Grow your own Container Salsa Garden!
Salsa garden plants generally include Tomatoes, Hot Peppers, Cilantro, and Onions. These are your basics – but you can really vary it up with different types of tomatoes and hot peppers.
Best Tomatoes to grow for Salsa
Our wide variety of Heirloom and Hybrid Tomato seeds can be grown in your potted container garden to create a wide range of colorful salsas. Classic salsa is often make with Roma Tomatoes, such as San Marzano Tomatoes. The flesh is much thicker with fewer seeds and great flavor, which makes for a thicker salsa. Roma tomatoes process well for paste, puree and canning due to their solid nature. But, you don't have to just use Roma's for salsa, all tomatoes make great salsa!
You could make Orange Salsa, for example with our Chef's Choice Orange tomatoes. Making salsa with any Cherry Tomatoes is always an excellent choice as they have thin skins and great sweet flavor. Black Krim Tomatoes also make great salsa as they have rich flavor and color. You can also make Tomatillo salsa, which is made from sweet and tangy tomatillos, a distant relative to tomatoes.
There really is no wrong tomato for making salsa, so don't worry so much about which tomatoes to use, whatever fresh (or even canned) tomatoes you have on hand will work!
Best Peppers for Salsa
What are the best peppers for salsa? Well, it's really hard to pick just one! Hot Peppers have a wide variety of flavors, Habaneros are one of our favorites for making both salsa and hot sauce, the Chocolate Habanero brings some amazing flavor and heat to any salsa! You could also try making our Carolina Reaper Salsa Recipe, which is super hot and so delicious! And of course, Jalapenos are always a salsa favorite with their juicy spicy flavor. Aji Lemon peppers give salsas a tasty fruity bite. The choices are endless, so make sure to make different salsas with every type of hot pepper you grow to taste the rainbow of flavors and heat.
Salsa Garden
If you're not sure where to start, check out our Salsa Garden Kit, which includes four packets of seeds to get your salsa garden off the ground! Of course it includes the classic Early Jalapeno to give it heat, and the hearty San Marzano tomatoes that provide the boy, and cilantro and onions to round out the flavors. These combine together to make a classic salsa recipe that you'll want to make over and over again.
If you're growing your salsa garden in containers, make sure to use a few different containers so everything has room to grow.
San Marzano Tomatoes can grow well in a large 10-gallon container – make sure to add a cage to support these large plants. Don't plant tomatoes in small pots as they will not thrive!
Our Early Jalapenos always grow great in pots, and a 5-gallon pot will work well for them. Our green onions and cilantro also thrive in containers, you can plant a large pot with both if desired, or put them own in their each 5-gallon pot. Remember, larger is better when it comes to container salsa gardens as large pots don't dry out as fast and allow for deeper root growth.
Important note about growing a Container Salsa Garden:
Use well-draining high quality potting soil. Don't use garden soil or top soil in pots, as it doesn't drain well and will lessen your chance of success. You also want pots or containers with plenty of drainage holes so that excess water flows freely out of the pot. Vegetables in general, and peppers in particular, hate soggy soil, so make sure to water only as needed and ensure your pots and soil are draining well.
Patio Salsa Garden
Happy growing!
