Searching for the best tomato, bean & spring onion varieties for containers
And a live Zoom Event: How Fresh Herbs Can Transform Simple Meals
Discovering new varieties you love
When space is limited, there is often a tricky balance between growing tried and tested varieties that you know will do well, and trying new varieties with unknown results. I manage this by oscillating from year to year, experimenting more in some years than others.
The benefit, of course, of trying different varieties is the potential of discovering new ones that you love and want to grow every year. Even when you don’t fall in love with a new variety, there is usually learning and fun to be had on the way.
As most of us don’t have the space to try endless different varieties, it’s invaluable to learn from others experiences. If you can spare a moment to share a few varieties that you enjoy growing the most - for yield, flavour, good looks or all three - in the comments, it’s a great way to help us all learn and discover new varieties to try.
Spring onions / scallions
Regular readers will know that I’m a huge fan of growing spring onions in containers because they yield so well, can be harvested over several months without losing condition, and are squeaky and delicious freshly picked. I pick a few nearly every day to add to salads, omelettes, stir fries, kimchis, and more.
In addition to my tried and trusted variety - White Lisbon - I tried Ramrod and a purple spring onion, Lilia, this year. As usual, I sowed the seeds close (about ½ cm apart) - and thinned them out as they grew. Both the new varieties performed well, and were equally good in the kitchen. The Ramrod perhaps bulbed up less than white Lisbon, but they still were good to eat over several months.
Lilia was equally good and benefits from a pretty purple colour, rarely seen in the shops.
In 2024, I also tried Japanese bunching onions. These grew just as productively and were tasty - but, unlike the spring onion varieties, they lost condition quite rapidly after about 12 weeks.
Tomatoes
Freshly picked homegrown tomatoes are a summer highlight for many of us. There are literally thousands of varieties that vary hugely in size, habit, flavour, speed of ripening and much more. For container gardening, cherry tomatoes are usually the safest bet, particularly in more temperate areas. It’s hard to go wrong with tried and tested cherry varieties like Sungold, Black Cherry and Gardeners Delight - all three have excellent flavour, too, especially the Sungold.
However, if you are lucky enough to have a particularly sunny and warm space to grow in, larger tomato varieties will often give a higher yield in containers than cherry tomatoes. There are also many fantastic heritage varieties to try. Back in the day, when I had sunny south facing windowsills at my flat in London, I grew the tasty Italian variety Costoluto Fiorentino (pic below) very successfully outside.
Here in Newcastle (North East England), it’s too cold to grow large tomatoes reliably outside, but I’m extremely fortunate to have a polytunnel on my allotment where I can trial different varieties in containers. This year I tried the heritage varieties: Pink Berkeley Tie Dye, Kaleidoscopic Jewel, Alice’s Dream, Jack - Off White (which is actually bright yellow), and Black Strawberry.
The variety that stood out for flavour, beauty and yield was Alice’s Dream. Without doubt, one of the best tomatoes I’ve ever grown. Highly recommended.
The Pink Berkeley Tie Dye was delicious, too, but I only had space to grow one plant and it didn’t yield well - definitely one to try again though. The Black Strawberry had striking looks, yielded very well, but was sluggish to ripen, even in the polytunnel.
Courget/ Zucchini
Courgettes are well worth growing if you have space for largish containers (20 litres +) and they are delicious freshly picked. That said, they rarely grow as productively as in the ground, and they are more prone to the early onset of powdery mildew. Mildew, caused by a fungus, rarely kills the plant quickly - but it does slow down its growth and shorten its productive life.
Mildew resistant varieties are available and I tried a couple this year: Firenze F1 and Soleil F1. I also tried a pretty, ridged, Italian heirloom variety, Romanesco, for the first time.
The Soleil - a beautiful yellow courgette with firm texture and good flavour - was by far the most successful, cropping heavily for several weeks. Resistant varieties delay the onset of mildew but don’t confer complete resistance. Unfortunately, the Soleil still succumbed to mildew relatively early in the season and, as it faded, I pulled it up in late July to make way for some French bean seedlings.
The Firenze never really got going, only producing 3 -4 small courgettes. I can’t dismiss it for the future though as this trial is only based on one plant.
Interestingly, the Romanesco, which isn’t known for its mildew resistance, was the last to succumb. Unfortunately, it only produced four or five misshapen and rather diminutive fruits. My guess is that this variety is less well adapted to the cooler climate here in North East England.
My ‘go to’ variety for containers is usually Green Bush - it’s relatively compact and very productive. Unfortunately, like most other varieties, it still succumbs to mildew fairly early in the season. I still rate it highly, though, and will grow it again next year, alongside Soleil.
Because late April sown courgettes can run out of vim by the end of July, I try to sow another plant in early June to supply us for the rest of the season.
French Beans / Green beans
Climbing green beans look pretty climbing up wigwams, are delicious freshly picked, and grow productively in containers. My favoured variety for several years has been the purple bean, Blauhilde: it has good flavour, remains tender when large, produce a good yield, and the beans are pretty and easy to spot.
I branched out with all new varieties (to me) this year: Cobra, Lazy Housewife, Cosse Violette, and Cherokee Trail of Tears. All grew well but the outstanding variety was Cobra which gave high yields of delicious beans that remained tender even when large. It also yielded well over a long period (I have one still producing beans as I write in early October). I’ll definitely grow Cobra alongside Blauhilde next year, probably sowing one in April for early summer beans and one in mid June for late summer and autumn.
Three to grow next year!
The three varieites from this year that I will definitely be growing again are Alice’s Dream tomatoes, Cobra French beans, and Soleil courgettes. All three are fantastic and I think you might love growing them, too - although the Alice’s Dream probably does need to be grown under cover in cooler areas or in a sheltered, sunny spot in warmer cities like London.
Live Online Event: Using herbs to transform simple meals.
In the first of a series of free live Zoom Events this autumn, , writer of The Downsizing Diva’s Substack, will show us how home-grown herbs can completely transform everyday meals at 12.30pm BST / 6.30am CT on Thursday 9 October,
Herbs are one of the easiest, healthiest, and most rewarding crops to grow in containers – yet many of us don’t use them to their full potential in the kitchen. Lizzie will share simple, creative ways to bring out their flavour and make your cooking more vibrant and delicious.
We’ll also dive into some of the world’s most flavour-packed herb condiments – from pesto and salsa verde to chimichurri and chermoula – and discover how they can turn even the simplest ingredients into dishes that really sing.
👉 Register to join us live on Zoom using the button below. (Paid subscribers will also receive access to the recording to watch anytime.)
More live online events coming soon!
Very interesting and informative as always, Mark. I have had a lot of success with 'Midnight' courgettes in containers - they seem to produce for a reasonable period if I cut off any leaves showing signs of mildew. I might try some of those Alice's Dream tomatoes - they sound great!
Next year is going to be a real learning curve and experiment, as we are moving a lot further north than we originally planned - to the north coast of Aberdeenshire! It will be very interesting to see what I can grow outside and in the greenhouse there, and I might have to invest in a polytunnel!
This is so inspiring! Garlic Chives are my new autumn favorite herb.