Pot & Tub Veggies

Tomatoes, peppers, and beans are the vegetables most beginners picture when they imagine a container garden — and they’re also the ones most likely to disappoint if the container or the variety is wrong. All three need a genuinely large pot, 5 to 10 gallons at minimum, and at least 6 hours of direct sun a day. Skimp on either and you’ll get a stunted, unproductive plant no matter how well you water and feed it.
Variety choice matters just as much as container size. Look specifically for patio, dwarf, or container varieties bred to stay compact and productive in a pot — a full-size variety bred for garden rows will fight you the whole season, even in a big container. The seed packet or plant tag will say if a variety is bred for containers; when in doubt, smaller and bushier is safer than tall and sprawling.
Once the container and variety are right, success comes down to consistent watering and feeding — these are hungrier, thirstier plants than the leafy greens elsewhere on this site. Our soil and fertilizer basics guide covers what a container mix actually needs, and Recommended Gear has our picks for pots, stakes, and self-watering setups that take some of the guesswork out of keeping up with them.