What to Plant in Your GreenStalk Planter in Fall
Vertical gardening opens up so many possibilities for gardeners in small spaces, especially in fall. Gardening expert Madison Moulton shares the best plants to pop into your GreenStalk this autumn.
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GreenStalk planters are excellent options for growing food in small spaces. The individual pockets allow you to grow two plants that normally wouldn’t fit well in beds right next to each other. Plus, you get to make use of vertical space that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to plant in.
Once summer rolls around, don’t think you have to pack up your GreenStalk for the season. Instead of empty planters taking up space, you can fill them with cool-weather crops that prefer fall conditions.
Choose one of these fall GreenStalk plants that work well in the confined root space while taking advantage of the tower’s vertical growing benefits. These plants will keep your GreenStalk productive through fall and often into winter.
Lettuce
Tower systems were practically designed for lettuce growing. The individual pockets provide perfect spacing while the vertical arrangement makes harvesting easy. Different lettuce varieties can occupy the same tower, creating a living salad mix with varied textures and flavors.
The improved drainage in GreenStalk systems prevents crown rot that can kill lettuce in waterlogged ground soil. Each pocket drains independently, so overwatering one plant doesn’t affect its neighbors.
After you plant the seeds directly in your GreenStalk in the fall, harvest outer leaves continuously rather than cutting whole heads. Most lettuce varieties will keep producing for months (if environmental conditions allow). This cut-and-come-again approach maximizes yields from the limited growing space. Lettuce thrives in the cooler months, making it a perfect plant for your GreenStalk in fall.
Spinach
Cool weather brings out spinach’s best leaves, an ideal plant for a GreenStalk in fall. The vertical arrangement also makes it easy to harvest tender leaves without damaging neighboring plants.
Baby spinach leaves can be ready in just one month from seed, ready to pick and use in your favorite dishes. And if you really love spinach, plant new seeds every two weeks in empty pockets to ensure continuous harvests.
Confined root space isn’t a problem for these fall GreenStalk plants, as they don’t need deep soil to produce abundant leaves. Focus on varieties bred for baby leaf production rather than full-sized plants for better performance in smaller spaces.
Arugula
For a leafy green with a bit more of a kick, peppery arugula grows quickly in GreenStalks, too. These compact crops provide multiple harvests from each planting. Plant seeds directly in the tower pockets, as arugula establishes quickly from seed and will thrive in the GreenStalk environment.
This fall GreenStalk plant is the perfect solution for impatient gardeners who want harvests now. The fast growth habit means you can harvest baby leaves in just three weeks from planting. Let some plants mature fully, and they’ll provide larger leaves with more intense flavor for cooking. The white flowers are edible too and add a mild peppery flavor to salads.
Kale
Compact kale varieties work beautifully in GreenStalk systems, giving you nutritious greens that improve after frost exposure. As a bonus, the vertical growing eliminates the ground-level pests that often attack kale in beds.
Choose varieties specifically bred for container growing. ‘Dwarf Blue Curled‘ and similar compact varieties stay manageable and won’t struggle in the smaller space of GreenStalk pockets.
Kale’s cold tolerance makes it perfect to plant in a GreenStalk in fall. Many varieties continue producing even after snow cover in cold climates. Regular harvesting encourages continued production and prevents plants from getting too large for their allocated space.
Swiss Chard
Swiss chard provides similar benefits to kale, but with the added bonus of colorful stems. Of course, you won’t see these stems as well as you would when planting in beds, but they’re still a nice surprise.
Different colored varieties like ‘Ruby Red’ and ‘Celebration’ can be mixed in the same tower for visual appeal. Red, yellow, and white stemmed types provide rainbow colors that make the planter both ornamental and productive. The plants adapt well to container growing and don’t need deep soil for good production.
Both leaves and stems are edible, technically giving you two vegetables from one plant. Harvest outer leaves regularly, and the plants will continue producing for months.
Cilantro
Cool weather is best for cilantro, meaning now is a great time to plant seeds in your GreenStalk for fall. Summer heat causes immediate bolting that ruins the harvest, but fall-planted cilantro can produce for months in tower systems with the right protection.
The shallow root system works perfectly in GreenStalk pockets, and the vertical arrangement makes harvesting easy without damaging neighboring plants. Sow seeds directly in pockets rather than transplanting, since cilantro doesn’t like root disturbance.
Harvest leaves regularly to keep plants producing. Let some go to seed for coriander spice (although they won’t produce many flowers in cooler fall conditions).
Parsley
In mild climates, parsley planted in GreenStalks now will produce through fall and provide early spring harvests. The confined space actually suits parsley’s moderate size perfectly.
Both flat-leaf and curly varieties work well in GreenStalk systems, though flat-leaf types tend to be more productive in small spaces. The vertical growing keeps leaves clean and makes harvesting simple.
Chives
The compact growth of these adorable alliums makes efficient use of GreenStalk pocket space without overcrowding. That’s why they’re great to plant in your GreenStalk in fall.
Fall planting gives chives time to establish before winter. You can trim them throughout the season to add that touch of onion to your dishes while you wait for your bulbing onions to mature. Plus, the purple flowers that appear in late spring are edible too and quite delicious.
Cut stems to about an inch above soil level for harvesting. New growth appears quickly. Regular cutting keeps plants productive and prevents them from going to seed prematurely, although this is less of a risk in fall.
Asian Greens
Bok choy, mizuna, and other Asian vegetables thrive in tower planters in fall. Their quick growth and shallow roots make efficient use of limited space. The individual pockets also prevent overcrowding, which can lead to disease problems in densely planted Asian greens. Each plant gets adequate air circulation and light exposure.
Baby varieties work best in GreenStalk planters since full-sized Asian cabbages generally need more root room than towers provide.
Harvest timing is flexible with most Asian greens. You can cut baby leaves for salads or let plants mature for cooking. Their versatility makes them great to plant in your GreenStalk in fall.
Radishes
Quick-growing radishes provide nearly instant gratification. Most varieties germinate surprisingly quickly and are ready for harvest in just 30 days from planting. Small salad radishes work better in towers than large storage varieties due to depth and space, but both are options here.
Successive plantings every two weeks provide continuous harvests through fall. The quick turnaround means you can fit multiple radish crops into the same pockets during one season.
Strawberries
While not a fall crop exactly, fall is the perfect time to plant strawberries in a GreenStalk for next year’s harvest. The plants establish over winter and are ready to produce heavily come spring.
Day-neutral varieties work best in vertical planters since they don’t require the specific day-length triggers that June-bearing types need for optimal production.
The vertical arrangement keeps berries off the ground and makes them easier to spot and harvest. It also improves air circulation around plants, reducing disease problems common in ground-planted strawberries.
Position strawberry plants in the middle to upper pockets where they’ll get good light exposure. The trailing habit creates attractive cascading effects as plants mature.
