How to Start a Container Garden Anywhere (Even with No Yard!)

🌿 Don’t have a backyard? No problem.
In this video, I’ll show you how to start a container garden anywhere — whether you’re on a balcony, patio, driveway, or even indoors. You’ll learn exactly which containers to use, the best soil mix, how to fertilize, and what veggies thrive in pots during the fall season.

If you’re gardening in Zone 9 (like me here in Houston) or any warm climate, this step-by-step guide will help you grow fresh food in small spaces without needing a yard.

🍅 What You’ll Learn:
✅ Best containers for beginners (grow bags, buckets, self-watering pots)
✅ Easy soil and fertilizer setup for healthy plants
✅ Top veggies to grow in containers (lettuce, spinach, radishes, peas, and more)
✅ Watering and sunlight tips for urban gardeners

⸻

🛒 CONTAINER GARDEN STARTER BUNDLE (My Favorites):
• Fabric Grow Bags → https://amzn.to/3WaZwd4
• Potting Mix → https://amzn.to/3KV1vQf
• Slow-Release Fertilizer → https://amzn.to/3KV1vQf

⸻

📸 Follow Big City Gardener:
IG/TikTok: @BigCityGardener
Blog: bigcitygardener.com

🛡️ Some links are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

#ContainerGardening #UrbanGardening #SmallSpaceGarden #BalconyGarden #GrowFoodAnywhere #FallGarden #Zone9Gardening #BigCityGardener #GardeningForBeginners #patiogarden

