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Apartment Living - Can I grow my own Veg?

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  • 04-07-2009 6:12pm
    #1
    **Portia**
    Registered Users Posts: 434 ✭✭


    Hi All,

    I live in an apartment but have a large balcony. I really love the idea of growing my own herbs and vegetables. How would I go about this? I know the herbs idea probasbly feasible but regarding veg would this be possible? I am a complete novice and just need a starting point.
    Many Thanks for any advice whatsoever!


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    #2
    Dr Galen
    Registered Users Posts: 7,373 ✭✭✭Dr Galen


    it's very possible, thats how i started off. is it a sunny balcony? get much shade etc?

    herbs are a defintie go go. most are pretty easy to grow and look after. just watch for some of them running to seed.

    quite a lot of veg can be grown in tubs and grow bags. tomatoes do well for me anyway in growbags. you'd be looking for ones that will do ok in our outside climate though. I have aubergines in tubs too that are doing very well this year. there are several dwarf carrot varieties that again you can grow in confined spaces. strawberries, raspberries etc are also an option for you, though don't expect huge loads of fruit as you'll only be growing one or two plants i'd imagine.

    there are loads of books out there to get you started on balcony/appartment growing, but we're generally a friendly bunch here so ask the questions as they come


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    #3
    sharonl
    Registered Users Posts: 47 ✭sharonl


    yes you can absolutely grow veg on your balcony. I've grown tomatoes on my balcony for years, the tumbler cherry tomato types do better on a balcony for space reasons and just a few plants will give you a good crop provided your balcony is nice and sunny. If its in shade for most of the time you might not get as big a yield and they may ripen very late in the season. I'm growing tomatoes and chillis on the balcony this year along with some herbs, just make sure you have big enough pots. The advantage with balcony growing is you won't suffer as many pests as if they were in the ground or in a green house. Tried strawberries last year but just couldn't fit enough plants to get a worthwhile amount and our balcony is west facing so only gets sun from around 3pm to around 7pm.

    There is a good blog by someone in dublin growing veg on their balcony, its www.eightsquaremetres.com you should get some useful tips there and it will give you an idea of what you can grow successsfully which seems to be just about anything, even spuds in big potato bags.

    Cut and come again lettuce like lollo rosa and salad bowl should do well and you can just cut the leaves as you need them instead of harvesting the whole plant and more will grow back, saving space. Raddishes crop very quickly so don't use that much space for long. Climbing beans could be trained up wigwams in a large pot or planter. Courgettes would give a good crop as apparently only 1 plant could give you around 16 to 20 courgettes, so althought they are big plants you only need one, unless you reeeaaallly like courgettes;)

    Chantennay carrots grow small and stubby but are packed full of flavour and should grow well in window boxes, and you won't have to worry about the dreaded carrot fly! If your balcony gets too small and you want to branch out into more space there are loads of private allotment schemes popping up everywhere aswell, www.allotments.ie is a good site with links and contact details to a number of private allotment schemes and theres also the county councils, although the councils have very long waiting lists.

    good luck with it.

    sharonl
    www.plot103.blogspot.com


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    #4
    rocknchef
    Registered Users Posts: 406 ✭✭rocknchef


    and if you dont have too much flor space you can grow,strawberrys, cherry tomatoes, herbs etc in hanging baskets.

    just put something under to catch water when its dripping down.


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    #5
    Sonnenblumen
    Registered Users Posts: 5,834 ✭✭✭Sonnenblumen


    Before you decide which container (bag etc etc) you need to carefully consider the balcony surface. The last thing you want is rot and/or scratch marks. You could consider modular planters with inbuilt irrigation as well as providing good use of space, good size and great planting depth and great looking also.

    The Deroma 'Repeat' patented Planters are an intelligent and practical solution for low maintenance container planting.

    For more info check our blog.


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