Complete Beginner, please help!

20 years ago

I'm moving at the end of the month into a third floor apartment, with a really nice balcony (faces north), so naturally the first thing I want to do is start planting things! I'm a complete beginner when it comes to gardening, and I have no idea of what types of plants will survive on a balcony in South Eastern Ontario. I was hoping to do tomatos, and some herbs. If anyone has any suggestions to get me started, they'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks :)

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Comments (4)

jenny_in_se_pa
20 years ago
You may want to just do a few things until you see how much sun you get in that north-facing spot. That will determine what will do well and what might just languish due to lack of light - especially something like tomatoes. There are ways to reflect light back on the plants but that will depend on whether anything ends up blocking the sun too... There are a couple of Ontario folks who come here and have lots of stuff that they grow. If you look around your area, anything that you see growing naturally can be grown on the balcony - again depending on the sun, plus your pocketbook and what manages to jump into your cart at a local nursery...lol (and weight that the balcony can hold).
Rabbittmoon
20 years ago
Hi shannon! Congratulations on your first year of gardening! This will surely be a year you will never forget. I'm still pretty new myself, this will be my fourth year. But here are some things I hope will help.

You always want to get a pot with a hole in it for good drainage. (you prob know this, but just incase).

From what I've heard, herbs don't like a lot of fertilizer. So I never fertilize mine and I grow them in soil like hummus, its the cheap stuff too. But I don't know how much this helps. Although my herbs seem to do better than anything else I've grown lol.

The stuff I had the most success with my first year was sage and clary sage. I gave so many little pots of that stuff away, its like every seed came up.

Rosemary doesn't do well from seed but if you want to try it I've heard it helps to file the seed down a little bit. I live in zone 6 so I bought some Arp Rosemary (hardy rosemary) and I LOVE it!! Its like 3.5 feet tall now. Haven't had any luck with lavender either. Chamomile is easy from seed but mine didn't bloom until the second year. Basil rules, I've had great success with that. Especially licorice basil. Mint, I have not tried from seed but you will want to keep that in its own pot because its very invasive.

I haven't had any luck with tomatoes either but I'm not giving up, I'm going to plant some more this year.

Well, Good luck!
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sheryl_ontario
20 years ago
Hi Shannyn, I'm in Barrie and I have a daughter in college in Cambridge. What part of Ontario are you in? Maybe I can help you with what will survive the winter there. You'll be south of me and maybe a zone warmer?
sahoyaref
20 years ago
You probably won't be able to grow tomatoes on a north facing balcony. And herbs do grow better with little or no fertilizer. They have a higher amount and concentration of essential oils that way (who knows why).
I have an east facing balcony and not much did well for me last year, not even the shade plants! so this year it's mostly houseplants for me, with a few real shade-lovers (like coleus, begonias, and lobelia). And that's an EAST balcony. You will likely get even less sun. You could probably grow lettuce though, if you really want to do some veggies.
Do pay attention to exactly how many hours of sun you get. I have one corner that gets barely one hour, and the opposite side gets about 5 or 6 hours, so I plant accordingly (sunnier plants on the one side, only shade-loving houseplants on the other).
I hope you do enjoy your balcony gardening though, and find something that works for you!

Complete Beginner, please help!

Comments (4)

jenny_in_se_pa

Rabbittmoon

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