How to Grow a Salad Without a Garden

Tomatoes in containers can yield fresh summer vegetables.

Nothing tastes better than homegrown vegetables. You don’t need 40 acres to enjoy the benefits of taste and freshness of a perfect salad. You can grow lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes with a flower box planter and a pot or hanging planter.

Things You'll Need

• 5-gallon bucket
• Pots
• Flower box planter
• Potting soil
• Starter plants
• Lettuce seeds
• Fertilizers
• Pesticides

Instructions

1. Make an upside-down tomato planter by drilling a hole in the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket. Place a tomato start in the hole, root ball first, fill with potting soil and hang by its handle. Or place two plants in a large container.

2. Fill a flower box planter for your lettuce with potting soil and plant lettuce seeds. Leave it on an outside table or attach it to a deck railing. Lettuce does well in cooler weather, so you don't have to wait until after the last frost to plant. In fact, waiting until the weather is too hot causes the lettuce to bolt -- that is, go to seed.

3. Plant cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes in pots around 18 inches in diameter for your. These plants are heavy feeders, meaning they require nutrients in quantity, so limit to one or two starter plants per pot. Starting plants from seeds four to six weeks before the last frost date in the season in flats or even egg cartons.

4. Water and fertilize the plants and use pesticides labeled as safe for vegetables.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also try companion planting with certain herbs. Basil grows well with tomatoes and peppers. Parsley can be grown with tomatoes while savory grows well with cucumbers.

References

• NC State University: Container Vegetable Gardening
• The Ohio State University: Container Vegetable Gardening