Hi All, as many of you may have guessed/noticed, I have absolutely no garden, and this year I am determined to make the most of my two (approx)1m x 3m balconies, and fill them with as much veg and flowers as I can fit it.
I was wondering who else on the board is gardening with little or no garden, and what they are doing.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has experience of container growing.
Moggle
Hi Moggle
I dont have a garden (that's why I have an allotment) but I grow stuff at home in containers too (mostly toms and herbs so far). I grew most of my stuff in containers at my last place, when I had a yard, and managed very well. It's a bit costly re: compost & pots to begin with, but lots of stuff does really well in containers. Blueberrys, hostas (not veg/fruit but loverly), herbs, potatoes, rhubarb. I guess anything that doesnt need v deep earth will do ok in containers..
You can sometimes get cheap compost from council projects working on recycling and composting - check it out...
The other bonus is you can move containers around - I get bored easily, so I used to entertain myself by re-designing my garden (yard) every couple of weeks ;D
Good luck with it...
Thanks mystic
I forgot to mention that I haven't got an allotment yet, I'm new to all this gardening stuff, and I'm waiting to see if I can keep most things alive, and my enthusiasm lasts more than a couple of months. :)
Hi Moggle ...good thread!!
I just thought it was me that was potty around here. I've got a concreted back yard and am on a 'non-existant' waiting list with the council for an allotment. In the meantime I've been causing all sorts of trouble posting on GM crops! So hopefully this thread will keep me out of trouble!
I had a go at growing in pots last summer. I was a bit cheap about it, managed to use recycled containers that I found about the place, from building site skips and such. I tried growing peas and courgettes in the same pot with a bit of success, and tomatoes that were lovely.
I'll be doing the same this year but with the benefit of the ever popular Wilko plastic greenhouse. We havent put anything in it yet, as the plastic blew off last weekend and the winds havent really died down enough to put it back on. Its really galeforce here today.
I might have a go at growing tatties and carrots in pots too this year, and aubergines!
So far I've started some tommies from seed, and my other half (who's into Thai food in an obsessive way) has sown Pak choi, lemongrass and basil. He's put some cayenne pepper seeds in to germinate but no luck yet, so we'll have a go at birdseye seed harvested from chillis from the supermarket. We did try this last year but the plants didnt fruit.
Keep me updated on what you plan to grow!! As I'm in need of new some ideas!
Oh Im also trying to grow strawberrys from seed but they havent come up yet. I want to try those 'hanging bags' instead of baskets to see what happens (and keep them out of the reach of my beast of a puppy!)
Andi,
Always better not to use supermarket chilli seeds for a couple of reasons: firstly, they may be F1 hybrids, which means any seeds that germinate may be totally different to the parent plant; and secondly the varieties would have been picked for those that grow in a hotter climate.
Chilli seeds do tend to be quite expensive, but Wilkinsons do cheap ones.
ahhh Ross thats why we didnt get anything.
I thought it was because there wasnt enough heat in them to get a fruit.
I've trawled Wilkos shelves for birdseye, but no luck. Nothing else will do for my other half's Thai cooking...prefectionist!
Im looking here for chilli seeds at the mo...
http://www.chillifire.co.uk/
Think I will order some....
Hiya Andi
I have no greenhouse, and instead am using my trusty airing cupboard and then spare room, once things have germinated.
So far I'm growing tomatoes - santa variety, sweet peppers - californian wonder, chillis - cayenne, sweet peas, marigolds, and petunias.
Also put some spuds in a couple of big pots last weekend, and my other half planted a couple of garlic cloves too.
I have plans to grow strawberries too, although I think I will be buying plants. Also might try some french beans, and I'm also toying with the idea of putting a few salad leaves in somewhere too.
