c/balcony-veggie-gardens

11

the_morgan•1d ago

TIL those cheap fabric grow bags can toast your pepper plants

I grabbed a 5-pack of those $12 non-woven fabric pots off Amazon and thought I was being smart. By mid-July in Austin my jalapeno roots were literally cooking through the sides when temps hit triple digits. Anyone else had fabric bags overheat their balcony plants or am I doing something wrong?

7

victor_butler50•2d ago

Before and after on my cherry tomato yield after adding a fan

I had these cherry tomato plants on my south-facing balcony for 4 months and they barely grew tomatoes until I put a small oscillating fan out there. Within 2 weeks the airflow made the stems thicker and I got twice the fruit. Has anyone else seen that big a change from just adding wind?

8

theaw65•4d ago

Last Tuesday my balcony tomato plant got fried in one afternoon of 95 degree heat

I stepped outside at 5 PM to check on my cherry tomatoes and every single leaf was drooping like wet laundry. The poor things were literally cooked. I had watered them that morning but the black plastic pot just soaked up the sun and turned into an oven. I lost about 8 baby tomatoes that were almost ready to pick. Turns out dark colored pots in direct afternoon sun are a disaster for balcony gardening. A friend from my complex in Phoenix told me she wraps her pots in old towels during heat waves. Has anyone else lost a whole plant to a surprise hot day? What do you do when you can't move your pots out of the sun?

11

evah40•5d ago

My cherry tomato plant finally gave me a harvest after 4 months of waiting

I was about to give up on my little balcony garden when I spotted three ripe cherry tomatoes this morning on my plant that's been growing since April. How long did it take for your first balcony tomatoes to ripen?

4

leeknight•5d ago

My tiny balcony got 6 peppers from one plant last month

I read that pepper plants self-pollinate better with a little breeze so I put a small fan on mine for 2 hours a day. Got way more fruit than last year. Anyone else try wind tricks for their balcony veggies?

21

jason73•5d ago

My basil seedlings got fried after 2 hours of direct sun yesterday

I live in a south facing apartment on the 5th floor in Denver. Thought I was doing them a favor by putting them out on the balcony for some real sun after starting them under a grow light. Came back from my shift and they were all droopy with white spots on the leaves. Ended up moving them to the north side of the balcony where they only get morning light. They perked up overnight thank goodness. Anyone else have a plant that just can't handle full sun?

24

the_logan•6d ago

Found some study saying tomatoes actually grow worse with daily watering, so how do you all manage moisture on a balcony without drowning them?

I stumbled on a gardening study from UC Davis that claimed giving tomato plants deep water every 4-5 days beats daily sprinkling for root health, but on my small balcony with pots that dry out fast I feel like I'm either overwatering or underwatering and I'm stuck, what's your actual routine work for you?

30

nelson.gavin•6d ago

Showerthought: My cherry tomatoes exploded after I started talking to them everyday

Okay so this sounds crazy but hear me out. Last June my balcony tomatoes were leggy and barely producing anything. My neighbor Linda from 3B stopped by and said she sings to her peppers every morning and gets huge harvests. I laughed it off but figured what the hell and started chatting with my plants while watering. Two weeks later I had more cherry tomatoes than I could eat. Has anyone else tried this or is my neighbor just weird?

4

beth559•6d ago

Dropped $60 on a self-watering pot that drowned my basil in 4 days

I bought this fancy pot from a garden center in Austin, filled it up like the instructions said, and my basil went from perky to brown sludge in under a week. Anyone else had a 'self-watering' system that just waterboards your plants?

20

dakotaknight•7d ago

TIL you can't just use any old potting soil for balcony containers

I wasted about $40 on two big bags of regular garden soil from the hardware store back in April. Figured dirt is dirt, right? Wrong. It compacted like concrete after three weeks of rain, and my tomato plants just sat there yellow and sad. I lost almost all my seedlings before I realized I needed a lightweight potting mix made for containers. Has anyone else made this mistake or found a cheap brand that actually works?

21

thompson.finley•7d ago

Vent: Took me 3 years to realize I was overwatering my balcony tomatoes

I kept wondering why my tomato leaves were always yellowing and dropping off no matter what I did. Then last August my neighbor across the hall who grows peppers said "your soil looks like mud" and it finally clicked. I was watering every single day in 90 degree heat when they really only needed it every 2-3 days. Anyone else have that one dumb mistake that took way too long to figure out?

14

hall.quinn•8d ago

Used to just toss my tomato seedlings in any old pot

I used to cram 4 plants into a 12 inch pot thinking they’d figure it out, but after a windy day knocked the whole mess over onto my neighbor’s BBQ grill, I switched to one plant per 5 gallon bucket. Now I get way bigger tomatoes and don’t have to apologize for ruining burgers. Anyone else have a disaster that made you change your setup?

32

thomas_scott•9d ago

Three weeks ago my tomato plant was a sad twig. Now I'm drowning in cherry tomatoes.

I got this little Roma tomato seedling from the hardware store in early May. It looked pathetic, like a stick with two leaves. I almost didn't buy it. I put it in a $10 pot from Target with some regular potting soil and just watered it every other day. I didn't even use fancy fertilizer or anything. Now that thing is taller than the balcony railing and I've picked maybe 40 tomatoes off it so far this week. The weird part is I get full sun maybe 4 hours a day tops. Can anyone explain why this one plant went crazy but my basil is barely hanging on? Same soil, same water, same spot.