You think you need a backyard or a big space to grow food? Nope. You can start a container garden anywhere. A patio, a balcony, a driveway, or even indoors. Today, we’re going to talk about exactly what you need to start a container garden and what you can plant this season. What’s up, world? I’m Tim the Big City Gardener, and I’ve been gardening down here in zone 9 for years. And I’m here to help you grow more food in less space. If that sounds like something you’re interested in, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Now, let’s get growing. I’m sure everybody knows that I love gardening, whether in raised beds, inground beds, or even in containers. Here in my new garden, I’m going to be doing a lot more container gardening because I’m limited on the space that I may have. And I thought to myself, why not make a video going over the basics of container gardening? So, that’s exactly what you’re going to get in this video. And by the time this video is finished, you’re going to feel more confident and able to start your own container garden, even if you’ve never grown anything before in your life. Step one in setting up a container garden is simply picking your container. When it comes to container garden, there’s many different things that you can use as a container. As long as it has drainage holes, it won’t rot, and it can hold soil, well, you have a container. You can use things like fabric pots. They’re cheaper, easier to move around the garden, and if something happens, you can replace them easily. You can use self-watering pots if you’re a busy gardener and don’t have time to really deal with your garden. Simply fill up the reservoir at the bottom and allow the plant to wick up the water. Once the reservoir is running dry, you will have to refill it with water. Or third, you can use anything else like these terracotta pots or these clay pots like you see behind me. As long as your pot has drainage holes and it can hold soil, then it’s a container and you can grow in it. But the trick is to make sure that you pick the right size container for what it is that you’re trying to grow. Things like fruit trees or anything else that has big root systems, you don’t want to plant them in small pots. You’re going to want to give them the biggest size pot possible. And that’s because the size of the plant is directly related to the size of the container that you place it in. So if you’re trying to grow small tomatoes, you can put them in three gallon pots. But if you want to grow big tomatoes that give you big yields throughout the season, well then you’re looking at 5gallon pot minimum. After we picked the container, we’re ready for step two. And step two is using the proper soil. Now when it comes to picking the proper soil from your container, I’m not going to give you a bunch of rules. The only rule I’m going to give you is do not use soil that you find in your garden. Why? Because it’s not going to drain properly for your container. You want to make sure that you’re using a potting mix or something made specifically for containers. Most potting mixes are going to be heavy with cocoa core or perlite. And that’s to help improve drainage. And that’s simply because we can’t have our roots water logged in a container. It’s not like in an ingground garden bed where the water has the ability to wick away from the plant to other areas where it’s dry. No, with containers, the water is contained right there amongst the roots. So, if we don’t have soil that can dry quick enough, we will end up drowning our plants and dealing with overwatering issues and other diseases and pests that come with that. Now, you can buy potting mix from the store or you can make your own. If you’re going to make your own potting mix, look to mix compost, cocoa core, perlite, or even vermiculite into the soil. Add some organic mix in there and do your thing. There is no such thing as perfect potting mix. That’s why there’s a million different soil companies. Everybody thinks they have the perfect recipe. And when it comes to gardening, there is no perfect recipe. Get things that drain well, mix them together, and throw them in your pot. And if it’s up to me, I would tell you to only use organic amendments and organic materials. And that’s simply because I try not to use anything synthetic when it comes to gardening. Well, except for the nylon that I might use for the trellis. But even then, I’d prefer to use jute or hemp. So, now that we’ve talked about the container and the potting mix that you need, the next thing we need to touch on is fertilizer. When it comes to growing in containers, you need to know one thing. They will need more fertilization than your raised beds and your ingground beds. And that’s simply because the fertilizer has nowhere to go except out of the drainage hole at the bottom. Every time we’re watering the container or a hard rain comes, we’re washing out some of those nutrients. It’s not like in a raised bed or an ingground bed where those nutrients can get washed to other parts of our bed or other parts of our growing area. So that simply means we’re going to need more fertilizer more frequently. make sure that when we’re planting, we add a slowrelease organic fertilizer to the soil. Why? Because it’s going to slowly give our plants the nutrients that they need to start off with. After that, you’re going to need to find your favorite liquid fertilizer. You can use kelp, seaweed, fish emulsion, whatever works for you. And you’re going to apply it every 2 to 3 weeks, depending on the size of the crop and what it is that you’re growing. When it comes to the fruit trees, like you see behind me, I’m watering those with seaweed every 2 to 3 weeks, except for during the dormant season. Then I’m laying off all fertilizers until they leaf out or flower again. When it comes to container garden, proper fertilization is vital if you want to have a successful garden. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to do here, grow more food and less space. So, make sure you are fertilizing your containers on a regular basis. So, now that we’ve covered the container, this potting mix, and the fertilizer, the next thing to talk about is what can you grow in containers? And the answer is anything that you want. Anything that you can grow in your garden can grow in a container. Whether it’s a perennial, a seasonal, whether it’s a fruit, a vegetable, flowers, it doesn’t matter. See, growing in a container doesn’t actually change anything except for where you’re growing. you still need the same support, the same fertilizers at the same time. The trick is make sure that you have the right size container for what it is that you’re trying to grow. So, if we’re growing things with shallow root systems like our lettuce or our spinach or even things like squash, then we can use a shallower pot. But for anything with deep roots, from beets to carrots or even fruit trees like you see here, you’re going to want to use bigger pots. Now, when it comes to growing things like fruit trees like you see here, or even flowering shrubs, you’re going to want to use a minimum pot size of five gallons. Now, I’m not saying you’re using a 5gallon bucket from Home Depot or any of your favorite hardware stores. I just mean that size pot or that amount of soil. The bigger the pot, the bigger the plant. The bigger the plant, the bigger the yield. But there is a such thing as a pot being too big for your plant. Imagine you have a small fruit tree with roots that are still developing. If we put it in a 20 or 30 gallon pot from day one, well, that means that there’s going to be a lot of excess moisture around the root system. That’s not necessarily a good thing. So, what I like to say is when it comes to things like fruit trees, we’re going to want to size up our pot every year or two. Start off in five gallons. Go from five gallons to seven. From 7 to 10, 10 to 20. And by the time you hit that 20- gallon pot, your fruit tree will be fully mature and you won’t have to move it again. Now, the final thing to talk about when it comes to growing in containers is watering. Like I mentioned earlier in this video, everything you grow in a container will dry out faster than it would if you were growing it in a raised bed or an inground bed. And that happens for a few different reasons. One, the pot that you have increases the heat around the soil, therefore causing it to dry out faster. Number two, the roots have nowhere else to go. They’re contained in this pot, so they’re not able to search in different directions for excess moisture. Therefore, they’re going to absorb everything in the pot faster. And three, the drainage holes. Whenever we’re watering a container, the excess water works its way out the bottom. Again, it’s not like a raised bed or an ingground bed where that excess moisture is available for our plants. Once the water works its way out of the bottom of the container, that’s it. There’s nothing left. Now, in the fall, you won’t have to water your containers nearly as much as you will come spring or summertime. Depending on what you’re growing and the size of your container, you may only have to water it once or twice a week as opposed to summertime or spring where you’re going to be watering your containers every single day regardless of their size or what it is you’re growing. Whenever you’re watering your container, you want to water it slowly and deeply. That’s why I recommend using something like this watering can. You want to apply water until you see it coming out the bottom of the container. If you notice that your soil is having a hard time absorbing the water, what I recommend you do is to add a thin layer of organic matter on top of the soil. That could be worm castings, compost, or even mulch. That helps add organic material back into the soil and increasing its ability to retain moisture. Just because you’re growing in a container, the sunlight requirements are no different. Your vegetables still need a minimum of 6 hours of sun, while things like our fruit trees or other fruiting crops really need a minimum of eight hours of sunlight. The container does not change anything with that. If you’re new to container gardening and don’t know which products to use, don’t worry. I linked a few of my favorites down below. Everything from fabric pots, grow bags, soil amendments, and even a few watering cans that you can use. And now comes the time of the video when I ask you, what are you growing in your containers? Drop it in the comments down below and let’s get this conversation started. I want to know exactly what you’re growing and what zone you’re in. And that’s it. Thanks for watching this video on container gardening. If you found it useful, give it a thumbs up and share it with some other small space gardeners that you know. I’ll be back next week with more gardening videos and tips to help us grow more food in less space. Until then, get outside, get some sun on your skin, get your hands in the dirt, plant plants, and just grow