Oh, and try:
http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/list/peppers-hot (http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/list/peppers-hot)
For chilli seeds. Them Thai Dragon ones look like they might do the trick. ;D ;D
When I first got my garden, two years ago, I started off with practically everything in containers - mostly herbs, bedding plants and toms. Now I still do a lot in containers (partly because I'm too indecisive about where to put things and also because the soil is cr*p). I'm doing strawberries, salads, peppers, potatoes, carrots (see if they work) and various periennials and more tender things, plus my olive tree and two apple trees in containers this year.
Like Mystic, I love swapping things about when I'm bored with them - or when they are looking good/past their best. Always fun and you instantly have a new garden.
The only trouble I find is watering - my toms in pots did not do well last year as I only watered them once a day. I also think, in hindsite, I had too many in some pots and other pots were too small even for their single plant. I'll give it another go this year and be much more careful!
i have a concreted yard too, mostly grow herbs and hostas and ferns because i'm not really into flowers out there (weird, i know). last year grew some butternut squashes in growbags out there - they did spread a lot though.
Hurrah! People like my thread ;D Thanks to all who have contributed so far.
Aqui, I had a more extreme problem than your tomato one last year, most of the flowers i planted in 3 pots died because of the heat and irregular watering.
This year I am going to try using pop bottles with a smallish hole drilled/punched in the top, resting upside-down in the pot. I am hoping that this will work kind of like a drip watering system and give the poor plants a better chance. Still experimenting with size of hole and size of bottle.
Thanks for the link Moggle!
I dont think my other 'alf can complain at that!!
I'll get is opinion when he's back from work. He's not been too keen on this allotment thing but since the weather has brightened up a bit I've caught him browsing this site ;)
Moggle - do you stand your pots in trays when it's really hot and dry so the water doesn't just run away? That seems to help too.
Good trick for keeping compost wet when toms are in pots - also means you use less compost, so is cheap AND cheerful..
Put a layer of polysterene in the bottom (from packing n stuff) broken up into little bits, then put the compost on top. Holds water for longer than compost...
BUT
Not v organic..... :o
Moggle - although I have quite a large garden, I still like growing in containers as, like Aqui & Mystic said, you can move things around and create a completely new look. I tried some veg in pots last year, had some success especially with the toms and runner beans, but the carrots in a pot (Aqui) were not very successful. Let me know if yours are ok this year. Mind you I did have a bit of a disaster when sowing them, a load came out all at the same time, so maybe I should have thinned them a bit more. Andi, I tried busy lizzies in the hanging bags and they were great so I hope your strawberries do as well.
Moggle I think you can grow most things in a container. I have eucalyptus, hebes, hydrangea, lemon tree (which has to go inside in the winter though),spring bulbs, roses, camelia, twisted hazel, winter jasmine, passion flower to name but a few. You just have to make sure you have them in the correct soil. Good luck and try to post a picture of your balcony when it is full of plants :D ;) :)
I've got a tiny back garden mostly taken up with greenhouse, sheds, cold frame, etc (hence the two lotties). I grow things in pots like rocket, runners, courgettes, spuds, fab Sunbelle toms and whatever other things I might want to hand on a daily basis without a trip to the site (which is a mile or so away). They do better, probably, in the pots as they get watered more regularly than the stuff at the lottie - our water there is in tanks, so you have to lug a can back and forth.... so there is a limit to how much water one can provide!
From pot to pot (another series for Monty perhaps to accompany Fork to Fork!) - how cool is that!
I have to admit the toms often don't even make it to the kitchen - I eat them as I pick them ::)
AC
There is absolutely no reason why perfectly good carrots and parsnips should not be grown in containers, although it would be better if bottomless containers are used instead of pots, and stood on bare soil if possible. This is in fact the method used by most competitive carrot growers for their show winners, and the deeper the container the longer the carrot or parsnip that can be grown.
Incidentally, if you want to make good, cheap bottomless containers, there`s nothing to beat secondhand linoleum, which, with the assistance of a stapler, can be used to make containers of quite decent length and diameter.
Hugh thats a really brilliant tip.
