While still living at home I had a huge veggie garden. Fast forward a decade and I have no yard, barely any space, yet a desire to grow my own produce again. So, my balcony (which is tiny, and receives decent sun) will become my garden.
I'd like to grow herbs, green beans, broccoli (LOTS), cauliflower, sprouts and some other greens.
So I've got some questions:
1) Where can I cheaply obtain (or make) planters/pots to grow these in?
Ideally I'd like every one of them to be elevated/hang off my balcony rail or be vertical setups so I don't lose ground space on my balcony (it's tiny).
These kinds of things:
http://www.annies-gardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/planters-herbs-for-balcony-garden.jpg
http://uuldesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/greenbo-pots-railing.jpg
2) Are any of the foods I plan on growing not worth it (e.g. cost/time/effort makes green grocer the better option)?
3) Most economical place to buy seeds for these?
4) Any other tips/input is encouraged.
Thanks folks.
Couple of things to watch out for IMHO
- Small pots dry very quickly.
- You can damage the balcony if you don't catch the water from the bottom of your planter (issue with styrofoam boxes with drainage holes)
- I've had water from people aggresively watering their "balcony yard" above one of our aprtments pouring into our balcony (due to drainage pipe blockage etc)
1. Try the self watering pots like
http://www.bunnings.com.au/search-p...atering&searchType=any&searchSubType=products
I use several of these on our patio - works fine for veg.
The bigger the better though (esp if you want to go to dwarf fruit trees etc)
2. herbs - fine to grow, can't believe how expensive they are at the supermarket, and wilted too. Basil, oregano (mine have weedified itself), parsley, and rosemary (bush) are all very hardy. Parsley will self seed - only danger is that in the second year you will find them growing in every crack and crevice - they have some serious tap roots that can damage concrete and brick work). Bay trees will also grow in a large pot, as does kaffir lime. If you have a cooler shady spot, my favorite is perilla.
Also check brahmi, vietnamese mint, vap-ca (fishmint) and gotu kola. These grow better in a water tank (immersed) - we use a 60 litre storage tub.
Broccy and Cauli are a lot of work - and you'll share it with a lot of green larvae. Harvest the main floret (like the one you buy at the shop), but keep the plant in the soil. You'll get lots of little small florets you can eat coming out after. Let some of these go to flower and collect the seeds for next season. You'll need a BIG pot - deep roots.
Better choice is probably silver beets or "perpetual spinach". Very few bugs on them, needs no spraying or anything.
Beans - go for bush beans - not climbers.
Consider: Kale (better for cold weather though - not sure in Sydney - needs a good frost), Mustard, Snow peas
Capsicums - sunny, warm spot. Plant lives 2 to 3 seasons.
Snow peas - easy peasy, hideously expensive if bought
Strawberries - our plants grow better in pots than in the groung. Easier to protect form birds too.
Zucchini/Squash - better choice than pumpkins which will run rampant and take over your balcony overnight.
Celery - needs filtered sun. Related to parsley and can run rampant (seeds are small and goes everywhere once it flowers)
Tomatoes.
We're currently growing turmeric in pots too (coz our garden is too cold).
Consider other alternative greens that grow without much effort, such as dandelion. People treat them as "weeds" but they taste just like lettuce (albeit stringier - chop into small pieces). Also try chickweed and purslane. Very fast growing great salad greens. See sites like
http://www.eattheweeds.com/
3. Free seeds as others have said (eg eat a capsicum or chilli, throw seed in a pot - you'll be surpirsed how many come up). Otherwise just buy the first generation, and collect the seeds at the end of round one. Dandelion, chickweed, purslane seeds come for free from nowhere - they'll just appear in your pot without you even asking for it.
For slightly more exotic seeds, we buy from
http://www.cornucopiaseeds.com.au/
4. Try babaco - we grow it in a pot, and it will probably grow very well in Sydney. Can multiply through cuttings.
The Y-man