10 Best Crops to Grow in Containers To Maximize Space

Looking for the best crops to grow in containers? Here are 10 super easy container gardening crops to help you maximize your garden space even if you don't have much room.

Container gardening is essentially growing garden crops in some type of bucket or other container. It is great as you can move your crops inside if needed, or move them around to be in the right sun spots.

Container Gardening Crops

Container gardening can also help to maximize your space if you have a small gardening area or if you don't have land and need to have your garden on a balcony or deck. But, what are the best best crops to plant in containers? Keep on reading to find out.

Tomatoes

There are so many types of tomatoes and they all grow great in containers. Growing tomatoes is relatively easy and one plant can generate a pretty large harvest.

You should stick to around one tomato plant per 5 gallon bucket. And, the bucket is really easy to add a trellis cage to.

Peppers

Growing peppers is super easy and they are great for most all gardens. There are many varieties of pepper - from super hot to very mild.

It's recommended to stick with about one pepper plant per 5 gallon container, but we have gone overboard and been successful with two plants.

Cucumbers

There are so many uses for cucumbers and they make a great addition to any garden. Make sure you choose the right type of cucumber for what you will use it for - slicing, pickling etc.

Cucumbers are a great spring crop or summer crop and are very prolific. You can usually get away with 2 cucumber plants per 5 gallon container.

Green Beans

Learning how to grow green beans is something most people do when they start gardening. Green beans are great producers and easy to grow.

Unlike some of the other crops on this list, you can usually pack 3 - 4 green bean plants into one 5 gallon bucket. This should give you a substantial harvest and you can easily freeze green beans for later.

Berries

You can grow all kinds of different berries in containers. Give blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries a try.

Growing berries in containers is great as it makes them easier to cover with bird netting or other controls so that birds, rabbits and other critters can't grab the berries before you do.

Need some help getting your garden crops planned? Check out the Ultimate Gardening Calculators for a system that will auto-calculate for you.

Lettuce

There are so many types of lettuce and you can grow them all in containers. Growing lettuce is best done as a spring crop or a fall crop (though you can get away with it as a winter crop as well).

You can typically plant about 3 or 4 lettuce plants per 4 gallon bucket which should give you a nice harvest.

Herbs

You can grow all kinds of herbs in containers. And, as a bonus, most herbs don't take up too much space - so you can usually plant around 5 plants per 5 gallon container.

Try out mint, basil, thyme and any of your favorite herbs. You can dry or freeze them for later use.

Peas

Peas are a great garden addition and, luckily they do super well in containers. Peas don't need a ton of space and you can get away with 5 - 8 pea plants per 5 gallon container.

Pack in several plants to get a large harvest and then you can freeze peas so you have them all year round.

Potatoes

You may think that containers don't work well for planting potatoes, but, in fact they do. You can usually plant about 2 potato plants per 5 gallon bucket.

And, putting them into a container tends to make it a lot easier when it's time to dig them up to harvest.

Summer Squash

There are several varieties of summer squash including zucchini and yellow squash. When you think of growing zucchini or growing yellow squash, you usually will imagine it in the ground due to the large plant sizes.

However, you can grow 1 summer squash plant per 5 gallon bucket. And, each plant when healthy tends to produce pretty well.