Location: Colorado, with all the pot smoking libtards -_-
Posts: 4,150
Has anyone ever done an apartment balcony garden?
I am thinking of doing some sort of garden for my small apartment balcony. I get about 4 - 5 hours of direct sunlight on the balcony in the morning and then it is pretty well shaded the rest of the day. I will have to figure out some dimensions when I get back home but it is a pretty decent size.
The reason I want the garden is to 1) block the view of the parking lot to and from the apartment window 2) to grow some food like tomatoes, strawberries, etc., and herbs 3) to have something other than a concrete slab and blue painted railings to look at.
Does anyone have any ideas for plants that are pretty light weight but also big and wide to give some coverage? I also don't have an outside water spicket so I am assuming I will be bringing water outside in a pitcher to water plants.
Does anyone have any ideas for this type of budget friendly "garden"?
__________________ Well done is better than well said - Benjamin Franklin
You could plant a row of pole beans, if you like them, and provide support using a homemade pole support using PVC pipes and concrete filled coffee cans. The PVC is held in vertical position using the concrete, and then about 4' up you add a 90 degree elbow, and then connect the 2 PVC pipes using another piece of PVC. Then, have your pole beans growing in your containers below, and run a piece of cord from the pot to the pvc pipe running horizontal. You will have a productive screen on the cheap, as you will need to invest only a pack of seeds for your actual vegetation.
I did one of those once. Raised a respectable crop of tomatoes. I'm not sure you get enough sun to make it work, though. Only one way to find out, and that's to try it and see what you get.
You could plant "upside down" hanging plants around your porch if one is available. I recently planted a dwarf tomato that way when I visited my sister in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Location: Colorado, with all the pot smoking libtards -_-
Posts: 4,150
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oxford
You could plant "upside down" hanging plants around your porch if one is available. I recently planted a dwarf tomato that way when I visited my sister in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Oh I love those dwarf tomatoes! They are pretty good to just eat like candy for me. I will have to post some pictures of the patio I am thinking of planting on and growing on. I am wanting some small trees and shrub type things to block it up but the price of those is a bit much from what I have seen so far.
__________________ Well done is better than well said - Benjamin Franklin
You can do tomato & pepper plants upside down easily to use up head space and free up your floor & railing space for other plants. I have used 3 liter bottles with the bottom cut off to grow them in.
Container gardening can be very productive. You could setup a hydroponic unit out there and only have to water sporadically.
With strawberries my mom used to get some hanging strawberry things that was sort of a mat with several pouches that strawberries grew out of and cascaded down the wall. It was neat and smart use of small space.
lots of good info out there. I just had a book from the library on the square foot gardening technique.
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Location: Colorado, with all the pot smoking libtards -_-
Posts: 4,150
Here are a few pictures of the balcony. It is the second story balcony in the middle. The first picture is a view from the parking lot. as you can see, there is a perfect view of inside the apartment if the blinds were open. The second picture is from the staircase that people walk up and down to get to the second and third floors. My apartment is clearly visible from here and if the blinds are open, you can see my couch and into my brothers room. The third view is the balcony from inside the apartment looking down to the parking lot. The fourth picture is looking at the staircase.
Other than food, my biggest priority really is covering the area to make it more private and harder to see in. I would rather do this on a budget of $250 max.
__________________ Well done is better than well said - Benjamin Franklin
Crem, with the lattice type of balcony edge you have for a railing some support needing plants like pole beans could be encouraged to use that to grow across. Put a plant on each end and then 3 across the front to fill in the patio.
I would put a few tomato plants in planters and maybe a few pepper plants too. You could also fashion some hanging planters to grow your herbs in too. Or you can just do herbs in a window sill.
__________________ Most of my life I've spent hunting,... the rest of it I've just wasted
Location: Colorado, with all the pot smoking libtards -_-
Posts: 4,150
I went to the store yesterday and bought some foxglove to do a border with. It will take them a while to grow and maybe I will do something else as well. I just have them in little biodegradable planters until they grow a few inches tall. I also picked up some cherry tomato seeds and some banana pepper seeds. once all of these start growing, i will transplant them into bigger pots or hanging baskets. I really don't know how tall or thick the foxglove will get so I am debating on whether I should get some morning glories to grow as vines as well.
__________________ Well done is better than well said - Benjamin Franklin
morning glories will probably choke out the fox glove LOL... they are good spreader if you want to cover the balcony. Plus in your climate morning glory should only need planted once I think... not sure about your zone but know they are hardy suckers
__________________ Most of my life I've spent hunting,... the rest of it I've just wasted
Location: Colorado, with all the pot smoking libtards -_-
Posts: 4,150
I think I will just stick with the foxglove then. It looks like I already have some small ones sprouting so I need to start thinking about containers! Haha!
__________________ Well done is better than well said - Benjamin Franklin
Yes, containers. They need to be portable. I don't know about NM or the lease or owner group, but most place frown on planting in large built containers on apt patios, I know the owner group I work with does. I've had great success with hanging peat baskets filled with a good potting soil, for tomatoes, strawberries and peppers.
The key to container growth is a highly water retensive nitrogen rich soil and careful water management as container plant will dry up quickley . They do well with fish as fertilizer so if you catch a super sale at the store buy it and use it as natural fertilizer for your food plants . Growing a container garden is a dedication to care for them like children . The only chemical I use is seven in my tomatoes for the bugs but thats it . All that store bought crap is just that crap . Here is a recipe given to me buy my native american grandmother for good dirt . A 3 gallon bucket of "top soil" , 5 or 6 whole fish we are talking a blue gill sized fish . A leaf of hay or straw and chop that up into little peices using sizzers might work best in your application . 2 quarts of sand, and some lime stone dust maybe a pint . mix that all together makeing sure the fish are spread evenly in the bucket full . Keep it moist but not soaked water it every 6 to 8 days depending on the heat you want it to compost is the idea . make it in the fall and plant in it in the spring you will have wonderful plants .
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