How to Create a Vegetable Garden Hanging Basket
- 1). Position the basket close for easy use. Place your edible baskets near the kitchen so that you don't have too far to walk in wet weather. Remember, though, that all vegetables need an open, sunny site to grow properly, so if the area near your kitchen door is shady, you may need to hang your basket elsewhere for the best crops.
- 2). Choose dwarf species. Look out for quick-maturing, dwarf, trailing forms that have been specially developed to meet the needs of gardeners with limited space. All edible crops are greedy plants so they will need a lot of feeding to give you the results you want.
- 3). Plant lettuces and other leafy salad plants that are ideal for growing in hanging baskets. 'Little Gem' is a reliable dwarf variety. The cut-and-come-again varieties, such as "Frisby," are particularly useful, because you can simply snip off the leaves you need for a salad and the plant will produce more. Some are decorative in their own right, with red or crinkly-edged leaves.
- 4). Choose smaller tomatoes for hanging baskets. Cherry tomatoes are an excellent choice and look extremely attractive as the cherry-like fruits ripen in late summer. "Tumbler" is the cultivar generally recommended.
- 5). Plant Beans to take advantage of the pretty flowers that appear before the beans form. Harvest the beans regularly while they are still small and sweet. Older beans will be tough and stringy.
- 6). Resist over planting. Beware of over planting the basket, however. If the vegetables have to compete for the water and nutrients, they may not produce the tasty crops you want.
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