<p>I’ve done cherry tomatoes in pots for years with excellent results. It’s also a good way to keep the varmints away from your produce because you can move the pots around!</p>
<p>I do a lot of stuff in pots, a lot of stuff in raised beds, some in the ground, and some mixed in with my regular flowers and so on. Peas and lettuces are great in pots because the slugs can’t get to them–but slugs are a particular problem in the Northwest and probably not in Texas 
</p>
<p>I had a good garden when I used national sources, a better garden when I used “western” sources (Sunset), and my garden flipped to great when I found “Vegetable Gardening West of the Cascades.” </p>
<p>Why do I mention this? Well, I suggest you find the most local authoritative source you can. This one might work: [Master</a> Gardener Tips Index](<a href=“http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/tips/tips.html]Master”>http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/tips/tips.html)
They’ll be able to tell you which tomato varieties do best in your area (which might not be the ones your local nursery finds cheapest to sell) and which to stay away from. </p>
<p>I like pots and I like raised beds, because they are easier to take care of, no bending or kneeling. BUT… they dry out faster and heat up faster. Here that’s an excellent thing–might not be desirable there (although tomatoes LOVE heat).</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.jelitto.com/haupt_en.html[/url]”>https://www.jelitto.com/haupt_en.html</a></p>
<p>Jelitto is a German company, and their website is not entirely user-friendly, but I found out about them from their US rep and have been getting their seeds for years. I have three acres, and couldn’t possibly afford to do what I want if I buy plants rather than seeds. I start my seeds in my basement under timed lights, and the germination rate is amazing if you follow their instructions, particularly with their Gold Nugget treated seeds. As with all seeds, you need to decide whether you really want to deal with the sometimes complicated steps particular seeds require to germinate and reach a size that can be planted. I’ve had great success with foxglove, heuchera, hollyhocks, St. John’s wort, rudebeckia and baptisa, viola, and veronica.</p>
<p>With reference to tomatoes in pots to avoid pests, several houses ago the woodchucks would climb up on the deck to eat the potted tomatoes just before I thought they were ripe enough to pick!</p>
<p>I like to keep things simple.
Unless your water is cheap, you have stay away from corn and mellons other than cuke</p>
<p>We eat pea tips and 10’s of # beans. </p>
<p>try to exchange with neighbors excess tomato starts to get a variety of tomatoes. Wife freezes excess tomatoes, whole, straight from garden. </p>
<p>We use local displayed seeds. <a href=“http://www.NicholsGardenNursery.com%5B/url%5D”>www.NicholsGardenNursery.com</a> for peas and beans.</p>
<p>For berries and fruit trees, nothing compares to Raintree Nursery (they are strictly mail order, but once or twice a year they hold an on-site sale here in WA):</p>
<p>[Raintree</a> Nursery, fruit, nut and berry plants for the American fruit grower](<a href=“http://www.raintreenursery.com/]Raintree”>http://www.raintreenursery.com/)</p>
<p>Starbucks will give you big bags of coffee grounds free. Just ask. Add to compost and sprinkle around roses.</p>
<p>Sewnsew, don’t get me started on woodchucks. I no longer grow large (non-cherry) tomatoes because of them! I swear they are intelligent AND vindictive; when I enclosed my plants in chicken wire, the woodchucks would bite THROUGH the wire just to leave their little toothmarks all over my tomatoes.</p>
<p>Also, they ate all my morning glories one year. I swear they were stoned on the seeds.</p>
<p>My luck with potted tomato plants on the patio has been LOUSY. Two years in a row had very discouraging results. I think I now understand the problem; not enough soil in the pots. Tomatoes are voracious critters that need deep roots.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the sugar pea plants grew like a wildfire. I read the other day that pea plants do not consume a large amount of nutrients from the soil, unlike other vegetable plants, such as summer squash, for example. My potted gold nugget zucchini plants produced great flowers last year (yum), but no fruit. Basil and Rosemary also performed poorly last season in pots, constrasted to great results the year before.</p>
<p>One last thing, references to university co-operative extentions reminded me of the great information I found at the agricultural extension web sites of Ohio State University and Rutgers University.</p>