Tips for a balcony vegetable garden

A small vegetable garden on your balcony to provide you with good fruit and vegetable supplements for your home is possible, we give you some advice to create a beautiful vegetable garden on your balcony. Which potting soil should you choose? To sow your seeds Depending on the variety, you can sow them directly in your planters or indoors. Sowing directly in place: You can sow beetroot, carrot, chervil, wild chicory, chives, spinach, broad beans, beans, autumn lettuce, lamb's lettuce, turnip, sorrel, parsley, dandelion, peas, radishes, salsify, thyme directly in your planters or pots. Use a fine and loose sowing soil. Sow in rows by digging a furrow and spreading the seeds evenly inside. You can also sow in pockets, the seeds are gathered in small piles. Indoor sowing: Fill pots with seed compost and push the seeds down just a few millimeters depending on the variety. Keep the soil moist but not soggy. Place your pots behind a window in a small greenhouse so they benefit from as much light as possible. Be careful to respect the germination conditions; some seeds need to be soaked in water for 24 hours to germinate, for example. Nightshades will need a constant minimum temperature of 20°C to germinate. To successfully plant your plants To obtain beautiful crops, you will need good soil. We recommend making a mixture: half garden soil (you can also use topsoil), a quarter compost (garden, forest algae compost, or leaf mold), and a quarter coarse sand. You can also make worm compost; it's a very good solution for growing on balconies. Make sure to add a drainage layer of a few centimeters (clay balls or pot shards, gravel, shells) in all large pots, planters, and large planting containers to prevent moisture stagnation, which will lead to root asphyxiation. The smaller the pots, the less autonomy they have, so you will need to water more often in summer. You can use the trick of the pierced bottle leaking slowly into the pots. Which pots or planters should you use? Regarding the pots, you will need to make sure they have drainage holes to evacuate the water. If you use unglazed terracotta pots, remember to soak them in water for at least one night. If you reuse pots or planters, clean them before using them. Choose deep pots for growing tomatoes, leeks, turnips, and squash. Choose wide, shallow pots or low planters to sow radishes, lettuce, arugula, lamb's lettuce, and aromatic plants. Place larger pots behind smaller ones so that everyone gets the sun they need for growth. If all your pots are the same size, it's best to organize them in a staircase style, such as a potting rack. Be careful not to put too many pots on your balcony; find out how much weight it can support. What should you do with your pots in winter? You can use your soil/compost mix two years in a row. Pull up annual crops and weeds, then wait until next spring to start new seedlings. What varieties can you grow on a balcony? Many varieties can be grown on a balcony; you'll be lucky enough to have crops that are often sheltered from the wind and will take full advantage of the warmth. Aromatics You can grow many aromatic plants in pots, annuals like coriander but also perennials like chives, basil, thyme, mint etc. Discover all our aromatic plantsDiscover our collection of mint plants Carrots: Choose varieties with short roots, to be sown from April to June in a light sandy mix (2/3 potting soil, 1/3 coarse sand) in planters 20 cm deep. Harvest: from June to September depending on sowing. You can combine them with beans or lettuce. A few radish seeds in the carrots will keep red spider mites away. Water regularly in dry periods but moderately because it fears excess moisture. The Marché de Paris carrot is an ideal variety. Cucumbers: Plant the small plants between May and early June in large, deep, wide pots at least 30 cm wide, in good potting soil enriched with algo forest compost or slow-release organic fertilizer. Water regularly. To save space, train its stems with stakes. You can give it tomato fertilizer every 15 days to encourage fruiting. Harvest: from July to September. Association: you can sow small radishes at the base of the cucumbers. Do not associate with tomatoes. The Lemonsaura cucumber will flourish on your balcony. Discover all our cucumber varieties