Winter is the trickiest season for vegetable gardening, and it’s even harder if you’ve got limited space to plant.
But it’s not impossible – and all it takes is a few 5-gallon containers and the knowledge of which plants will grow best in limiting weather and growing conditions.
There are my favorite winter vegetables you can grow in a 5-gallon bucket. Now go forth and garden!
7 Vegetables to Grow in 5 Gallon Buckets in Winter
From leafy greens to root veggies, here is a range of delicious vegetables that will grow in 5-gallon buckets in the winter cold.
1. Spinach
Fresh spinach is one of the most versatile and nutritious greens you can grow at home, and thankfully they are a perfect fit for container planting.
Not only can a 5-gallon bucket accommodate a spinach plant’s root system, but it is big enough that you can plant up to as many as 15 plants in one bucket (I know people who have planted more, but that was my limit!).
Planting spinach in buckets is an amazing return on investment.
Spinach grows beautifully in cool weather and needs rich, well-draining soil and plenty of moisture to thrive.
- USDA Growing Zone: 2 – 11
- How Many to Plant Per 5 Gallon Bucket: 8-15 mature spinach plants
- Sunlight Requirement: 4 hours minimum, 6-10 ideally
- Water Requirement: 1-2 inches per week
2. Cauliflower
Cauliflower might just be my favorite winter vegetable.
It’s delicious and filling and can be used in so many ways in the kitchen – and best of all, it can grow perfectly in a bucket garden.
This plant is a good choice if you have plenty of buckets on hand for gardening because unlike leafy spinach, a 5-gallon bucket will only accommodate a single cauliflower plant.
While a typical cauliflower plant will grow in buckets, I also recommend looking for dwarf varieties such as the ‘Snowball’ and ‘Erfurt,’ which grow full-sized cauliflower heads on smaller plants.
Cauliflower, especially those growing in containers, needs plenty of nutrition, so make sure to apply a balanced fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks.
- USDA Growing Zone: 2-11
- How Many to Plant Per 5 Gallon Bucket: 1
- Sunlight Requirement: 6 hours minimum
- Water Requirement: 1 inch per week
3. Kale
It may be a leafy green, but like its cousin the cabbage, kale is no small plant. Still, you can easily grow these winter vegetables in a 5 or even a 3-gallon bucket.
There is enough space for them to grow to their full height and width, giving you plenty of leaves to cook with.
While kale can grow as low as USDA zone 2, it is better grown as a winter container plant in zones 7 to 10, as it will go dormant during winters in cooler climates.
In warmer climates, a light frost will actually add flavor to the leaves – yum!
- USDA Growing Zone: 2-10
- How Many to Plant Per 5 Gallon Bucket: 1
- Sunlight Requirement: 6 hours minimum, 8 to 10 for full leaf production
- Water Requirement: 1 to 1 ½ inches per week
3. Carrots
Is a home garden even complete without carrots?
These root vegetables might appear to grow too long for bucket planting, but you’d be wrong. With consistent sun exposure and frequent watering, carrots are one of the easiest winter vegetables to grow in a 5-gallon bucket.
Buckets can also accommodate a lot of carrots. I usually stick to around 10 per bucket, but I know home gardeners who have grown as many as 25 successfully!
While a standard 5-gallon bucket can accommodate most carrot varieties, some longer varieties require deeper soil, so make sure you know how long your chosen carrots will grow before planting.
- USDA Growing Zone: 4-10
- How Many to Plant Per 5 Gallon Bucket: 10-20
- Sunlight Requirement: 6-8 hours
- Water Requirement: 1 inch per week
5. Swiss Chard
This next leafy green vegetable may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re planning your edible garden, but it’s a winning choice for winter container planting.
Swiss chard should overwinter in the majority of cold locations, as long as there is no heavy snow.
For a full-sized Swiss chard, you should plan to grow 1 per 5-gallon bucket. You can plant as many as 4 healthy plants in the same bucket, but they will grow significantly smaller.
Swiss chard needs moist, not wet soil, even when grown in containers, so make sure only to water until the soil is sufficiently moist.
- USDA Growing Zone: 2-10
- How Many to Plant Per 5 Gallon Bucket: 3-4
- Sunlight Requirement: 6 hours minimum
- Water Requirement: 1 to 1 ½ inches per week
6. Onions
One of the most important staple vegetables for any home cook can be grown virtually anywhere in a 5-gallon bucket.
With their relatively shallow root system and reasonable space requirements, you can grow as many as 8 onions in a single bucket at home.
These cool weather crops will power through the coldest months of the year (if you live between zone 3 and 9), but you may want to pick winter onion varieties that have been developed for the purpose of planting in fall.
The diameter of the bucket is not a major issue for onions, but the wider the bucket is, the more onions you can grow together.
- USDA Growing Zone: 3-9
- How Many to Plant Per 5 Gallon Bucket: 4-8
- Sunlight Requirement: 6-8 hours
- Water Requirement: 1 to 1 ½ inches per week
7. Broccoli
Nutritious, delicious, cruciferous – broccoli is all that and more.
It also grows comfortably in 5-gallon buckets, which is a godsend for wannabe gardeners who don’t have the acreage for these large vegetables.
Broccoli are cool winter crops, but they can be damaged and stunted by harsh frosts, so winter planting below zone 3 is not recommended.
If you’re in zone 3 to 6 and your property experiences hard winter freezes, go for a cold-hardy broccoli variety like the Marathon and Arcadia, among others.
To reach its full potential I recommend planting only one broccoli per bucket, however, some gardeners prefer to group them in 2s or 3s. They will still grow to a healthy size, but the heads will be notably smaller.
- USDA Growing Zone: 3-10
- How Many to Plant Per 5 Gallon Bucket: 1-3
- Sunlight Requirement: 6-8 hours
- Water Requirement: 1 to 1 ½ inches per week
