HARVEST SIZE & QUANTITY BETWEEN POTS VS BEDS

If two alike plants were grown identically, one plant grown in a container or pot, and the other grown in a raised bed or inground garden, then it is generally observed that containers/pots will yield less compared to beds/inground. This occurs due to two reasons:

• Available soil nutrition, and

• ‘Soil structure’ (this term is defined HERE).

Let’s further investigate this, but let’s also break it down into two additional categories noted below. Each category is affected differently.

• Plants that grow above the soil, and

• "Root vegetables" grown within the soil (refer to the post titled ‘Root Vegetables’).

- Soil Nutrition -

Containers and pots have limited nutrition compared to raised beds and inground gardens. The plant’s root system, which takes up nutrition from the soil, is only limited to the container or pot. Whereas the root system for plants grown within raised beds, and inground gardens, can expand as needed to take up nutrition from a widespread area below the plant.

This holds true for both plants that grow above the soil, and "root vegetables" that grow within the soil. Less nutrition for the plant could mean that it yields less in terms of quantity, or yields smaller items in terms of size.

 - Soil Structure -

When you water your soil repetitively, over time the soil will consolidate. The pores compress and the porosity decreases. This happens to be more pronounced with containers and pots compared to raised beds and inground gardens.

For plants grown above the soil, this compaction only affects the root system, making it difficult for roots to bury through the soil to establish themselves. More compaction leads to roots having more difficulty moving between the particles.

For "root vegetables", this compaction limits the size of the "root vegetable". As such, "root vegetables" grown in containers and pots will be smaller in size compared to "root vegetables" grown in raised beds or inground gardens.

---

From the Author’s experience…

Here are photo examples to show you the difference between items grown in containers/pots compared to similar items grown within our raised beds. Raised beds and containers/pots were planted/sowed at the same time.

Pre-started green cabbage plant grown in a raised bed...

(larger cabbage head)

Growing the cabbage

Split cabbage

Making sauerkraut

Pre-started green cabbage plant grown in a container...

(smaller cabbage heads)

Small cabbage

All small cabbages

Making sauerkraut

Red cabbage grown from seed...

Raised bed yielded a cabbage head, whereas containers only yielded leaves.

Grown in raised bed

Grown in large container

Grown in small container

Carrots grown from seed...

(thicker carrots in the raised bed compared to container carrots)

Carrots from raised bed

Carrots from raised bed

Carrots from container

Beets grown from seed...

(Larger beets grown in raised bed compared to containers - Although this was my first year of gardening in 2022 and the soil in my containers was not well aerated, which resulted in heavy compaction limiting the beet size grown)

Bed beets to left of rutabaga

Small beets grown in container

Rutabaga grown from seed...

(Larger rutabagas grown in raised bed compared to tiny rutabaga from containers - Although this was my first year of gardening in 2022 and the soil in my containers was not well aerated, which resulted in heavy compaction limiting the beet size grown)

Container rutabaga top right

Rutabaga from bed

Tomatoes: pre-started plant in container / seed in raised bed...

(massive tomato plant in bed compared to smaller plant in container)

Tomato plant in container

Tomato plant in raised bed