Growing Veg on a 9th floor balcony...

[Hypnobird]

... in containers! Weight issues with pots, obviously very draughty and gets lots of sun during the summer (when we have any.) Anyone that can point me in the direction of previous posts or blogs, I would be tremendously grateful.

Cheers!

[smallblueplanet]

Hiya hypnobird, I'm sure we've lots of folk who container grow. The only thing I can vaguely remember from some gardening prog about container growing in a flat was filling a proportion of the container with something lighter than soil. They used broken up styrofoam, should be okay as long as its not something requiring deep soil....

...anyway I'll stop rambling, good luck.

[momol]

Hello Hypnobird,

Welcome to the vine...

I grow several things in pots too (for balcony) and to avoid weight issue, I use plastic pots and only use general purpuse compost soil instead of top soil as they are very light weight.

Momol

Momol

[zazen999]

Hi
My first year I grew in containers as we were due to move and in rented acc. I used the planting up and down at the same time method; if it exists. Basically, i used plastic containers and grew different types of veg in there: as this cut and pasted text from another forum shows:

for example - using a plastic container about a foot deep:
in some soil, sow 3 of each; peas, beans, onions, carrots, toms, courgettes. The peas/beans grow up first, then the carrots/onions start and grow down. Then the toms start to catch up with the peas. By the time the peas are fruiting, the toms are flowering and the courgettes are just taking off. Sometimes, it is best to put the courgettes in later if it is a cold spring. Whilst all this is going on, the carrots and onions are happily growing down. Once the peans and beans are done, cut them down and the courgettes and toms can be tied to the stakes [sorry, put four stakes in the corners and tie them at the top - together]. These will then fruit for alot of the summer and once they are done, the carrots and onions should be either ready or can be left until they are.
Fertilise weekly, and water daily in warm/hot weather.
Add a Tagetes in one corner for pest control [companion planting].

You can do this with all sorts of mixtures, depending on what you like. I do summer veg boxe as above; or indian ones with onions, garlic, coriander, peas, cucumbers and toms; or italian ones with onions, garlic, basil, toms, yellow courgetttes, and sometimes add a brocolli in various ones for an autumn crop.

Basic rule is don't put brocolli/cabbage plants in the same soil in consecutive years; and keep toms and pots away from each others you should be ok. Crop rotation is ok if you have the space, but where it is tight sometimes you just have to do what you can.

you can lighten the soil by using as mentioned other substances; I use vermiculite personally, but it is a matter of choice.

Like everything, take as much guidance from as many people as you can and do what you want to do; experiment and ask questions on specifics here; it's excellent.

Welcome!

[Alice]

Just brilliant Zazen 999, but I won't take you up on it .

[zazen999]

I've got a proper patch now...but it definitely works when space is short. problem is, now I have loads of plastic containers now clagging the garage up.

[Two_Sheds]

I grew salad, French beans and tomatoes in pots up on the fifth floor of a windy seaside building. Remember to lightly tie all your stuff to the railings if you have any!

[Does the Cooking]

zazen999 - excuse my ignorance. Are you growing all these plants in the same container?

[zazen999]

Hi.
Yes I did - using those 2 feet by 1 feet by 2 feet [or there abouts] storage containers; 99p in Tescos at the time.

[hathor]

Hi everybody.

Herewith my first, rather nervous, post:

I have some washing up bowls planted up on my balcony with a mixture of one third coarse vermiculite, one third house plant compost and one third John Innes soil-based compost, all set on a bed of gravel for drainage.

Things seem to be doing OK so far, but I want to plant up a storage crate such as described by Zazen999, so I think I will replace the oil-based with a general-purpose compost.

Will this mixture have enough nutrients in it as it stands (I mean to begin with, I understand I will have to feed the plants later on) or should I add a handful of chicken poo pellets as I mix the different components together? Or do you put some of the mix to "blind" the gravel, then put the pellets, then top up with compost mix?

I do not have a garden, just the balcony, so everything I use has to be easy to carry about, and actual soil or home-made compost are beyond me. Sorry to be so dim, but I have never even had houseplants before (travelling too much) so I am trying to learn from a very lowly beginning.

The aim is to grow quite a few of our veg next year, as I only started at the beginning of May and can't be too ambitious as the exterior of the building is being painted over the next couple of months, so my plants are likely to be in the way.