25

dylanh81•10d ago

Caught myself overwatering my balcony tomatoes for 3 seasons straight.

Realized last weekend when I saw roots poking out the drainage holes of my 10 inch pot that I was giving them a cup of water every morning like clockwork when they only needed it every 3-4 days has anyone else gotten stuck in a watering routine that killed their yield?

17

cameron318•12d ago

Hit 50 pounds of tomatoes from my 4x4 balcony patch this summer

I've been growing veggies on my balcony for about 8 years now. Started with a single pot of cherry tomatoes back when I lived in a tiny apartment. This year I expanded to a 4x4 foot patch with two raised beds. I kept a tally on my phone every time I picked something. By mid-September I passed 50 pounds of tomatoes. That doesn't count the peppers and basil. I remember when my first season gave me maybe 3 pounds total. Never would have believed I could get that much from a balcony. Has anyone else been surprised by how much their small space actually produces?

2

mia_anderson•12d ago

My neighbor's kid told me my basil was 'sad' and now I'm rethinking my whole setup

She said the leaves were too close together and after looking at a YouTube video she sent me about airflow on a 3 foot balcony, I moved the pots apart by 6 inches and the smell alone convinced me to try that spacing on my cherry tomatoes too, has anyone else had a random tip from a non-gardener actually work out?

19

craig.avery•12d ago

Why I stopped using grow lights and moved my tomato plants to the railing

Last July my neighbor Janet from apartment 4B nearly called the building manager about the heat coming off my setup. I had three clip-on LED grow lights crammed into a corner and my Roma tomatoes were getting scorched leaves but no fruit. After she complained I moved everything to the south-facing railing and within two weeks the plants were loaded with flowers. Has anyone else had better luck with natural sun than with artificial lighting on a balcony?

1

iris_stone28•12d ago

Does potting mix really go bad or is it a marketing thing?

After my cherry tomatoes died two weeks after repotting in a bag that sat on my balcony all winter, I'm wondering if old soil is the real killer or if people just blame it to sell new bags - what's your experience with using leftover mix from last season?

13

jessel35•13d ago

My pepper plant snapped in half during a windstorm last Tuesday

I was trying to save it by tying it to a bamboo stake but I guess I didn't secure it tight enough. Has anyone else had their balcony plants break in a sudden gust?

13

luna_sanchez•13d ago

My basil went from spindly to bushy in just 3 seasons on the balcony

I started balcony gardening back in 2019 with a single sad basil plant that barely grew past 4 inches tall. Now my balcony has 8 different veggie pots and the basil gets huge every summer (like two feet tall with leaves as big as my hand). The big change was when I finally started pruning it right and using a liquid seaweed feed every two weeks instead of just hoping for the best. Has anyone else noticed a huge difference just from changing one small thing in their routine?

15

mark_nguyen95•14d ago

Had to pick between my tomatoes or my peppers after a surprise frost warning

Last night I got that frost alert at 11 PM and had to make a snap call. My cherry tomatoes were finally turning red after 7 weeks, but my jalapenos were still green and almost full size. I chose to cover the tomatoes with an old bedsheet and just let the peppers ride it out. Woke up this morning and the tomato plants look okay but three pepper leaves are totally wilted and sad. The jalapenos themselves seem fine though, weirdly. Has anyone else had to pick one crop over another in a pinch like that?

23

emerymoore•15d ago

I finally hit 100 cherry tomatoes from 2 plants on my 8th floor balcony

Started counting because I was curious. This was over a 6 week span in August. The plants were just basic Sun Gold variety from my local nursery. I didn't do anything special, just water every other day and a bit of liquid tomato feed once a week. The number surprised me because last year I got maybe 30 total from the same setup. The big difference this time was I put a small oscillating fan out there for a few hours each afternoon. The air flow seemed to really help with pollination. Has anyone else noticed a big jump in yield from adding a fan out on your balcony?

4

wendy_murphy16•16d ago

Ditched the plastic pots for fabric grow bags on my balcony and never looked back

I used to think those cheap plastic nursery pots from Home Depot were fine for my balcony tomatoes. But after two seasons of roots circling around and plants getting root-bound by August, I got fed up. Switched to 5-gallon fabric grow bags last spring for my cherry tomatoes and peppers. The difference was night and day, the roots could air-prune so the plants stayed healthier way longer. Plus the fabric lets water drain way better than those plastic pots with just three holes in the bottom. I ended up getting twice the harvest from the same space, like 12 pounds of tomatoes off one plant. My only complaint is they dry out faster in the summer heat so I had to water every single day. Has anyone else tried both and seen a big difference?

12

jamieh76•16d ago

Can we talk about self-watering planters vs. old-school pots...

My neighbor swore by those self-watering boxes and said they saved her tomato plants during a heatwave, but my basil in regular terracotta pots actually did better. Which side are you on for balcony growing, and what's your experience been?

22

finleythomas•1mo ago

Visited a community garden rooftop and noticed their balcony setup blew mine away

I went to a community garden open day in Chicago last weekend. One guy had a whole balcony setup using just 5 gallon buckets and some old pallets. His cherry tomatoes were way bigger than mine even though I use fancy pots from the store. How do you keep your balcony plants from getting scorched by direct afternoon sun without building a whole shade structure?