Balcony Container Vegetable Gardening Guide

In our previous articles, we wrote about garden ideas for apartment balconies and how pallets are very useful as planters for that purpose. On the other hand, today I want to mention how to grow vegetables in containers for balconies. There are many advantages that a vegetable garden you will create on your balcony will provide you. Firstly, the plants in your vegetable garden will clean your air and secondly, you will have a shortcut to access fresh products. 

As a general, I want to give brief information concerning creating a beautiful and healthy vegetable garden. Firstly, you should find a proper location for your garden so that your plant could have enough sunlight. Secondly, you should choose your potting soils wisely because of that the quality of soils has a direct effect on the quality of products. As a third, the choice of plants could be made appropriately since your gardening space would not suitable for all kinds of plants that you want to grow. Lastly, the maintenance is very crucial for plants which are sensitive like babies.

Now, I will give some specific information about the gardening for tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, green peas, radishes, carrots and herb garden.

Tomatoes

Firstly, you should know that tomatoes like big containers and any frames that can help the vines to carry the tomatoes. Therefore, when you are buying tomato seeds, short ones will be a nice choice. Besides, tomatoes are not durable for cold weather, so you should keep your plants inside (or you can gradually put them out) until it grows and gets stronger vines. Lastly, do not forget to bury your tomato seeds deeper inside the potting soils. Also, they should have full sunlight, consistent watering, and well-working drainage.

Potatoes

With a minimum effort, enough amount of water, sunlight, and soil, you can easily grow your potatoes in your balcony. As you see in the photos, there are different and functional containers for growing potatoes. I am sure you will like the taste of the potatoes from your own garden. Furthermore, you should plant the seeds deeper and keep in mind that your potatoes will see the sun fully, the soil is moist and drainage is working.

Hot & Green Peppers

You can easily grow different kinds of peppers such as hot and green. These productive plants can grow even in a small container (at least 12 inches deep) with a fair amount of sunlight, good drainage, and proper watering. If you want, you can use fertilizer, as well. Also, you should be careful about the pests.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are one of the easiest container vegetables which like warm weather conditions. There are different types of cucumbers and they can all be suitable for containers. Also, cucumbers like climbing, so you can stable proper frames in your container, which will help you to save space at the same time. Lastly, be sure that your plant will have full sunlight, little moist soil, good drainage, and a high-quality fertilizer depending on your choice of plant type.

Beans

Beans like warm weather and they should be grown in spring or late summer. Besides, you should sometimes put your beans container inside at night so that you can protect them from cold. Therefore, you should choose easily moveable (or light containers). Just like in the peppers, your container should be at least 12 inches deep. Also, you will need a climbing structure or frames to support the plant. Drainage, sunlight and watering conditions are important of course. Additionally, you can harvest this plant in 50-60 days.

Green Peas

If you want to grow green peas in a container, you should provide them with moist soil and moderate cool weather. There are different varieties of peas but the most proper one is dwarf bushier. Your container should be 8-12 inches (you can grow four plants in that size). Also, they should have partial sunlight.

Radishes

Radishes are another quickly growing plants (In 30 days) and suitable for container gardening. The choice of the variety is up to you. The container should be 8-10 inches deep. Furthermore, you should leave at least 2 inches space between the two seeds. Lastly, they do not like too cold weather and they pretty like partial shade, moist soil and good drainage.

Carrots

To grow carrots in a container, you should choose the short variety so that they can fit into the containers. They are also easy to grow and they should have full or partial sunlight, regular water, mild level moist soils and good drainage.

Herb Garden

There are many crops that you can easily grow in a container such as mint, rosemary, basil, sage, thyme, parsley, oregano, chives, dill, green onion, garlic bulb, lettuce and etc. Besides, these plants are very beneficial for health. For example, some of them have different vitamins (A, C and K), and they are rich in terms of antioxidants, antibacterial and antiviral properties. Furthermore, they can help digestion, boost the immune system and good for cholesterol.

You can plant these healthy plants in a pot alone or you can add multiple plants to the same pot (see table below) Thanks to a herb garden on your balcony, you can equip your meals with fresh greens.

Images via: My Balcony Garden & Eka, Kathy Kimpel, 1FrugalMom, lakeside, Jonathan, yidoutang, sams club, mein schoener garten, The home depot, Organic authority, Hubpages, An oregon cottage, The country basket, Dengarden, Renee’s garden, Maple + Mango , Growing a Green World,  The Old Farmer’s Almanac, Gardening Know How