Cultivate a balcony garden

Last September we found an apartment with not just one but two balconies (north and south sides). The weather seems to be warming up very early and we get plenty of rain.

Perhaps I should start planning what I want. Definitely some cooking herbs (basil, sage, thyme, oregano, chives…) and perhaps also some perennial bulbs just to brighten up the area.

A task that needs doing: plucking the little weeds poking out from between the cement slabs that form the balcony floor.

I miss it lots. (Photo is from 2005) I hope my next place has a lanai so I can do it again.

I had partial success this summer. My 2 jalapeño and 1 cayenne pepper plants did well, as did my 1 “Patio” tomato. Lesson learned: you cannot fertilize tomatoes too much. I had a pretty poor yield until I discovered a tomato bloom spray and started fertilizing every third day. The biggest success was my lettuce bed. I planted a department store window box (about 6”x30”) and ate out of it almost daily for a month and a half. Lettuce dies out in the heat of summer, but I’m getting ready to plant a fall crop. You can also plant green onions and most bushy greens at this time of year. Peas are my favorite cool weather crop, but simply take up too much room.

Many of my herbs didn’t survive. My rosemary is thriving, but my sage and thyme both died out from drought over a four day weekend. All three were easily started from seed. Purchased oregano also died that weekend. The only problem with the basil plant I purchased is that I’ve found that I need two or three plants in order to avoid over harvesting. One recipe can require up to 50% of a single plant. Same thing with chives (grown from seed).

The entire container garden takes up about three feet by five feet of space on my balcony.

Find an apartment that actually HAS a balcony.

I planted a few plants but I never really got this thing off the ground, then I went away and the plants that were there died. This is a goal I definately want to accomplish sometime, but it’ll have to wait until next season.

Tomatoes offer one of the best yield for space ratios and are great for full sun balconies. For cooler or partial sun balconies, leaf lettuce and green onions can be planted together in a 3-5” deep bed (2’x4’planter box works well, although a much smaller window box will do). It might be a bit late for lettuce and onions right now in southern zones, but they can be planted again in late summer.

Mmmm… chopped lettuce and onions drizzled with bacon or salt pork crumbled in its own hot grease is one of my yearly indicators that spring is here.

Some varieties of sun loving cucumbers are trellis friendly, but the vines can be very sensitive. If you have to cut them back you’ll likely lose your crop. These work well on second floor balconies where you don’t have to worry about the lawn mower damaging the plant.

the seeds i planted a few weeks ago have sprouted and they’re growing quickly! I was so excited when I saw them for the first time. I’ll have to add some more plants and prop up something for the vines to climb :)

I’ve just started a wildflower mix and some thyme on my small balcony and am excited to see some sprouts. I’d like to add some veggies that would do well in a small space – still investgating what would be best.

With the early sunshine, I planted some tulips, daffs and sunflower (seeds). Watch this space…

Once our camera is alive, alive-o, I’ll post some photos.

I started with a trip to WalMart and a packet of seeds about 3 weeks ago. My first sprout of impatien popped up today. I’ve never planted a seed and gotten a sprout, so this is pretty exciting. Impatient with my Impatiens, I bought some flowers to repot-Peonies, Pansies, and Annuals. The Annuals were chewed on by Penny Lane (cat), but other than that, they’re doing fair. I don’t get a lot of sunlight on my balcony (will be more diligent in selecting shade lovers) but I try to keep them in the sun.