Gardening question . . . .

MehulLakhani

MehulLakhani

MehulLakhani

Associate
Joined
12 Jan 2003
Posts
1,227
Location
Watford
Hi All

Just wondering if I can pick your 'green' brains. I have a flat with a small-ish balcony, about 2m x 2m.

It gets a decent amount of sun throughout the day, and I thought that it would now be nice to grow a few things that we use for cooking etc etc. Things like coriander, curry leaves, cherry tomatoes etc etc.

First things first - how viable is this ? What sort of pots, soil should I buy ? What exactly do I ask for in the garden centre ? What plants/seeds should I buy.

Below are some pics of the balcony :
10062008261tq8.jpg


10062008263ll6.jpg


Thanks

Mehul
 
just get a cheap grow bag (make sure its organic etc etc.) should be about £1.99. As for what to grow, Curry is easy for me to grow and has gotten quite big, same with fennel and Sage, basil dies instantly so do chives :(, So i have moved them indoors onto a window still as the slightest cold kills them.

The Garden centre will have a herb section, just read some of the labels and buy what you like, they should not be too expensive £2? each maybe, if it dont work it dont work try something else. Chives you can get seeds for and grow in a few days. Something like rosemery is easier to buy a pot (i got one for £2 in local supermarket) and grow in poor soil and don't mind a bit of neglect. can grow very big but just keep cutting it when it gets too big.
i am now an expert with over 2 years of gardening experience :) (that is basically saying i am a novice and some info may be wrong)


oh and i cannot see your pics :(
 
Id get some long black gardening trays, get some tomatoes and onions in there, lovely...

Or, if you can, make a raised bed, basicly build another wall on your side of the balcany and fill it in with good soil. that would give to a nice bit of growing space.

Or, for ease of use, you can get some tomatoe plants in large pots and grow them. Root veg, spuds, onions, carrots ect need something a little deeper than a pot really.

Good idea though, as prices go up, and trust me, home grown taste so much better!

<ColiN>
 
Oh, as for pots, buy what you think will look good and you can afford, make sure there is a hole in the bottom (most will come with this) but then but some stones in the bottom (this helps drainage in winter) fill with soil from the grow bag, and plant! it may also be nice to put gravel/slate chips on the top around the plant. This does a few things, helps stop weeds, looks nicer than soil and keeps water in during dry spells.
 
Can't see pics as at work (damn proxy) but my advice is go for hanging baskets if you can for some fruit as it will help keep the slugs and snails off. Wyevale do some good hanging baskets with tomatoes and strawberries in for around £6 stick one each of those up and buy some Tomorite - it's like steroids for plants, use it on anything and they will flourish. Herbs are pretty hardy, get something like Rosemary, Thyme - in my experience the flat leaf ones like Basil etc are harder to keep. Get a potato sack and grow some little salad potatoes - easy.
 
that balcony is perfect for what you want to do,, i wish i had something like that

im trying mint at the moment on the window sill, chives quite easy, ive done tomatoes in the past.

loads to choose from, just go with what you fancy ..
 
One really good way to grow veg is to grow potatoes. Anyone can do this and it's a great way to recycle old tyres either in the garden or on a patio. I think that the seed potatoes are finished in the garden centres now, but buy some potatoes in the supermarket and leave 4 of them on a sunny windowsill until they start sprouting. In the meantime, go to your local tyre place and beg some 4 tyres from them - all the same radius. Put two on your balcony and fill them with compost. When the potatoes have sprouted plant them in the top tyre. As they grow stalks, put the third tyre on top and fill this with compost. As the stalks get to the top of this one, put the last tyre on top and fill with compost. In a few months you will have tyres full of potatoes so just dig them up out of the tyres as you need them. (This works with sweet poatoes too by the way.)

I can recommend Anya potatoes if you like the 'new' potato style, but I have only ever found these in Sainsbury.

A tip for basil lovers:

if you buy a growing plant from the supermarket, when you use it ***** out pairs of leaves and leave at least the last pair on the stalk as this will re grow into a really healthy bushy plant.
 
Plenty of big ass pots and plenty of soil and you should be able to grow pretty much anything there matey :)

Mehul, my local garden centre has curry leaf plants with the rest of the herb plants.
 
You are too late for this season really though you can always try...

Next spring sow some herbs ... thyme, Basil, Rosemary, Mint, chives etc in pots that can be moved around.
Some tomato plants in growbags will also do well.
Pots with strawberries too.

The year after you will want an allotment so get your name down and share the work with friends/neighbours.

Best wishes.
 
I disagree, most herbs grow year round. The only fussy one I've got is basil and that only grows on the inside kitchen window sill but the parsley, 2 types of mint, chives, rosemary, lavendar, thyme and sage seem to be happy if you buy them at the supermarket and whack them in a pot. Not had any success with coriander though. Potatoes should grow well in a vertical grow bag if you plant them now too. Red chilli is another year round crowd pleaser :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom