Having difficulties growing vegetables in your limited space? Why not opt for a vertical garden for growing vegetables? If ground space is scarce, then reach for the sky and grow a vertical garden with vegetables. Read on for helpful tips, tricks, and smart vertical garden ideas!
Smart Ideas For Growing A Vertical Garden With Veggies
I initially thought vertical gardening was a garden design trend for ornamental purposes, but apparently, it’s great for vegetable gardening too. Although I maintain a few pots of herbs indoors in my DIY vertical garden, I never went beyond growing other vegetable varieties. Perhaps I felt I didn’t need to since I am lucky to have a sufficient space for growing vegetables. However, if you live in the city where space is indeed a luxury, you might want to check out these vertical garden ideas. But whether you have a small or sufficient space, vertical gardening is certainly an innovative way to grow your own healthy and fresh vegetables.
How To Grow A Vertical Vegetable Garden
Most vegetable varieties need at least six hours of sunlight to grow properly, so you need to find an area that gets enough morning sunlight, especially, like a south-facing window or wall. Proximity to a water source needs to be considered as well, and untreated water is ideal for your wall garden vegetables.
Your vegetables will need a bit more of your attention too since they are not planted directly in the ground where water and nutrients are available. You will need to keep the plants constantly moist, fed, and pruned of withered and decaying plant parts.
Vegetable Plants To Grow In A Vertical Garden
Of course, your choice of vegetables will be based on your favorites, but the choices can be limited when growing in a vertical garden. Luckily, our all-time favorite indoor herbs are the most common vertical gardening plants, and for very good reasons, since herbs are frequently used in a lot of our recipes. If you’re a beginner, herbs and leafy greens like lettuce and spinach work well.
You can either start from seedlings or grow vegetables from store-bought potted plants. You can grow roots crops like carrots if you can have soil at least a foot deep or beet in a shallow soil. Your choice of vegetables will also depend upon your choice of a vertical vegetable garden method or design. Follow them here:
Vertical Vegetable Garden Designs
1. Gutter Vertical Garden
You can set up shelves or a long vertical planter, such as this gutter. This design allows for a sustainable gardening where you can maximize use of water as the water trickles down the lower shelves or levels. Depending on how wide and deep your planters are, you can grow a variety of vegetables in this vertical garden method.
2. Metal Wire Mesh Trellis
One of the most common vertical vegetable gardening methods is through the use of trellises or vine supports. Vine plants like beans, peas, and cucumbers are just some of the vegetables you can grow in your vertical garden. When growing in trellises, you need to consider space when choosing your plants. For example, pumpkins and squash can be prolific, so you’ll need a wider space for growing vine plants or vegetables.
3. Hydroponics Vertical Vegetable Garden
Although hydroponics is an unconventional method of vegetable gardening, this could very well be a practical and sustainable way to grow vegetables in a small space. You can make use of the rainwater and the downspouts in your home for growing vegetables in a vertical garden. Check here for more on hydroponics vegetable gardening.
4. Hanging Metal Planters
Make good use of bare wall spaces in your home by setting up hanging baskets or any sort of planters. You can grow trailing vegetables like sweet potato vines and cherry tomatoes.
5. Vertical Container Garden
Vegetables grow well in containers too, if you don’t have space to go around for them, hang them up against your fence or a wall. With containers, you can grow other than just herbs and leafy greens. You can also grow tomatoes, peppers, and other taller shrubs provided their needs for growth are met.
Check out this video for great tips and simple ideas for a vertical vegetable garden:
Although vertical gardening has some challenges, it’s a relatively easy and beautiful way to plant vegetables. If you have a basic understanding of growing vegetables, you’re well on your way to a space-saving vertical gardening masterpiece!
How’s your vertical vegetable garden doing so far? I’d be delighted to hear all about it in the comments section below!
Find out what vegetables to grow in which season for your vertical four-season vegetable garden here.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in December 2015 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
Feature image source via Jane Legate