Gardening Series: Post 4

The information from this post comes from this site:

Gardening in Containers
Many people who live in apartment buildings or houses with little or no yard space may think they cannot plant a garden. But you can grow quite a bit of food in pots and hanging planters inside your home or on a balcony. Even if your family has plenty of outdoor garden space, you might want to try growing some of your vegetables indoors.

You can plant in almost any kind of container. Try using plastic jugs, garbage cans, milk cartons, cans, plastic bags, baskets, a wagon bed, kitchen canisters, or clay pots. The bottom of the container should have several small drain holes and be lined with 2 to 3 inches of small gravel before you put in the topsoil. Hang containers from windows, put them on windowsills or in window wells; line your sidewalk or driveway with them, or hang them from your ceiling.
The following chart shows you how much dirt you will need in a container to grow some common vegetables. This will give you an idea of what size container you need to use. It also tells you when to plant and harvest the vegetables and how big they will get. These are not the only vegetables that grow well in containers. You can try almost any kind that is common to your area.

COMMON GARDEN CROPS
Crop	Container Needs	Growing Season	Planting Time	Harvest Days	Mature Size of Plant
Beets	1012 inches (2530 centimeters) of soil	Early spring, fall	24 weeks before last frost	5060	1012 inches (2530 centimeters)
Bush Beans	810 inches (2025 centimeters) of soil	Warm weather	Early spring	Snap 5055 Lima 65	1214 inches (3060 centimeters)
Carrots	1012 inches (2530 centimeters)	Early spring, fall	24 weeks before last frost	6075	1012 inches (2530 centimeters)
Cucumbers	1 gallon (4 liters) per plant	Warm weather	34 weeks before last frost	5575	Shape vines by cutting back
Eggplant	3 gallons (11 liters) 1214 inches (3035 centimeters) diameter of soil	Warm weather	Plant indoors, transplant after 8 weeks	120140	23 feet (.51 meter)
Green pepper	1 gallon (3.8 liters) per plant	Warm weather	Plant indoors, transplant after 78 weeks	110120	23 feet (.51 meter)
Lettuce	1 gallon (3.8 liters) per plant	Cool weather, can stand slight frost	46 weeks before last frost	4050	610 inches (1525 centimeters)
Green onions	810 inches (2025 centimeters) of soil	Cool weather, can stand slight frost	46 weeks before last frost	3545	1012 inches (2530 centimeters)
Radishes	6 inches (15 centimeters) of soil	Cool weather, can stand slight frost	24 weeks before last frost	2040	68 inches (1520 centimeters)
Spinach	810 inches (2025 centimeters) per plant	Cool weather, spring, fall	24 weeks before last frost	5070	Plants spread out, do not grow tall
Squash	5 gallons (19 liters) for a 34 plant hill	Warm weather, will produce through fall	34 weeks before last frost	Summer 5060 Winter 85110	Bush 23 feet (.5m1 meter) Vine-pinch off to control runners
Tomatoes	Dwarf: 1 gallon (3.8 liters) Standard: 23 gallons (7.511 liters) Mini: 810 inches (2025 centimeters)	Warm weather	Plant indoors, transplant after 34 weeks. Easily harmed by frost.	5090	Dwarf: 23 feet (.51 meter) Standard: 35 feet (11.5 meters) Standard vines