hole and also put a slowrelease fertilizer. I use this basically anytime I plant something in the garden. So, I’m just going to dig a hole right in there. It doesn’t have to be too big cuz the plant is still pretty small. These I will likely toss in my composter. Then I’m going to put in a handful of compost into that hole. Mix it around. Put in the slowrelease fertilizer. Also mix that around. Then I will pop in the tomato plant. Now I don’t usually break up the roots of a plant that I’m planting unless it is very very rootbound, which this one is not. So I am just putting that one right in there in the bed. And then we’ll water this in once I get everything else planted. Same thing for the bumblebee tomato. So, just making my hole in there. Compost in, granular fertilizer in, and tomato plant in. We’re going to do the peppers next, each in their own seven gallon grow bag. But there are just a couple things with tomatoes that I wanted to mention. First off, since I wasn’t able to refresh like normal, once I pull out the poppies, I will then add more compost. scrunch that into the top inch or two of soil around the tomato plant and then I will plant whatever I’m going to plant after that. So, they will still be getting some extra compost added more than what I’ve just added. Now, as far as pruning, you can remove the suckers. I have a video showing that. I will post it down below, but the sucker is basically when you look at the stem and one of the branches off the stem, it’s growing this way. It will just make the plant bigger and bushier. I’m really good at pruning till August 1st and then I kind of give up. So, it starts out very nice and clean and then kind of becomes a mess. I’m going to try to be better this year. Also, if your tomato plant gets too tall, I just top it off. So, I’ll just trim it at the top whenever it gets too far above the cage for it to support it anymore, especially if it is really windy up here. So, also don’t feel bad if you do want to keep yours trimmed a bit more than normal instead of just letting it grow wild. Final thing, the root ball. The root ball in my tomato plants is probably one of the largest for the indeterminate tomatoes. So, I leave the root ball in the soil and I pull it in the spring once the potting soil has thawed. It’s so much easier because so much of the roots have broken down. They’ve died over the winter. They’re not clinging on as much as they were in the fall. So, if you have any root balls that are hard to get out in the fall, you can go ahead and wait till spring. Now, what I’m going to do is get the soil ready for the seven gallon grow bags. I actually have a box of soil that was from last year’s pots. I dump whatever I’m not using or whatever’s empty into this tote. I have already added perlite. I’m going to add compost right now and then use that as the growing medium in my seven gallon grow bags. Again, I don’t really throw soil away. I keep reusing what I have and just adding more nutrients to it. Been doing that now since 2020 here in this garden. So, it’s worked so far and I’m going to do it until it stops working. So, let’s go ahead. I will get that mixed up. And I also have to find seven gallon grow bags. Here’s what’s currently inside this box. So again, this is potting mix from containers last year. The smaller pots I typically will empty out, especially a terracotta because I bring that inside to store over winter. I added some perlite to break it up. There is some plant debris from last season in there as well that’ll just break down over time. So I’m going to dump in compost. I don’t know if I’m going to dump in the rest of what’s in the bag. I don’t do very specific measurements with this, but I try to get at least like one to two inch layer above where the soil is. And then I will mix that thoroughly throughout this entire container. So, that was basically almost the whole bag of compost. I do have a little bit left over. And then I do have more bags that I will use up here. Also, I need to remind myself that white sleeves probably aren’t the best when you are working in dirt. I’m going to use these seven gallon grow bags. They’re from Smart Pot. I have a bunch of different brands. Um, the ones I’ve used in the past from Amazon, the handles ripped off of. These the handles can’t rip off of, which is nice. I also have brown bags from Bootstrap Farmer, which has some more color variation, and their handles also stay on really well. So, I don’t have like a super super favorite, but of the ones I’ve tried, those are the brands that I like the most. And even though this is only seven gallons, you’re going to think, “Oh, that’s not going to be a lot of this soil.” I might actually use most of what is in this tub here just for these two bags. And I’m also going to use this pot to get bigger scoops at a time. I don’t I mean I have a little tri but I don’t really use it. I’m either typically using my hands or something like this. And I don’t have a shovel like a big shovel because I don’t really have much of a use for that either. But there we go for that one. So now I’m going to pop in whichever pepper I find first. I also like to pot in my storage bin if I can because one if soil spills it just spills back into the little container. And also with grow bags they’re kind of flimsy at first until you get them filled with soil. So, this just kind of helps to prop them up. Putting in granular fertilizer. Setting the pepper plant in there. Sticking the tag in. So, this is the chocolate beauty pepper plant. And then I need a cage. And there we go. One pepper down. granular fertilizer pepper plant. This is the lunchbox pepper plant. So again, slightly smaller fruit compared to the other one I planted. Tag so I remember. And a cage. This is what’s left now in the container. Again, I probably took out at least more than half of what was in there for just two grow bags. Every time I carry a