Hi! We live in an apartment, but want to start growing a few things. We want to grow blueberries, sugar snap peas, and carrots for sure. Is there anything else that is easy to grow in containers? Also, do you have any helpful hints for blueberries? We live in the Dallas, Texas area. Thanks!

basically, what you can grow in the ground you can grow in a container. I grew all my vegetables in 5 gallon plastic containers for almost 10 years before moving to MA. In hot climates you might have to water them twice a day.

I have no experience with blue berries but most likely you can grow them in containers also.

@Newyorkrita brows many things in pots, some of them on her driveway. I know that peas were among those things. She had an article waiting to be published ...

If you don't have a convenient place for water to drain to when you water pots enough to come out the bottom, you might build a tray from 2x4s and heavy plastic, then use a wet-dry vac to remove the slaty water.

I always distrust containers going too long if they are never watered heavily enough to flush left-over fertilizer out the bottom. That might be more my personal bug-a-boo than something that is an issue for most people.

I also have a dread of over-watering, because I have killed many trays of seedlings by over-watering. That's why I urge people to use a container mix that is coarse enough to let excess water drain out, and lets air diffuse back in. I like screened evergreen bark (pine, fir, balsam, or just "mulch"). Nuggets from 1/10" to 1/4" or even 3/8" improve drainage, as long as the rest of the mix is not so powdery or fine that it fills in all the gaps between the nuggets.

You are very hot in the summer there in Texas. What works in my garden and up north might not work for you. If you do go for pots then they should be very large in size and will need to be watered ever day, more often in the hot weather..

When I hear "watered every day", I think "drip or spray irrigation on a timer". It doesn't have to be super-expensive. The basic black polyethylene tubing ("mainline") can be as cheap as $14-$15 per 100 feet.

examples:
http://www.dripworks.com/categ...
http://www.dripworks.com/produ...
http://www.dripworks.com/categ...

A bonus is that setting up a 1/2" mainline around your yard lets you put as many hose spigots as you want anywhere you want. After the mainline is set up, plastic parts can be as cheap as $3 to $5 for a Tee plus a Y with two valves.

http://garden.org/ideas/view/R...

i simplyb ought a soaker hose and attached it to a timer and ran it through all of my containers. Never had a problem with anything. I used MG every two weeks for fertilizer and that was that. I only had to go out onto the deck to pick the fruit off the vines.

Blueberries can be grown in containers but you will need two different cultivars which will mean at least two containers. Also be sure to select blueberries suited for the south. I think you will find the amount of berries they produce will not compensate for the container space they take up.

Water is necessary of course but also vegetables/fruits grown in containers also require diligent fertilization.

I would also suggest that you will find the best time to grow carrots will be while the temps are still cool. I have some growing in a raised bed right now. They shake off frost easily but do not seem to produce well in the heat of summer.

Shop through the different seed catalogues as many have a section for container grown plants. Perhaps you might want to select the seed specifically for the small plant size or small fruit/vegetable size. Either way, container gardening is rewarding. Should you grow cucumbers or other vining plants, you can easily use a trellis to grow them upward.

This link is just one site that has a selection of flowers and vegetables suited to container culture. http://www.superseeds.com/seed...

And welcome to All Things Plants. Glad to have you join us...