A patio, balcony, or a patch of poor soil is enough. Containers work if you give plants more volume, more water, and more feeding than you think.

1. Use a pot at least 12 inches across for herbs and lettuce; 5 gallons or more for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Grow bags count.
2. Always have drainage holes. Saucers are for floors, not for drowning roots.
3. Fill with a potting mix, not garden soil. Mix in compost, about one-fifth by volume.
4. Water until it runs out the bottom. In heat, that may be daily. Mulch the surface with fine bark or straw.
5. Feed lightly every 1–2 weeks with fish emulsion, kelp, or compost tea — pots leach nutrients.
6. Match the pot to the sun: fruiting crops want 6–8 hours; leaf crops tolerate 4.