Best Vegetables to grow in 2 gallon container gardens

As mentioned in my other article, 7 Vegetables that can grow well in 1 gallon containers, it is best to use the biggest sized container to grow your plants. One of the standard sized containers at my local nursery supply store is a 2 gallon container. There are other sources of these sized containers, such as pastry filling buckets if you plan to recycle. A few advantages of these containers is that they do not take up much more space than the 1 gallon containers and having twice the soil capacity also increases the options of vegetables you are able to successfully grow in your container garden. Here is a list of my 7 favorite vegetables that grow well in two gallon containers.

#1 -- Cabbage

My ranking of cabbages includes normal heading cabbage, Bok Choy, and other Chinese Cabbage. 
With normal heading cabbages, a two gallon container is sufficient to grow a plant, however, the head will be pretty small. Although it can be done, you would have to wait until the cabbage is finished growing to harvest to enjoy the plant.

Recommended Varieties: Early Golden Acre, Red Acre, Copenhagen Market

#2 -- Bok Choy/Chinese Cabbage

Growing to a smaller size, Bok Choy fits nice inside a two gallon container. The plant can be harvested for individual stems and leaves as needed, which makes it more preferable compared to normal cabbages. The same can be said about most varieties of Chinese Cabbage too. With full sized Chinese Cabbages though, the plants will not grow as large as those grown in the ground. Depending on the variety of Bok Choy, multiple plants could be fit into the same container.

Recommended Varieties: Bok Choy, Baby Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Michihili Cabbage

#3 -- Kale

Kale will do a lot better in a two gallon container than a 1 gallon container. The plants will grow bigger, and the leaves will grow back faster after being harvested. I'm of the opinion that keeping a single kale plant in a 2 gallon container is ideal if you scale up from the one gallon container.

Recommended Varieties: True Siberian, Red Russian

#4 -- Beets

The first root vegetable I've included on either of these lists, two gallons of soil gives the plant plenty of space to grow the taproot. Alternatively, the beet greens can be eaten too, much like Swiss Chard. Recommended planting of one to two plants per container... Maybe three if you space them appropriately.

Recommended Varieties: Ruby Queen, Detroit Dark Red, Bulls Blood, Golden Beet, Cylindra

Speaking of Swiss Chard....

#5 -- Swiss Chard

Some of the plants on this list have been on my 1 gallon container garden plants list, but only a few of them really can benefit from the increased soil volume. Swiss Chard will grow bigger in a 2 gallon bucket, but you could also fit two different plants in the same container. Your choice. Harvest leaves as you need them.

Recommended Varieties: Fordhook Giant, Ruby Red, Bright Lights

#6 -- Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes will get just the right amount of root space to sufficiently survive and produce fruit inside a two gallon container. Normal sized tomatoes get too cramped in these conditions and will not produce properly. This is a great way to have freshly grown tomatoes of various colors for your personal consumption.

Recommend Varieties: Red Cherry Large Fruited, Sweet 100, Yellow Pear, any other indeterminate variety

  #7 -- Chili peppers

Peppers returns to the list. Now I mentioned that they can do well in 1 gallon containers. Well, the one plant I did grow in a one gallon container did end up getting repotted into a two gallon container. The extra soil volume will allow the plant to grow even bigger. I would recommend topping the plants when young to allow them to grow bushier in this sized container.

Recommended Varieties: Fresno, Anaheim, Serrano, any that isn't a bell pepper

These vegetables can be grown sufficiently in containers as small as two gallons. Of course, these are not the only vegetables that can be grown in two gallon containers; the other plants I mentioned in the 1 gallon container garden plants article can also be grown in two gallon containers too. These options are perfect if your garden space is limited and want to grow food. Don't feel discouraged, make a plan to grow some vegetables if you currently aren't!

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