bag of potty mix up here, I always remember how quickly I go through it when I have to carry it up a couple flights of stairs first. And here is my veggie patch. I might make some pretty labels at some point, maybe after I get everything in place on this deck. But I think this is looking pretty good. I also might add again an eggplant. And there will be other tiny tomato plants just stuck randomly in these beds. That’s not planted yet. I’m just leaving some dollies on it. Peas are still going well. And then these two beds are still empty. Now I’m going to water everything in. I do let the hose water run for a little bit because when I first turn it on because it’s kind of hot outside, it is very hot water and I don’t want to damage the plants with super hot water at first. And then I’m just going to go around and make sure everything is watered in. You probably don’t water for long enough at a time. At least that’s how I was when I started and then I just started overwatering because I was watering too often. But I will stand here for probably at least like 20 seconds making sure that I’m not just getting the top layer of the soil wet, but that it actually is getting the majority of the soil wet. Right now, because our temperatures are going up and down, I’m probably watering manually, well, not counting what’s in smaller containers, so it’s drying out quicker, like their nursery pots, but I’m probably watering maybe once every four days, I would say, on average. Right now, we haven’t had rain in about a week, but sometimes our days are dipping down into the 60s. So, we’re still not like 70s or 80s every day or 90s like in the summer. In the summer, I have my irrigation set up. I will set it up once I have everything planted. That runs either every other day or every day in the morning depending on the time of year. And then sometimes I will have to come out and water in the afternoon on really really hot days. This deck also gets the afternoon sun which is hotter than the morning sun. So I will check on these plants a little bit more than I check on the plants on the east facing deck in the afternoon. Now grow bags. I like to use grow bags one because they are cheap. This 30- gallallon size in the back row would be so expensive if it was like even a plastic pot or definitely a ceramic pot and too heavy to carry up here. But I think each of those bags came out to about $5. And I got a five-pack from Amazon again back in 2019 and they’re still working. So for larger containers, I like to use grow bags. And then I just like to have things matched. So I’m also using grow bags for my vegetables. I’ve never overwatered because these are the containers that have the most drainage. but they do dry out faster than other materials. So, if you are in a very hot either climate or if you’re on a very hot rooftop deck, uh maybe you might want to not use a grow bag. So, if I used terracotta, for example, it would not dry out quite as fast. If I used plastic, it would dry out even slower. But I like using the grow bags. Now, each of these pots will have drip in it. I have it set up pretty much the same every year so that it is easy to pop in and out. But the ones in the front will have one emitter directed right at the plant. The 30-gon grow bags I usually have three ones directed right at the tomato plant and then kind of in between whatever else I have planted in there. Again, this bed just still has the poppies and nothing else in it. So, these are all going to be pulled and then I will put in probably some of my giant zenas. The last few things I want to mention. So, right now we’ve since Mother’s Day, we’re kind of at the stretch of weather where it’s always above 50° at night, which is really important, especially for peppers, but also tomatoes. We are dipping down into the high 40s a few days in the next two weeks. I still think mine will be fine, but if, for example, we get into the low 40s or for some reason it drops into the 30s, which is not supposed to do for the peppers or anything in the smaller grow bags, I will bring those inside overnight. perk of container gardening. You can just carry it in for my tomatoes. I’ll just toss like a bed sheet over it. They do make actual coverings for gardens. I just don’t have it because I don’t use it enough. But up here too, it’s very interesting because it is much well, it feels much hotter up here. So, the heat impacts the plants a lot faster than down level. However, it also cools off faster up here. So, sometimes those temperature swings are felt a little bit more up here than they would be planting at ground level. So, we’ll see. I’ll let you know if I need to bring them inside. I’m crossing my fingers that I don’t have to. So, we’ll see. We’ll see how the weather goes. But I’m really hoping we are past the point now of no return. I think after this I’m going to start planting up more of my beds out here. Um, and then I will focus on more of the back deck and the garage deck. So, I’m very excited. Let me know if you have any questions. Let me know if there’s any vegetables you really like to grow. I used to grow okra, which was really fun, but again, I didn’t use it as much. But, I kind of feel like trying something a bit different this year as well. So, let me know any recommendations. And one other thing I wanted to mention that I got from Gethsemane, it’s a cat and it’s a watering can. This was an impulse checkout aisle purchase. Um, you put the water in here. It comes out here. I don’t know if it’ll be a very like effective watering can. Like I probably still prefer to use the shower setting on my hose, but it is cute. So, I will try to use it a little bit, but it might just sit on my cart as a cat in my garden. So, yeah. This was at Gethsemane. They also had other animals, but it wasn’t a cat, so I don’t remember what those are. So, that is everything for this video. I will see you in the next one.