What is a self watering container or planter? FIrst let’s be clear about the terminology. What is normally considered a self watering container doesn’t actually water itself. But it does address the greatest problem usually seen with container plants, and that is maintaining the right moisture level.
More on Self Watering Planters - Build a Self Watering Container Video

The Earth Box Garden System has been around since 2001. If you are looking for a good way to do container gardening for larger plants like vegetables, including container tomatoes and peppers and the like, you will need a container that holds at least a couple of cubic feet of soil. The EarthBox is just the right size, measuring about 29×13x10.5 in. It’s a totally self contained garden system. It goes together quickly, about 20-25 minutes including the addition of the potting soil.
More on Earth Box Planter - Garden System Review

Here’s another idea for container growing your tomatoes. The Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter is a very popular planter these days. It’s a simple planter that hangs a single tomato plant upside down in a container. It’s quite effective, and many people consider it to be the ultimate way to grow tomatoes, especially in a balcony or patio. But it does only handle one plant, and it needs somplace to hang. If you are looking for a way to grow even more tomato plants, or don’t have a place to hang a planter, the same folks that invented the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter have come up with another way to plant your tomatoes.
More on Topsy Turvy Tomato Tree Review

We’ve reviewed tomato planters for hanging upside down tomatoes. But those hanging planters tend to take up a lot of space, especially vertically. If you don’t have that kind of room or that’s too much to climb around here is an idea for small patio or balcony hanging planter.
More on Hanging Tomato Planters

Here’s a short video from the University of Nebraska (the Backyard Farmer Series). It cover many aspects of choosing the right outdoor containers for your use, including choosing the right size and colors. The focus is on containers used for outdoor landscaping, but the areas touched on apply equally as well to vegetable container gardening.
More on Container Gardening - Choosing the Right Container Video

The biggest advantage to growing tomatoes in containers is that you can grow them just about anywhere they will get at least 8 hours of sun. You can move them if needed (say an unexpected frost). The biggest problems with container gardening are usually related to watering since they can dry out fairly quickly, so attention to watering or some type of irrigation can be needed. (Try one of the water holding gels or hydrogels if you think this will be a problem.).
More on Growing Tomatoes in Containers

Window planter boxes are a great way to put container gardens outside. They are a great addition to the outdoor landscaping of your home, and can create a pleasing vista from the inside of the home.

There are several styles and materials for window boxes. Purchased window boxes can be made from wrought iron, copper, plastic, vinyl, fiberglass, wood (including cedar), and hayracks.
More on Window Box Planter Plans | Building Your Own Wooden Window Box

Here’s another video on container gardening, this one from Scotts’s Trainging Institute. While it has a couple of shamless plugs for Scotts products like their potting soil, it still has some good information on container gardening, especially container herb gardening. Overall good content and production. Enjoy!
More on Container Gardening Video from Scotts

It Starts with the Pot

When starting a container vegetable garden, the choice of a proper pot is key.  If it’s too small it will crowd the roots.  Conversely, very large pots can be difficult to move so they can take best advantage of the available sunlight.  A good pot for container vegetable gardening needs to provide good drainage. Visualize the mature plants, not forgetting the root system, and make sure the pot is large enough to allow the finished plant room.

One rule of thumb for container vegetable gardens is to allow at least 18 inches in diameter or width and 18 inches of depth for most plants; this will vary depending on the exact vegetable that is being grown, carrots for example will need twice the depth they are expected to reach at maturity, while many herbs will get by with considerably less room.
More on Container Vegetable Gardening - Getting Started