panikirjava
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Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2012 12:01 pm

New to Container Gardening

I've recently decided to take up container gardening.

What I'm working with: an apartment with a west-facing balcony and a window that covers the length of the wall. I also have access to an apartment with a balcony/window that faces the west and the north.

I can put the containers either inside or outside.

I live in Maryland, so sunset is 6 PM - 7 PM. I would guess that in the fall/winter, I get sunlight from a little after noon (because the roof above me blocks light directly overhead) to sunset. I think I have partial/indirect sunlight all day

What I want to plant: anything edible that is cost-effective (e.g. not onions, since onions stay good for a long time and are cheap, whereas blueberries are expensive and only stay good for a week at most).

Specific list (I'll take recommendations!):
- blueberries
- strawberries
- blackberries
- lettuce
- maybe kale / other leafy greens
- cherry tomatoes
- tomatoes
- herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, basil)

Questions:
- Which items should I purchase already grown vs. raised from seed? For instance, I think for all the berries, it will take three years for a plant to grow, so I'll want to buy already grown plants for those.
- Can all these plants survive with the given light? I don't mind low yields, or even no yields, as long as the plant is healthy and will later produce (say, in the summer).
- Can I keep the plants in the same 5 gallon container and just fertilize?

General Plan:
Purchase some grown plants and purchase some seeds, plant in a five gallon container full of potting soil, add organic fertilizer. Place alongside the window. Does this sound okay?

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rainbowgardener
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Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

You are talking about growing INDOORS in front of a window? You also mentioned the balcony which is outdoors. Sunset may be 6-7 PM now, but it will get dark earlier and earlier from now until winter solstice. There will not be enough light in front of a window to grow much of anything through the winter, without supplemental lighting.

Check out applestar's winter indoor tomato thread here:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=277171&highlight=winter+tomato#277171

and the lighting set up she has in order to do that.


FOR THE SPRING: Sounds like you have a good handle on it. The berries you would buy plants. There are dwarf blueberry shrubs designed for containers/ patios that would work very well for you.

Tomatoes can easily be grown from seed, but it takes a bit of practice and seed starting equipment. Started tomato plants for transplant are easy to find in the spring and cheap. You could buy the plants you want for about the same price as buying a packet of seeds. A 5 gallon container supports ONE tomato plant and at that you are better off growing cherry or dwarf varieties.

Many herbs are great for containers and I love having containers of herbs on my deck to go pick for cooking.

You could grow peppers (bell and hot) in containers also.

All of that will do better on the balcony than in front of a window.

CharlieBear
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Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:19 pm
Location: Pacific NW

No matter what you are talking about forget blackberries or anyother cane berry. There are small size blues that are recommended to try in pots like tophat, but make it a very large pot and give it as much sun as you can. It needs to be outdoors except for maybe the dead of winter.
Most herbs do well in pots and plants are generally best as most except parsley take quite a while from seed.
Strawberries the key is really large pots and replanting every couple of years. With strawberries ask around for what varieties do best in the ground where you are and use those, don't over crowd them and make sure they are mulched. They are shallow rooted and will have to be watered quite a bit in pots. Always start with plants unless you really know what you are doing with strawberries and even then it is iffy.
leaf lettuce often does well in pots.
If you are thinking tomatoes you need determinates and generally the smaller tomatoes work best.
If you are talking indoors then you need lights and I would only do herbs, lettuce and stuff like that.

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prettygurl
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Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2012 8:52 am

I started container gardening indoors recently. I am growing mignonette strawberries from seed. They are slow growers so you may want to purchase plants. The seed germination rates are also on the low side. In my experience, I have had to switch to a pot full of organic material in order to supply enough nutrients. The plants seem to do well indoors but I am also using grow lights in addition to windows.



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