Best Plants & Herbs for Balcony Growing?

[Aya]

Morning Everyone!

I know it's still super early to be thinking of starting seeds (inside) but I'd like to get a good head start on planning this year as last year was a bit chaotic! I live in a mostly neutral climate where it doesn't get overly cold (below 40) or overly warm (above 80) and I'm limited to a medium sized balcony on the third floor of my apartments. I'd like to get as much use out of my balcony as possible and last year I grew several tomatoes (Black plum, fox cherry), attempted cucumbers (died), and was semi-successful with snow peas, lettuce and rosemary. Any ideas on what the best possible candidates are for being more successful? I've read that tomatoes have a smaller yield/more difficult time in containers - is this true even for plum and cherry varieties? I went and bought deck railing planters last year to conserve on space and was told I couldn't have them as they might fall and hurt someone (even though they're made to sit over the deck railings ) Sorry I got a bit off topic... any suggestions? I just want a beautiful deck full of delicious veggies and herbs

[imafan26]

If you were able to grow tomatoes you must get good light. If you have an east or south facing balcony that is best. I suggest since it is a balcony, that you look into an earthbox. It is easier to water and the water sits in a reservoir so less spilling off the balcony edge. The planters are heavy once they are set up, so having them on dollies help. I made my earthbox out of a rubbermaid tub.

In one 18 gallon tub I could plant
1 tomato ( you need to have a trellis)
or
1 or two basil, 1 flat leaf parsley, beets between the basil and parsley 4 inches apart. They are pulled out before the herbs get large enough to need the space or cilantro.
or
6 lettuce heads

In a 5 gallon self watering container I could plant
1 pepper
or
1 eggplant
or
1 basil
or
1 kale
or
1 swiss chard
or
1or 2 cucumber on a trellis.

Individual herb pots (not self watering)
thyme, sage, mint, marjoram, lavender, basil (3 gallon), green onions or chives, chervil, lemon balm, cilantro (except in summer).

https://www.postoilsolutions.org/documents/Earthbox.pdf

Vertical garden towers are also good, but make sure the planting holes are spaced well away from each other. It is best for smaller plants like lettuce. Do not plant the side that is up against a wall. If you put in larger plants they need to go closer to the bottom or they may block the water from going down and spreading plants will mean you cannot plant all of the plant holes.

[applestar]

If it doesn't get below 40, you should be able to grow peas and fava beans right now. Also spinach, lettuce, parsnips (if very deep container), ...etc. but they would take about 3 weeks to germinate. You could also plant onion sets.

...cilantro, chervil, bread seed poppy, Japanese parsley...

You could also start cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, etc. indoors (they germinate better around 70-80°F), then put them outside.

[Aya]

I'll start my planning! What is a vertical garden tower? I'll go look it up

[imafan26]

There are a few designs commercial and homemade. Some use soil and others are for hydoponics. But if you think about it you could turn the hydroponic tower into a self watering container but you would need a pump since I don't think water will wick well up that high. Pump the water to the top with a fish pump and let it trickle down slowly on an imbedded soaker. Or a predrilled pvc pipe in the center; pour the water in the top and let it drain to a reservoir but you would need some way to siphon the water out to reuse it. The drum garden has a lot of soil so I like it better than the 6 inch diameter tower but I think it has too many pockets and fewer would be much better with less crowding. Again, if it is up against the wall you cannot plant the back pockets. The wall garden has problems, eventually not only does is drip on the ground but it will rot the wall if you don't protect it. The wire cage is simple to build. I would still try to use a soaker in the can to water more evenly. I tried a wire cage and plastic "can", but I did not water it enough so I know the water needed to get all around the middle not just the top and it dried out fast for me. I don't know if it can be adapted as a self watering planter. All of these towers are heavy to move so wheels! I have seen on you tube homemade ones from pvc and even from pop bottles.

https://www.gardentowerproject.com/50-pl ... quare-feet

https://www.futuregrowing.com/info.html

https://untrainedhousewife.com/vertical- ... nd-how-tos

https://www.towergarden.com/
We have aeroponic towers where I work and we plant lettuce in them. They work pretty well, the lettuce get quite large but they don't have a lot of weight, so they have less water than a soil grown lettuce head. The system we have is run in a hydroponic house. The biggest issues with hydro is that if you have pests, there isn't a whole lot you can do with it, so that is why it is grown in a screened house.

[rainbowgardener]

As you have seen from the responses in zone 8 it is not too early to be planting. You need to plant cold weather stuff now; it doesn't do well once the weather warms up.

I am in zone 6 and I will be starting the first seeds indoors in 2-3 weeks! Time to get going!

[DigForVictory]

I too am limited by space. I'm going to use grow bags on the ground and hanging at two different levels. My main concern is some of them might break.
I want to try building a grow barrel but don't have the tools on hand.