I wont be able to use it in my soilless yard but I will certainly remember it when I get the lotty.
Yup, got a goodish size garden, but still grow things in pots. I grow lots of shrubs and perennials and if I put them straight in the ground when they are still babies, they would possible vanish for ever, so a couple of years on pots does the trick. Plus, I hate hard landscaping, I love plants, so the deck, patio, paths and steps all have pots on with anything and everything in. I have all different mints, cacti, bedding, alpine strawbs, grasses in chimneys - which look great as they spurt over the top in a fountain, and come summer, all of my veg that I ran out of room for at the lottie will end up in pots and grow bags. When I lived at home Dad paved the whole back garden, it was only small, and as I get more and more into gardening, so I created more and more pots and raised beds. I had a hawthorn growing in a huge pot, ferns, shrubs, you name it. So long as you can provide water, nutrients and good growing medium, they will be okay. ;D
We used to make containers out of old car wheels (for the re-cycling enthusiasts) As far as i can remember cut it 2/3rds down the tyre all the way round and then turrn the tyre parts inside out to form a stand and bowl part.I think that we then painted the outside white.
Thanks everyone for sharing all your information and tips. It is great to know that I am not the only one :D
I am loving growing stuff. It's so exciting to grow things from tiny seeds ;D
I leap out of bed every morning and check how all my little babies are doing.
Budgiebreeder, I hope you don`t use your car tyre containers for growing vegetables.
Moggle,
To combat the compost drying out, have you tried mixing some of the water- holding gel crystal type-thingummy-bobs, in with your compost???
Debs.
P.S. Night scented stocks are one of my favourite scented plants and their perfume would be gorgeous wafting through your balcony window during the evening!!! :) :)
Debs.
OOOhhh no Hugh just for flowers.
Containers rock!
Especially since my flatmates won't let me have garden, and I'm determined to grow stuff. My courgettes are going great guns so far. I've taken over every spare surface in the kitchen, as it's the warmest room in the house, and I don't have an airing cupboard. And, as I'm flat broke most of the time, I've been doing midnight skip-raiding for buckets and suchlike (bad, I know ;))
I had some success with my tomatoes last year, except there were too many in the one pot, and my strawbs produced about 5 fruits, and loads of runners, so, as they survived the winter, I'm hoping for more out of them this year.
I find myself getting obsessive about it, the more things grow, the more I want!
the more things grow, the more I want!
I'm finding that too, I hope I don't have some sort of gardening burnout :-\
Containers do indeed rock, I can't wait till I have a balcony full of flowers, fruit and veg. When I do, I will post photos.
assessed the winter losses this afternoon and i now have 2 large pots free - hmmm what to grow?....
yard is too dark for veg really and i have the lottie for that, plenty of herbs too, i sense a trip to the garden centre coming on when i get back from hols (i'll let you know when busy lizzie!)
Balcony Update:
Got some strawberries in a growbag now, and a couple have flowered already. :)
Tomatoes, chillis and peppers are still inside, and toms especially are going great guns in my south-ish facing spare room.
Spuds are going mental - earthed up a few days ago and this morning they have all sprouted out the top again.
Garlic going well, the 2 (of 5) that I thought were no-goers finally sprouted.
Sweet peas are out in grow bags (cheaper than pots) but don't seem to be flourishing. I think it might be cause I pinched the tips out and then hardened them up all in the same week.
How are things with everyone elses containers?
Well, I have no veggies in pots...yet...that will happen as I run out of room on the lottie and in the garden...ooo, I take that back, I have a selection of lettuce in a huge clay pot in the greenhouse for easy picking, plus I have alpine strawbs in a pot. Other than that, tis just plants, I have delphiniums in a big clay pot cos the slugs won't give them a chance to grow, and the same with lupins. They don't stand a chance in the garden. I will be doing toms and chilli plants in pots for my mum and my sis in the next few weeks.
Bout time we saw a piccy of this balcony of eden Moggle! ;D