Vertical Gardening

I came upon this interesting solution created for vertical gardening and I myself think it's not a bad one; what do you think!? Of course, it has some disadvantages, but you can't say that it doesn't have some advantages too.

It's for sure a great solution for those indoor gardeners that don't have a lot of space in their apartments and hassle everyday to find some for their loving plants. On the other hand, I can easily imagine something like that incorporated on my balcony, like a little herb tower garden. I can even imagine it like a solution for greening the city, for example vertical garden fences, bus stations maybe!? Vertical gardens in your apartments, offices, in restaurants...ha, ha, ha!! Why not use them for outdoor gardens!? Maybe I overdid it, but I'll be sure to install something like that in my home garden next year. I'm thinking it would be great on my balcony in the hot days and again a great solution for growing herbs in the kitchen, especially in cold winter days. There are some disadvantages, obviously you need enough light, whether artificial or natural. The size of plants you grow in this kind of vertical garden might be also a problem, as the size of your container may be limited, so choose your plants carefully. And what about air circulation, hmm!?

Well, all in all I think if the right choices(regarding the plants you grow) and conditions are made(regarding sufficient light and air) this could be a great solution for a vertical garden, indoors or outdoors.

Update on my Balcony Garden

Well, things look a bit different on my balcony garden, some plants were removed and others planted, but all in all everything is o.k.!

One Saint Pierre tomato plant and two cherry tomato plants that already gave us a lot of fruit, but were severely injured in a couple of storms had to be chopped down. The injuries they suffered were not the only issue, they were also sun burned and infested with some pests I've never seen until now. It didn't look to good and I decided to remove those sickly looking plants. However, I still have a few tomato plants in the other corner of my balcony garden. Those are looking pretty healthy and are producing fruit quite nicely although they too are under attack of those unknown pests I mentioned.

It's been raining all day, so I'll be spraying with some neem oil when it stops and hope for the best! It seems that this year a lot of people in my area are having problems with their tomato gardens, but I'll dedicate a post regarding this theme very soon.

In one of my older posts I was telling you that I'm sorry because I haven't grown any lettuce this year, but that has changed before a month ago or so when I planted some arugula(rucola or rocket salad) which has already been on our menu. A bunch of seeds were sown in one container as you can see from this picture taken just one week after they were put in soil.

Some herbs from my balcony garden were harvested and dried, some seeds collected but I'll be writing about that in one of my following posts together with the various techniques I use for these purposes.

Garden where you can

Even though my balcony garden plants get the most of my attention, my balcony isn't the only place where I grow plants as I've already mentioned. I have some plants in my apartment, as well as in front of my apartment and on the stairway, growing in bunch of containers.

For every urban grower space is one of the greatest limitations, but there's always a way! I garden everywhere I can and even in some places where that seemed impossible at first. You have to be creative and do a lot of experimenting, but in the end it all pays back! There's usually not a lot you can do regarding the conditions(amount of sun, temperature, air movement) you're faced with, so you'll have to take care good care while you choose where to grow certain plants. For example, I have a few cherry tomatoes on my stairway(inside of my apartment building) that are growing very slowly, while those on my balcony garden grow as crazy. I guess you would assume it's the lack of light that's causing this, but it's not, it's the lack of air circulation and very high temperatures. Something I can't change, even if I wanted to. However, although such conditions aren't favorable, some of my urban grow plants seem to grow there quite well.

Still green

My balcony garden is in flowering stage and there are veggie flowers and baby veggies popping all around. Almost everyday I get a close look at my tomatoes, but still they are all green.

Although my two Saint Pierre Tomatoes aren't producing any fruit, that isn't my main concern right now. In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I've planted too many plants in one plant box/container. Even then, I knew that the plants wouldn't have enough root space, but at that time it was the only way for me to grow them. I have a habit of sowing to many seeds and therefore I keep ending up with more seedlings than I can handle. Usually I share most of them, so it's a good thing in the end! Like the overcrowding issue isn't enough, the other day I realized that my veggies are under aphid and spider mite attack. Some leaves were severely damaged so I had to cut them off. I have to take care of that problem as soon as I can, because these pests can really suck out the life out of a plant. Neem Oil works pretty good with such problems and is totally organic. More on Neem oil, soon!

For now, take a look at the progress my baby veggies are making.

Saint Pierre Tomato





Cherry Tomatoes





Pepper

Containers for balcony railings

Every balcony gardener has to find his own way of creating his or hers own unique garden design. Even the smallest balconies can be transformed into little urban gardens. Of course, the space you're dealing with is usually the main issue. Trying to create a balcony that will be a comfortable extension of your living space in one hand and a beautiful edible garden in other, can be somewhat difficult. That's why we have to use our imagination and creativity, but never neglect functionality and sustainability.

If you want to make more space for your plants you can use planter brackets, plant hangers and plant boxes and still have adequate space for everyday activities on your balcony. I have done something like that, but still I'm thinking about drilling some holes in the wall and putting some shelves on it. A couple of shelves with some herbs in containers on them would work great! Gardening in containers seems to be one of the main features of balcony gardening, but everyday there's something new in gardening world and sometimes worth attention. Revealing new and amazing things in gardening world is my passion and I must say many of my Google searches resulted in A-HA effect or at least placed a smile on my face.

Here's one the results of my Google search I decided to share. I think it might be helpful and can resolve very important space issues on some balconies. Unfortunately, it's made only for those balconies equipped with railings, so those of you with balcony railings, take a close look. I think it's a great idea, maybe it's an old one, but I've never seen containers like this one! This is a special container made for railings!




Find out more about it at www.rephormhaus.de!

Under watering

Over watering is a common problem, especially with seedlings and small plants. Too much water drowns the roots, cutting off their supply of oxygen. In such condition, your plants will grow very slowly and if over watering continues more problems will appear.

Under watering, on the other hand, is less of a problem. However, it is a fairly common problem, especially with plants in containers in hot summer days. Small pots/containers dry out quickly and need daily watering, so bigger pots, means less watering. Not enough water dries out the root hairs, causing them to die. If this situation repeats itself over and over, it will probably stunt your plant and maybe cause slower growth.

Here´s an example of my under watered tomato plant

Gardening Technique

If you live in a flat, gardening in containers is the way to go!
It's no problem, you can grow almost anything in a container. I have the fortune of having a big balcony box, but I have a bunch of plants in containers all over the flat and in front of it. Indoor gardening with fluorescents as well as hydroponics sound interesting and if space was not the issue, I would be doing some serious winter experimenting. For now I will stick with container gardening and try to make the most of my crops!

Container gardening is a great technique which offers you many advantages:

• even with limited space you have the joy of growing plants
• it enables you to experiment with plants
• mobility
• your herbs are at your hand
• it is easy to rearrange
• you can grow in places you thought is impossible to grow
• it makes pest control easier
• decorative element
• and so on...............

Keep on growing!!!