Container & Balcony Planner
No yard, no problem. Pick what you want to grow on a balcony or patio and get the minimum pot depth each crop needs, the right container size, and how many fit, with the container season set to your place.
Set your place for the container season.
Pick your crops
Depth matters most
In the ground roots spread wherever they like; in a pot they only have what you give them. Depth is the limit that bites first. Shallow-rooted greens are happy in six inches, but carrots want a foot, and a tomato wants eighteen inches and a five-gallon pot to keep from drying out and toppling. Bigger is almost always better: a larger volume of soil holds water longer and swings less in temperature, which on a hot balcony is the difference between thriving and crisping. Drainage holes are not optional.
Depths and volumes from university extension container-gardening tables (Virginia Tech, Colorado State, NC State, Clemson). A planning guide; cultivars vary.