All guides
Twenty guides on container gardening, grouped by topic. Every guide is written for small spaces and includes specific container volumes and schedules.
Getting started
Container Gardening for Beginners: A Complete Starter Guide
How to set up your first container garden: choosing pots, mixing soil, picking plants and keeping them alive through the first season.
Getting startedHow Much Sun Does Your Balcony Actually Get?
A practical method for measuring sunlight on a balcony, what each light level supports, and how to work with a shaded space.
Getting started15 Vegetables That Actually Do Well in Containers
A ranked list of vegetables suited to pots, with the container size, days to harvest and one practical note for each.
Containers and soil
What Size Pot Does Each Vegetable Need?
Container volume recommendations for 20 common crops, why depth matters as much as width, and how to avoid the two classic sizing errors.
Containers and soilThe Best Potting Mix for Containers (and Why Garden Soil Fails)
What goes into a good container potting mix, three blends you can make, and how to tell when old mix needs replacing.
Containers and soilDrainage: The Thing That Kills Most Container Plants
How to set up drainage properly, why the gravel-at-the-bottom myth persists, and how to spot and fix waterlogged containers.
Containers and soilComposting on a Balcony Without the Smell
Bokashi, worm bins and small tumblers compared for balcony use, with what you can and cannot put in, and how to avoid smells and flies.
Watering and feeding
How Often Should You Water Container Plants?
A practical watering routine for containers based on pot weight and weather, with per-crop frequency ranges and the mistakes that cause most damage.
Watering and feedingA Simple Fertilising Schedule for Container Vegetables
What N-P-K numbers mean, when to feed leafy versus fruiting crops, and a week-by-week feeding plan that avoids both deficiency and burn.
Watering and feedingAre Self-Watering Containers Worth It?
How reservoir containers work, which crops benefit most, what they cost, and the three failure modes to check for before buying.
Crops
Growing Tomatoes in Pots, Step by Step
From choosing a variety to the first ripe fruit: container size, support, feeding, watering, pruning and the problems to expect.
CropsGrowing Herbs on a Windowsill
Which herbs succeed indoors, how much light they really need, watering and feeding routines, and why basil and rosemary need opposite treatment.
CropsLettuce, Spinach and Kale in Containers
How to grow salad leaves in pots: varieties that suit containers, sowing density, cut-and-come-again harvesting and stopping bolting.
Crops9 Vertical Gardening Ideas That Work on a Small Balcony
Practical ways to grow upward on a balcony: wall pockets, tiered stands, trellises and railing planters, with what each suits and the load limits to check.
Plant care and problems
Container Garden Pests: What You Will Meet and What to Do
Aphids, whitefly, spider mites, slugs, fungus gnats and vine weevil — how to identify each, and control methods that work on a balcony.
Plant care and problems12 Container Gardening Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The errors that cost beginners a season: wrong pot size, garden soil, calendar watering, no drainage, overcrowding and more.
Plant care and problemsWhy Are My Container Plant's Leaves Turning Yellow?
A diagnosis guide for yellowing leaves: watering, feeding, light, temperature and ageing, with how to tell which cause you have.
Planning and seasons
A Month-by-Month Container Planting Calendar
What to sow, plant and harvest in containers each month, with a temperate Northern Hemisphere schedule and notes for warmer and colder climates.
Planning and seasonsSuccession Planting: Getting a Continuous Harvest from a Few Pots
How to plan what follows what in each container, with crop rotation for pots, catch crops and a simple three-pot rotation system.
Planning and seasonsOverwintering Container Plants
Which container plants survive winter, how to protect roots and containers from frost, and what to do with pots between seasons.