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I'm just starting out learning some basic gardening on my small balcony
I've got a couple of tomato plants, which are doing quite well, and some herbs which are a mixed bag.
Anyone got any advice for growing stuff in such small spaces?
2023-05-18 · 1 year ago · 👍 satch, AnoikisNomads, gemalaya
what is the light situation?
South-westerly facing so I et a good amount of sunlight from around 11 to sunset; so most of the day. In that regard, I'm pretty lucky
good that you have light. Some herbs have trouble in direct sunlight, tho, so depending on what you’re growing you might consider using the tomatoes as shade. That will also help keep them moist.
Are you growing things in pots or do you have your balcony actually converted to garden beds? if you have a garden bed, you can get very creative by planting root vegetables, herbs, and something tall like tomatoes all together. it’s also very pretty.
Thanks for the tip about shading the herbs. I do have this small greenhouse and come to think of it they were doing better when I had them behind it. All pots unfortunately: nearly a dozen of various sizes
I'd say the trickiest bit is actually dealing with pests. Lots of flies and such but not enough biodiversity for any predators to keep them in check. Diluted garlic spray helps somewhat but its certainly a bit of an issue here
The best way to keep away pests is making your plant super healthy with a strong plant immune system. I would investigate what kind of nutrients your herbs might not be getting from the potting mix and what you could add to help with that.
As for more direct methods, making a smoothie out of the pests actually works pretty well 😂 but if it’s flies they might be hard to catch. Can you find their larva?
I'm not sure on either of those accounts, to be honest, but thanks for the tips -- really helps with thinking about what I could be doing better!
Similar situation here: Balcony gardener :D. Rosmary and Sage are both sturdy plants. Don't need much water and can sustain a lot of sun. Chilies and Tomatoes work well, too. I'm trying Gherkins this year, let's see :)
Thyme is the other herb I have too, though its not doing quite as well as the rosemary and sage. I've thought about chillies (mainly because I can't buy just one or two when I need them, they're only sold in bulk here) but tomatoes are definitely my priority
my Thyme wouldn't grow well, was very thinly. about the chillies: just use the seeds you get from a chillie you buy, I've never had issues with that... no need to buy seeds. bonus: you know exactly what level of spice and what taste you'll get from your plant
depending on where you buy chilies from, that could be true or totally wrong. often times on smaller farms lots of different varieties are grown together, and so saving seed is not really an option as you can get some really strange hybrid peppers.
if your pepper comes from a giant field of identical peppers, then the seeds will be more or less the same.
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