Yellow squash grow from a five-gallon bucket. (Submitted photo / Eileen W. Novotny, OSU Extension)

When I visit local garden centers and greenhouses anytime from April to now, I lose control. I want to try growing all those new varieties of vegetables and glorious flowers. Well, I’ve shopped a lot — and I keep shopping for new things. It might be July, but there’s still time for me (and you) to start a crop!

If you’re like me, the lack of in-ground garden space shouldn’t be a deterrent. The perfect solution? Five-gallon buckets.

The cost is reasonable and these versatile buckets can be purchased (or found) almost everywhere. As a bonus, you can recycle them in numerous ways at the end of the growing season.

Other benefits include being easy to handle and move from sunny to shady spots, depending on the needs of your specific plant. Some plants, such as tomatoes and peppers, need six to eight hours of sun per day. Things like lettuce and cilantro, not so much.

For drainage, I first made the mistake of drilling too many holes, and the buckets dried out quickly. As every farmer does, I simply reached for the duct tape to take care of that problem.

Drilling only one hole for drainage makes it easier to keep the soil moist. In a heat wave like we are in now, you can provide extra water by watering once per day.

Another caution: When fertilizing, read and follow the package directions carefully. If you overfertilize, you’ll may burn the plant and you’ll waste your money.

Vegetables that grow well in containers are those with a confined habit of growth. Starting in July rules out growing some of the cool weather crops, such as spinach, Swiss chard, radish and salad greens — but you can start these later in July and keep them in the shade during the hottest times for a late fall harvest. Just use fresh potting soil and sanitize the bucket to prevent soil pathogens when you reuse your buckets.

Starting with healthy, sturdy plants is an absolute must because of the shortened season. Many garden centers still have plants that are well established. Plants that need 60 or fewer growing days to mature will do well, including cherry tomatoes and other short-season tomato cultivars. Other fun things to grow are peppers, eggplant, summer squash, and zucchini.

Herbs like as basil, rosemary, oregano and parsley happily thrive in the same bucket. Soon I’ll have enough herbs dried both for gift giving and my own culinary needs for all next year.

Excuse me now — I still have one empty bucket to find a plant for!

For details on container gardening, visit http://go.osu.edu/containergrown

Novotny is an Ohio State University Mahoning County Extension Master Gardener volunteer.