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I am going from a regular garden to a potted garden. In a regular garden I know that the roots are as deep as the plant is tall. So I am trying to match deep pots to tall tomato plants, and using the smaller pots for the shorter flowers and herbs.

I'm going to try and grow a salsa garden this summer...hopefully all goes well!

i had tomato plants that were over 3 feet tall in a 1' deep container and they thrived.

I don't think all plants grow roots as deep as the plant is tall.

To make your life easier, and your plants happier, get self watering containers. They will keep the plant moist at all times instead of the wet/dry/wet/dry cycle. Depending on the plant, you can water a lot less too.

We are starting a serious vegetable/herb garden this year, but I still want my beautiful fragnant pots on the deck and staircase. Does anybody have experience with growing cherry tomatoes in painted Italian olive oil cans? We use lots of olive oil and I thought I'd use them for the genteel slum look.

We made a neat container garden outside our vintage store using recycled culvert pipes. Our whole property was concrete
with no green space so we cut metal culvert pipes into two and 3 foot sections, filled em with dirt and planted them up.
We also used metal pans and troughs from the hardware store for our agave and catus garden! From experience Olive Oil cans are FAB for Basil, but have not tried tomatoes. Make sure to pop about 6 drain holes in the bottom of your oil cans.

Pics of our cactus planters in the about us section on
http//:www.austinmodern.com

oops the images are at
http://www.austinmodern.com

In SF our container garden goes year round with salad greens, radishes, beets and herbs all winter. We even grew beautiful tasty Oregon snow peas this winter planted in December and harvested January through today with no signs of slowing down. Until we get some sustained heat it should be fine.

With water use a big concern around here we use a bucket in the shower to catch the hot water before it gets warm enough to stand under. Then put a lid on the bucket and when it's full pour it into watering cans for the garden.

If you're planting shallow root plants in large containers it's a waste of soil to fill the whole container. Use empty beer cans, wine corks, or other scrap material to take up space in the bottom. This also make it lighter weight and easier to move around if you have limited space and need to rotate crops for sun exposure.

Looking forward to tomato, zucchini and pepper crops when the heat comes!

Wow Slim! I could take some lessons from you! I'm starting small... a few onions and maybe try and keep my other plants alive.

bromella - there was a post on here last summer about using olive oil cans.

Just from my experience i am thinking it would not work for tomatoes. They get to be a hefty plant, even the container variety golden cherries i grow. They take A LOT of water, so it doesn't seem like it would be sufficient.

For anyone else doing tomatoes. I heard this last year: Plant sweet basil with your tomatoes. Apparently horn works hate basil and will stay away. I had a good amount on my plants last year.

There's a cherry tomato called "tumbling tom" that is very small and would work in an olive oil can. It's a hanging variety, although it's pretty compact and not too dangly so you don't necessarily even need to hang the pot. I've grown them in those $5 hanging wire & coconut fiber baskets with good results. They're not the tastiest cherry tomatoes (not bad, just not super-awesome like other varieties) but if you only have a teeny tiny space, they're definitely worth a go.

Thank for all the sage (and basil) advice!

Nice to see the picture of my container garden in this article!