I get my seeds from MIgardener too. Had good luck with most of them last season, although my cucumbers were awful (Spacemaker and Natl Pickling). Not sure what went wrong but they grew fat and yellow and tasted awful (bitter). Just ended up ripping them out.

Anyway, I'm sure the long-time gardeners know way more. It's only my 3rd season with a veg garden, and 2nd using grow pots (I'm using fabric ones). Most tomato plants do well in 5-7 gal pots. And most pepper plants do fine in a 3 gal pot. That's enough soil to handle the root structure fine. In 15 gal pots you could easily do 2-3 tomato plants, and even more pepper plants. Although that probably depends a little on how spaced out your pots are to ensure they get good sun. And what sort of cages/stakes you're using to support them. Peppers don't need much support - one modest-size stake with some twine to tie off the main stem is usually sufficient. Most tomato plants grow bigger and taller though and usually need a cage of some kind. 5' tall welded wire fencing works pretty well, in a circle shape around the pot (creating a big cylinder shape). Gotta cut a few hand-holes to reach in.

Another thing I found that helped last year was to drape 40% shade cloth over the tomato cages when it got to the hottest part of the summer. Although my garden is 100% sun exposed all day long (no shade at all). If I got some shade, that probably wouldn't be necessary.

For soil, I mixed my own since I had about 200 gallons worth of pots to
fill and buying that much bagged would have been really expensive. If you have
a decent landscape supply center nearby that sells bulk materials, that's
usually a lot cheaper. I don't have a truck to use anymore, but I do
have an SUV with room in the back to carry my 32 gal Rubbermaid trash cans. So I had
the yard fill those up for me and they were happy to price it
accordingly. Some places have a planters mix in bulk, or mix your own. There's another forum here dedicated to soil that I would check. I used a 3-3-1 mix of compost-peat-perlite.

Tim, your cucumbers grew too old which is why they were bitter. Pick them before they show any white or yellow. (I also scoop out the middle seed layer with a spoon because that's the part that causes gas and has an off flavor.)

Kevin, books have been written on beginning gardening. No one can tell you everything in one forum. Find a library near you for a book on Beginning Gardening. It has most of all you need to know about soil, water, temperature, fertilizing, seeds, sun, harvesting, etc etc in one book. These forums are more for specific questions. You could spend a LOT of time searching the internet for info, but a good old fashioned book will be easiest to learn the basics from.

PS Tomatoes grow best one plant to a pot.

Thanks Susan. I know some got old before I noticed them (they hide well), but even the young ones were getting fat and yellow (the Spacemakers). The variety I used the year before did fine though (I just don't remember the name).

I did one tomato plant per bag last year too, although I only used 7 gal bags. 15 gal is a big pot. Agree that spacing them out 1 per bag is best, but personally I would hate to waste that much soil. Sounds like he already bought the big pots though.

Kevin do u know your growing zone? Just asking because in some places the sunflowers might prefer the longer light hours of your backyard. (It can tell u a lot about where to plant and how much watering u might or might not need with your rainfall) Another thought If u plant the herbs together u might want to start your mint in a separate pot it has a tendency to go wild and overcrowd other plants. Your plan for peppers sounds perfect they should fit well in a pot together tomatoes depending on the variety can get quite large and may need a tomato cage so they don’t fall over. Also seeds store well for quite awhile so don’t feel like u have to grow everything you purchased at once (unless you want to) Happy Gardening

Tim, I love Diva cukes (seed from johnnyseed.com). They are sweet. But I know how they hide. I have to look at the vines from all angles, especially from the northside, to find the hidden ones.

I grow peppers in pots... mostly 3-5 gallon, 1 plant per pot. I tend to not like doing multiple in one bigger pot because overlap in the middle can be a pain depending on the pepper. And peppers can appreaciate support, and crappy tomato cages are great when you use single pots. In lieu of having cages due to 3 per pot setup- when you plant your seedlings in, have a good sturdy stake sunk all the way down for each pepper. As they grow, loosely tie your trunks to the stakes. Helps keep the peppers upright regardless of winds and weather and fruit loads.

your future tomatoes will probably be 1 per 15 gal pot. But you can tuck your sun loving basil around the edges instead of having it in the shorter sunlight garden. Dill, small cutting lettuce/greens, and nasturtiums or small flowers tucked around the edges too. Don’t go crazy and pack it full, 3-6 plants around the edge depending on what you are tucking in is gracious plenty.

Your Zukes, cukes, and watermelon will be one hill per pot. A hill is 2-4 seeds in the middle.

hi, thank you for the info. I live in Bathurst, new-brunswick in Canada zone 4b, I dont know if that will help.

Do you think that the mint, Kale, etc would do good in front of the appartment? I'm open to putting my sunflowers in the back of my appartment too.

I have some smaller pots leftover from last season that I can use for my plants.

Does anybody here have any experience with pinnaple tomatilloes? From what I read on the web it seems that they are ground cherries mislabeled as tomatilloes.

Let me try again - for some reason my reply got posted to the wrong thread!

A great resource on YouTube is CaliKim. Here’s a link to her channel https://youtube.com/user/CaliKim29 She actually is an affiliate for MIGardener.

She’s right now doing a Spring Gardening Series that hopefully will answer some of your questions.

You might also want to check out Niki Jabbour’s book - she lives close to you in Nova Scotia. I have a review of the book on my blog: https://tranquilgarden.ca/book-review-year-round-vegetable-gardener/ It’s my main go-to gardening book!