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May 9, 2012. Vicky, head of Early's garden seed department speaks about successful container gardening in the prairies. Deciding what to grow. Be on the lookout for key words such as: bush, compact and space saver. These varieties tend to grow the best in containers. Some suitable vegetables that do well in containers: 1.Carrots- Try to find one of the earliest varieties. Carrot foliage is quite attractive and will give your pots a bit of an ornamental look until you get to start harvesting. 2. Cucumbers- cucumbers that grow more in a clump rather than sprawling vines are classified as bush varieties and should not require trellising. Patio Pickles, Bush Pickles and Fanfare are a few varieties that do well in pots. 3. Eggplant- Growing eggplant in pots works quite well. The only drawback is sometimes they get too heavy and need staking. 4. Green Beans -- Pole beans are the best choice for in pots. They grow up instead of out and will require a trellis or obelisk to climb on. Once they start to produce if continually picked will continue to produce for a couple months. 5. Green Onions- Full size onions take up more space and require a long growing season where as bunching onions grow quite quickly and you can snip the tops off and leave the rest to grow. Also they can be planted amongst other vegetables as they are slender and upright. 6. Leaf Lettuce- Lettuce loves containers. You can move the pots in and out of sun to keep from bolting quickly. If you continue to harvest outer leaves it will continue to grow for a couple months. Still it will tire out so if you harvest some vegetables and have a bare spot in one pot seed some more lettuce to keep a steady supply. 7. Radishes- These do well in pots and more often than not if you start out with sterilized soil you won't have near the problem with root maggots as you would in a garden. 8. Squash- This is the same as cucumbers look for a variety that says bush on the label. With squash you will need a fairly large pot but one pot of zucchini will go a long way. 9. Peppers- I find peppers grow better in pots for me than in the garden. Peppers like heat and if you have a hot sunny location out of the wind they will thrive and produce right till frost. 10. Tomatoes- Cherry tomatoes do best in pots verses full size ones. When you pick a cherry tomato variety read carefully on what type it is. Some kinds such a Tiny Tim are upright plants with strong sturdy stems where as varieties such as Tumbler or Tumbling Tom you do not stack and when the plants get large they will just flop over the side of the container so you might have to sit the pot on a stand so the tomatoes don't lay on the ground. If taken care of properly this type can produce upwards of 300 cherry tomatoes per pot. 11. Swiss Chard -- To make a statement in colors use Bright Lights Swiss Chard as a centre piece in your vegetable planter. Not only attractive but healthy and nutritious. 12. Herbs -- Everyone should grow a couple herb pots. If you get a large enough pot you can grow a herb garden with 3 or 4 types in one container. Herbs tend to stay cleaner in pots and it is easy to keep up with trimming them so they don't flower and get bitter.