Meet Hope Balcony!

Yardless, and living on the second floor, I am now 3 months into my first edible concrete garden...appropriately named Hope Balcony..




It was time to stop waiting for the perfect yard to grow my own food. I wanted to eat organic produce for less and NOW! Although gardening is teaching me that patience leads to abundance...

The search terms, "limited space container gardening", led to my gardening pinterest frenzy and confidence to get started!

Containers

  

My first three vegetable plants (cajun belle pepper, husky cherry tomato,and  jalapeno,) were first planted together in an inexpensive rectangular polyethylene grow bag (39 x 15 x 10"). Unfortunately,it looked messy and never kept its shape.

After about a month of using it, I repotted them separately in 10" plastic pots. They began to thrive and I also learned that there are rules to companion planting. 

My biggest stroke of genius came when I began upcycling industrial size food buckets. They are found free curbside, at local restaurants, or grocery stores. I just drill several large holes in the bottom before filling them with soil.

Soil

Potting soil provides better drainage and is less rich than garden soil. I quickly found that creating a basic potting mix is easy and inexpensive. I use 1 part perlite and 1 part basic potting soil. Then, I blend a packaged compost/ manure mix into the top few inches of the soil. Try this google search for more ideas and details.

Fertilizer

I have yet to really enter the vast world of fertilizer and feel my plants will become healthier when I do. Every ten days, I dissolve a hefty tablespoon of epsom salt (for a magnesium boost), and one of an all purpose plant food into a 2 gallon watering jug. I water the plants, and run for cover!

The next step is to know the best soil ph level for each vegetable. It's my understanding that I could then tailor the soil blend and fertilizer to maintain the healthiest plant.


Pests

I'd like to say that once I got them all potted and sitting on my sunny balcony, everything went smoothly. No.

The leaves quickly became infested with little green worms(that I later found out were wasp larvae) and aphids. They snacked day and night while leaving trails of destruction. I first tried an organic garden grade pesticide (that didn't do the job) and a can of the controversial Sevin Dust. 

The dust quickly eliminated the invasion, but left me with a fear/guilt of not attracting/killing bees. In time for the fall garden, I found a recipe for an all-purpose natural insect spray and will buy inexpensive live ladybugs online.

A day's harvest. I picked ripe
husky cherry tomatoes daily
and from one plant