These 7 Patio-Pot Plants Will Boost Your Immune System – Grow Them For The Freshest Natural Vitamins

Nourishing your body with homegrown produce is a powerful way to boost your immune system and its ability to fight off infection. The minute a fruit or vegetable is plucked from its life-giving plant, its vitamin content can start to degrade. This is especially true of vitamin C, which is essential for a healthy immune response.

So, by the time a tub of store-bought blueberries reaches your fridge, perhaps having spent weeks in storage and transit, it might not deliver all the health-giving benefits you’re hoping for. But grow your own superfoods and, with zero air miles from garden to kitchen, you can be sure they're full of goodness, whatever zone you're in.

Grow Your Own Defense System

Fruit and vegetables that bruise easily are often picked before they’re ripe, and their vitamin content has fully matured, too. By enjoying homegrown produce at its peak, you will get the full benefit of its sun-ripened, immune-boosting nutrients. In addition, commercial growers typically focus on varieties that offer uniformity and a long shelf life, while you can choose cultivars that prioritize nutrients and flavor.

Best Plants To Support Your Health

All these plants offer wide-ranging health-giving benefits besides vitamins, such as antioxidants, which help regulate your immune system, and anti-inflammatory or antimicrobial compounds. They’re straightforward to grow and, if you don’t have space for a dedicated veggie patch in your garden, can be raised in patio containers as well as in the ground.

1. Blueberries

One of the first fruits to be awarded superfood status, blueberries are packed with antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins which help regulate the immune system, as well as vitamins and minerals. And they’re not all blue! ‘Pink Lemonade’ from Nature Hills is a striking self-fertile variety (so you only need one plant). It's well-suited to growing in a container, which means you can easily provide its preferred acidic conditions with an ericaceous blend such as this Potting Mix from Amazon. Suitable for zones 3+.

2. Thyme

A concentrated source of vitamins C and A as well as anti-inflammatory thymol, thyme is particularly effective at helping to fight off respiratory tract infections. Its tiny leaves are an easy addition to many everyday dishes, or make a herbal tea by steeping a tablespoon of fresh leaves in a mug of boiling water for 10 minutes. Citrus-scented varieties such as this Lemon Thyme from Amazon are particularly flavorful to enjoy in tea, and are typically less bitter than regular thyme. This compact bushy shrub is evergreen, too, making a pretty patio pot, and is perennial in zones 7-9.

3. Ginger

This powerful root is full of the health-giving compound gingerol, which helps your body in all sorts of smart ways. As well as offering immune system support, it's known to contribute to digestion and heart health. Roots are quickly prepared by grating for an invigorating herbal tea or blending into a concentrated nutrient shot, and it’s super-simple to grow ginger in a pot for the freshest of harvests. As it loves warm temperatures, raising it in a container also makes it easy to start off indoors and overwinter inside (zones below 7). You can try planting a regular shop-bought root as long as it’s fresh and organic, so hasn’t been treated with growth inhibitors, but you’ll get better results with sprouted rhizomes such as these from Amazon.

4. Kale

Loaded with vitamins C, A and K, all of which contribute to wellbeing and immune defense, kale is quick to grow from seed. This superfood is versatile, too: eat young leaves raw in a salad, pesto or coleslaw, or blend with apples into a smoothie; and sauté or steam more mature leaves. It’s hardy in zones 2-10, and you can start seeds off indoors 6–8 weeks before your last frost and transplant outside into a large container or the ground, or direct-sow once the weather and soil has warmed up. Burpee's mix of Lacinato, Premier, Red Russian and Dwarf Blue varieties is pretty enough to show off on your patio, too.

5. Gooseberries

Don’t dismiss gooseberries that are full of vitamin C on account of childhood memories of too-tart fruit! Smart breeding means some varieties now produce berries sweet enough to eat straight from the bush, such as ‘Hinnonmaki Red’, available from Amazon. Originating in Finland, this cultivar is tough enough for zones 3–9, compact so it can be grown in a large container and, while it takes a couple of years to start producing a good yield of berries, it will then give a reliably abundant crop for 10–15 years more. Don't forget to buy a pair of thornproof gloves such as these Long Pruning Gloves from Amazon though!

6. Echinacea (coneflower)

You’re likely already growing ornamental Echinacea purpurea for its blooming beauty, but did you know you can use its petals and leaves as an immune booster? Appreciated for its medicinal qualities for centuries, this native plant also has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. A hardy perennial in zones 3–9, this established plant from Nature Hills will bring flowers this summer. Though drought-tolerant, you’ll need to water them more in a pot than when in the ground, but topping the compost with a mulch such as this Organic Mulch from Amazon will help keep the moisture in. It’s best to harvest flowers soon after they open, and you can make a tea by steeping the plant material in freshly boiled water for 5–10 minutes.

7. Garlic

Potent compound allicin, which garlic offers in abundance, is well-documented for its antimicrobial and immune-enhancing abilities. To get the full benefit, garlic is best consumed raw, crushing the clove then resting for 10 minutes to release the allicin – and if that’s too potent, at least add the garlic at the end rather than the start when cooking. Not sure if you should grow hardneck or softneck garlic? If you’re in a colder climate (zones 6 and below) then choose hardier hardneck garlic, otherwise (zones 7+) opt for a softneck garlic such as this heirloom variety from Amazon if it’s your first time as this is generally more straightforward to grow. Both are happy in a container that’s at least a foot deep, with good drainage.

Get Maximum Nutrients

Your berries, veggies and herbs will only be as nutritious as the soil or compost you grow them in. Whether you're raising your superfoods in the ground or a pot, keep your plants well-fed.