Today we are going to talk about edible fruits and vegetables that grow well in a vertical garden. If you have limited space, you should carefully study what you are going to grow.
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Benefits of vertical gardening.
Not all of us have the space we would like to develop. An even bigger problem for urban farmers, those who live in the city and have no land, only the patios, roofs or terraces of their houses.
Precisely because of the lack of space, these urban farmers have to be creative and think carefully about what to grow.
Sometimes we just need a little soil and want to grow food, we can turn a few seeds into a lot by growing vertically, instead of using the space horizontally. We can all have an urban garden, however small.
The use of vertical structures will help us grow various varieties of edible crops. As for the design, it is important to think in layers, as well as to know the life cycle of the plant. You can always recycle the materials you have on hand to make your homemade vertical garden.
Once you learn how to grow pumpkins vertically, you won’t be able to stop.
Vertical growth allows you to:
- Grow more food in less space.
- Harvest cleaner fruits and vegetables.
- Facilitates irrigation, pruning and fertilization.
- Keep crops off the ground, which decreases the risk of disease.
- Cultivate a natural privacy screen.
- Create a microclimate for the most sensitive fruit trees.
With these space-saving benefits in mind, knowing the benefits of having a vertical garden or home vegetable garden, let’s jump right into the list of edible vegetables, fruits, and flowers you can start growing vertically.
Fruits and vegetables to grow vertically.
Summer and winter squashes.
You can grow all kinds of squash and zucchini on trellises, this is made possible by their natural tendency to tangle.
Some varieties, when left to grow in the ground, can reach 50 cm or more. Imagine all the space you can save if you train them to grow.
Cucumbers.
If you’ve ever struggled to grow a uniformly green cucumber all over, chances are you should give vertical growing a try. Forget the yellow spots this year.
Yes, professional growers know that cucumbers are best grown hanging in a greenhouse where the fruit never touches the ground. The best thing you can do at home is to grow cucumbers in a hanging basket.
Melons.
Melons and watermelons are big space eaters in the garden, growing side to side, crawling over onions and strangling the tops of carrots. No matter how hard you try to organize them, they always seem to manage to redirect their growth where you don’t care.
If you have the amount of sunlight you need and a long enough growing season for them to mature, it may be worth experimenting with growing them vertically. Of course, make sure you have a very strong support system, in case the fruit grows bigger than expected.
Of course, when growing melons vertically, you should choose varieties that are small enough to be trained.
Tomatoes.
Tomatoes come in all colors, shapes and sizes, and they also differ in how they are grown and cared for. Look for the smaller varieties for vertical growing.
Jewish.
Green beans are perhaps the easiest vegetables to grate. There’s more than one way to trellis beans: create a bean teepee, make an A-frame out of rope, weave jute (or other natural rope) between wooden poles, let them climb over a bamboo pole, among others. Tutoring beans and peas is simple.
Peas.
As with beans, there are two different types: dwarf peas and climbing peas. In the climbers are sweet peas and snow peas.
Peas grown vertically are healthier than those left in the ground because a trellis provides better air circulation around the leaves. This, in turn, helps prevent parasites.
Nasturtiums.
One of our favorite edible flowers in the garden is the nasturtium.
What makes nasturtiums so special is that they love to climb, which makes them perfect for covering your patio trellises with a vibrant splash of summer yellows and oranges.
And what’s better, the whole plant is edible, from flowers to buds and leaves. It is food, medicine and art all at the same time. They are essential in any garden, especially if you want to cover an area with a delicious annual that also attracts pollinators to your garden or orchard.
Strawberries.
Although strawberries don’t climb or tangle, they love to hang. This makes it a great choice for hanging pots and baskets, or for strawberry pots that look great on the edge of the patio.
Grape.
So far we have only looked at the possibility of planting annuals on trellises. But what if you are looking for the longevity and reliability of a food crop?
Get a vine, or two. Plant it in the soil it prefers and you can reap a bountiful harvest of grapes for the next 50 years. More than enough for your home.
The grapes only need pruning once or twice a year, are drought tolerant depending on the variety, and are considered low maintenance.
Plus, they can provide much-needed shade from the harsher summer sun, so plan your trellis height accordingly.
Cucamelons.
If you were wondering what else might be on the list, we added cucamelons.
It is an ideal crop for trellises, here you can learn how to grow cucamelons.
If you need help with ideas for creating a vertical garden, check out this article.
I recommend this guide to sustainable home gardens.
