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Beginner's Questions
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Posted by philic1013 USDA9 Tampa (My Page) on Mon, Jun 7, 04 at 19:02
| Hi-
Decided that the 4th floor NNW balcony of my apartment needs some life, and it overlooks a bowling alley parking lot, what a view! Anyways, I'd like to get something setup this week, relatively inexpensively. I know i'll need windowboxes to hang on the railing, and some pots or non-hanging window boxes to house a few other things. I'd like to grow some vines (going to go with the fishing line method) that'll grow pretty quick and flower in a variety of color. In addition to that, anything that is easy, but not lazy to maintain. I'm not looking for anything edible, so that rules out the herbs/spices/fruits/veggies, but I'd like to see some more complex flowers grow in small numbers to contrast the simple and larger amount of flowers i'll get off the vines. It's mostly shade and indirect sunlight, with about a third of the balcony getting decent sunlight half of the day (that'll be part of whats in the windowbox hanging on the rail.
I'd love to hear some suggesstions and have read up and alot of the ones already made. I'm not sure where locally to pick this kind of stuff up besides the local home depot or whatnot, whose selection is limited. However, I've very keen on internet commerce and if anyone can name some places online that I can find most of this, besides the window boxes and potting soil (waste of shipping) I'd love to know. I looked at a few of the shopping sites I found and nobody had more then 2 or 3 of the types of things people are suggessting. So, what should I grow, where can I buy it online? Oh!, and I'm assuming that most of this is grown by seeds, and that early june isnt too late to start? Just showing that I'm very new at all this.
Thanks!
Andrew |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Beginner's Questions
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| Where you live, you could set up a whole tropical understory garden on your balcony. ;-) Jasmines, elephant ears/calladiums, gardenias, michelias, stephanotis, perhaps some citrus in the sunniest parts, anything that you see growing in your area up under the trees (or even in them). ;-) |
RE: Beginner's Questions
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I wish I lived in your climate, I would grow everything.
As Jenny said, anything that growes under the trees in your area. I'm sure you have planted something by now...What is it? |
RE: Beginner's Questions
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| I think it might be a bit late to start seeds. But I liked Park Seeds and Harris Seeds. I did a LOT through the net, even window boxes because I saw some I liked that were cheap compared to what they sell for in my area. Be sure to check out Garden Watchdog before you order online. There are places that should be avoided. I had bad luck ordering *plants* from Burpee's ... they pack very poorly and the stuff arrived in terrible shape. I did just about everything from scratch this year. Boy, are you going to have fun! :-) Come back and let us know how it's going.
b |
RE: Beginner's Questions
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| Here's a couple of shots of my balcony garden this year. I have Roma (Viva Italia) tomatoes in 3 of the Grow-Bags and the other two have Pick-a-lot Cucumbers in them. The big 5 gallon bucket has Alwaha melons in them (they came in a free bonus seed pack from Parks and curiousity got the better of me so I planted a couple :D) and then I have Fresca Strawberries in the windowbox. 
The Grow-Bags are secured to the railing with $2.00 Fishing Rod Holders (I hate that I threw away the package, now I don't remember the brand-name of them but you can get the same from Bass Pro Shops for $3.00)with the "tines" bent up 90º.
 Best Wishes and Good Luck on your first Balcony Garden :D (Warning! It's totally addictive! :D)
Amino-X |
RE: - Beginner's Questions.
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| However, I've very keen on internet commerce and if anyone can name some places online that I can find most of this, besides the window boxes and potting soil (waste of shipping) I'd love to know. I looked at a few of the shopping sites I found and nobody had more then 2 or 3 of the types of things people are suggessting. So, what should I grow, where can I buy it online? OOPS, sorry I forgot to add :D My favorite internet garden stores are: www.gardeners.com and
www.parkseed.com. I have to disagree with you about the potting soil though, I've tried a lot of various container soils over the years and you really do get what you pay for. The ABSOLUTE BEST soil I've EVER used to date is on the expensive side but WELL worth the price: Gardeners Container Mix This stuff is AWESOME! :) Best Wishes
Amino-X |
RE: Beginner's Questions
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| i would personally watch out for the online purchase. once i got totally screwed by gurney's- which seems like a major company cause they pop out everywhere. when you order plants online, first they take a long time and packed poorly most of time. hard to get a refund. they say they'll send it this time but they don't do it well. there might be people who have good luck with the online nursery but i know number of people who haven't. so i said to myself never again. wherever you are there should be a big nurseries. i prefer nursery than home depot, they just have more choices. you should be able to fine pretty much anything in a big nursery. small nurserys are just ok. go for the reputable big garden center. i think vines are just about the best. growing from the seeds might be kind late, but you live in zone 9- so it might not be late. morning glorys grow real fast . if you can't find seedlings you could try to grow from the seeds. they like it sunny, but in the shade/partial shade ivy can be versitile and very east to grow. plants you see in your local nurseries are the plants you could grow in your area. so just pick things that looks good to you and read instruction on the tag and do extra research. get a copy of container gardening book that also has plant guide and you'll be totally set to go. i'm a first time gardener this year and i just learned so much by doing that. if you go through the container gardening forum, some where in/ around may(???) there's a post where tons of people gave out their potting soil reciepy. it's the best. it'll be the total guide for you to start. good luck. |
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