Grow Bigger in Less Space With a Vertical Planter!

A vertical planter is perfect for growing a surprising variety of plants, including vegetables, herbs, flowers, root crops, and more. It's also a smart way to use space! 

Vertical planters (and other garden trellises, such as a cattle panel trellis and a DIY cucumber trellis) really showcase beautiful plants. I could not be happier with mine. They allow anyone to grow a garden anywhere!

Here are my surefire tips so you can grow bigger in a vertical planter, too!

Garden Smarter Not Harder

My goal is to share expert advice for how to work smarter, not harder, to help you create a self-sufficient garden. Let’s break down traditional thinking about gardening and implement systems that will save time, hassle, weeding, water, and space, regardless of where you live.

I love using vertical planters to grow a ton of food in a small area. Sometimes a vertical garden is just a smarter option than a traditional “horizontal” garden!

Selecting the Best Vertical Planter

As you see in the video above, I love planting in stackable GreenStalk garden planters. They check all the boxes of what I look for in a vertical planter:

• Lightweight - Vertical planters are often made of plastic because it is very lightweight.

• Food Grade - Don’t use just any plastic material! Polymer-based plastics can leach BPA and other unsafe chemicals into your soil when hot. Pro-Tip: Look for vertical planters made with high-quality, food-grade, UV-resistant, BPA, BPS, and PVC-free plastic (like these GreenStalk vertical planters).

• Durable - Purchasing a vertical planter is an investment, and I want to ensure that I get something sturdy and quality-made that will last through many seasons of gardening! GreenStalk offers a 5-year warranty on the color and functionality of all of its planters.

• Deep Pockets - Plants will be healthier and produce more if they have enough soil and their root growth is not restricted.

This is not a sponsored blog post or video; I actually grow in and can highly recommend GreenStalk vertical planters. They simply makes a great product that I want to share with you.

You can purchase them at https://migardener.com/collections/greenstalk. Every purchase you make there helps me continue producing free gardening content available to everyone!

Quality Soil is Foundational

I cannot stress enough that you really need to start with high-quality soil when growing in containers and planters! Use a potting-specific soil, not topsoil or bagged compost, that has good moisture-holding capabilities. Good potting soil should be fluffy and soft, won’t pack down, and has perlite for drainage favorable for your plants.

I use Pro-Mix Potting Soil, again not a sponsor, just the soil that I have really come to know and love because it is a great product. It has beneficial mycorrhizae for plant health and the soil pH is neutral, so it will be great for just about anything you are growing.

Which Plants Grow Well in Planters

You can grow just about any garden varieties you want if the pockets are deep enough, such as vegetables, herbs, flowers, and root crops. I would avoid large plants that trail like melons, squash, and pole beans and tall or heavy plants like corn and sunflowers.

As you can see in the video, I have had great success growing cilantro, citronella, thyme, rosemary, basil, mint, oregano, strawberries, lettuce, Swiss chard, cabbage, green beans, and peppers in my vertical planters.

How to Plant in a Vertical Planter

Here are the steps for planting up a GreenStalk vertical planter:

1. Choose a Location - Choose a location that gets plenty of sunlight. As with all gardening, sunlight is key! Pro-Tip: While one side of the planter may be getting great sunlight, the backside might not. If that is the case for you, rotate your planter every few days. They are not super heavy, even when wet, so most people can rotate them. Or consider putting your planter on a spinner with wheels so that you can rotate and move it with ease.)

2. Fill Each Tier With Soil - Fill each container completely with soil before assembling the planter. This will take a lot of soil, but it will give your plants enough to grow in. Remember, the soil will settle some.

3. Stack Tiers - Lining up the notches on the bottom of a container with the edges of the container below, stack the tiers. When you have them in place, they will click together.

4. Fertilize - Use a well-balanced, slow-release fertilizer in the recommended amount. I used ¼ cup of Trifecta+ per pocket when planting an entire planter of strawberries.

5. Plant - Transplant seedlings or direct sow seeds- one plant in each pocket. Pro-Tip: Think about the size of the plants you are growing. Plant larger, taller plants and draping plants towards the bottom to avoid making the planter top heavy. Also, make sure to avoid plants shading each other as they grow.

6. Water - GreenStalk planters have an awesome self-watering mechanism! Fill the reservoir that sits on top when you need to water, and the water will drain through, watering all the layers. Pro-Tip: The pockets towards the top of your vertical GreenStalk planter will dry out faster, and the pockets towards the bottom will be kept damp. So be aware when planting that you should plant stuff near the bottom that prefers more water, and the plants at the top should like dryer soil.

Common Mistakes When Growing in Vertical Planters

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when using vertical planters is buying amazing tools that will help grow a lot of food and then cheapening out on the soil. Poor soil in containers will lead to many issues, like dense or compacted soil restricting root development, root rot because of too much moisture retention, and more.

The second mistake I see many gardeners making is only filling vertical planters 25% to 40% full of soil. Make sure you fill them completely with soil! It doesn’t matter how deep the pockets are if you don’t fill them all the way.

Overfertilizing is a really common mistake with all types of container gardening. The driving fear is that plants will lack nutrients because they are in a container. While it is true that most potting mixes are inert (lacking nutrients), you are wasting money if you overfertilize. Overfertilization also leads to bigger, heavier plants that don’t produce much fruit.

I have seen many people online struggling to assemble their vertical planters. To make it easier, fill each tier of your GreenStalk planter with soil first, then assemble them. With the added weight, they will click right in place. Plant your plants after the planter is assembled to avoid crushing any plants.

I hope you enjoyed learning about vertical planters. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments box below. I love hearing from you!