Do-it-yourself vegetable garden on the balcony: how to arrange it and what to plant

Even owners of summer cottages do not give up the idea of starting a mini garden on the balcony in order to provide their family with herbs and vegetables without unnecessary running around. True, the idea is not as simple as it seems. What crops can be grown in a mini-garden, what is necessary to get a good harvest, and what problems may you encounter on the way to it?

Vegetable garden instead of flower garden

What to plant on the balcony - varieties of greens and vegetables

When you decide to build home garden beds, think about what goal you are pursuing? Decorate your balcony and at the same time enrich your family menu without spending too much time caring for the garden? Then pay attention to the various varieties of greenery, distinguished by their decorative appearance, unpretentiousness, and beneficial composition:

onions for feathers - onions, chives, spring onions;
salad – “Odessa (curly)”, “Snowflake”, “May”, watercress;
parsley – “Beads”, “Fitness”, “Emerald lace”;
basil – “Clove aroma”, “Thai Queen”, “Green aroma”;
other types of spices - chervil, chard, coriander, celery, mint.

Basil can be grown in a pot

Do you want to surprise your guests with a vegetable salad made from aromatic freshly picked fruits in winter? Prepare for the special day in advance - plant several seedlings of tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. The main thing is to choose low-growing varieties so that the containers with them are stable and you don’t have to fiddle with supports. If you don’t want to buy ready-made seedlings, stock up on seeds for organizing a vegetable garden on your balcony:

hot peppers – Ogonyok, Zmey Gorynych, Superchili;
cherry tomatoes - Kishmish, Mikron-NK, Cascade Red, Cherryfingers;
cucumbers - Courage, Manul, Balcony miracle;
sweet paprika – Watercolor, Carat, Treasure Island.

Climbing plants also look impressive, so for the sake of beauty and benefit, you can consider planting beans or peas. And if cultivating a vegetable garden seems like a routine task, pay attention to the berries - strawberries, currants, blueberries. Some enthusiasts manage to successfully grow raspberries, physalis, and figs in a confined space.

Pomegranate on the balcony

Experienced gardeners often set up a research mini-nursery on the balcony. There they observe exotic plants, so that later they can fearlessly move them to a personal plot or to a full-fledged greenhouse. As a result, it becomes possible to grow such unusual fruits as bananas, kiwi, persimmons and even coffee beans in temperate climates.

Balsam

This plant is becoming more and more popular, which is not at all surprising. Impatiens can easily grow almost anywhere, including on the balcony, on the shaded side.

At the same time, the flower tolerates both cold and warm weather equally well. For the winter, it is best to move the balsam indoors. It will delight you with its beautiful and bright flowering until the coldest weather. Balsam has many advantages:

it grows well;
unpretentious to growing conditions;
can easily tolerate replanting and pruning;
propagated by cuttings;
can be grown in the house, on the balcony, on the street.

However, it is worth noting that balsams with brightly colored flowers may fade somewhat in the shade, which is why it is worth choosing white varieties or light pink ones. They look simply luxurious.

It is worth remembering that balsams have some disadvantages. These include the fact that the plant grows quite quickly, so you will have to change several pots during the season. Balsam also requires a lot of moisture. This flower needs to be watered daily, otherwise it will become smaller and the buds will fall off.

In general, balsam is a fairly unpretentious plant. Once every two weeks you need to apply liquid fertilizers for flowering plants. If the balsam has lost its attractiveness, then you need to prune it and replace the soil. Soon the plant will become bright and beautiful again.

How to turn a balcony into a mini-garden

For beginners, gardening on a balcony seems like a simple matter, but people who have devoted years to gardening understand that the harvest will not grow so easily. It is necessary to provide the chosen crop with optimal conditions for its growth and fruiting:

composition and heating of the soil,
mode of lighting, watering, replenishment,
air temperature, humidity, air exchange rate.

To maintain these parameters in an acceptable ratio, first prepare the balcony:

Seal cracks in corners and walls to minimize drafts.
Renew the window beads and seal the joints with putty if you find that the windows are leaking.
Is the flooring strong enough to withstand the additional load? If necessary, protect it with thick linoleum.

If you have already glazed and insulated your balcony, perhaps even heating it, nothing will prevent you from setting up a vegetable garden here for early and late growing of crops. Many varieties, for example, of mini tomatoes, are able to actively bear fruit at relatively low temperatures and short daylight hours until the New Year. True, they still need additional lighting, so you will have to supply electricity to the loggia and connect an outlet.

Additional illumination of tomato seedlings

Additional measures may be needed for the full functioning of the balcony space in the new status:

installing a windbreak on the side from which the wind often blows;
installation of shading devices and materials - canopy, umbrella, awning, mirror film;
expansion of usable area due to shelves, window sills, tubs, trellises, etc.

You can plant a vegetable garden with your own hands on an unglazed balcony, open to all winds and elements, in late spring and summer. During this period, sudden vagaries of weather are unlikely. However, consider how to protect young seedlings in the event of force majeure. For example, you can wrap them in thick (60–80 g/m2) spunbond or bring them into the room.

What to grow in - choosing containers and preparing the soil

To ensure that crops are comfortable in a confined space, make sure they have containers large enough for them. It can be:

rectangular boxes for seedlings;
round flower pots and flowerpots;
hanging and floor planters;
leaky pots, basins, buckets;
water pipes, barrels, water bottles, construction bags.

Expanse of options for a mini-garden

Do not skimp on the volume and density of container placement - due to lack of space, plants begin to get sick, as a result, their decorativeness deteriorates, and the quality of the harvest decreases. For one adult plant, cucumbers and peppers need a 5-liter container, regular tomatoes and eggplants require 10 liters, and mini tomatoes grow well in 2 or 3-liter pots.

To grow herbs, the easiest way is to “set up” a vegetable garden on the balcony windowsill - here they will have light and it is convenient to care for them. To force onion feathers, you can get by with plastic cups or mayonnaise jars filled with water or soil. Large containers - at least 20 cm in width and depth - are necessary for cultivating root vegetables such as beets, carrots and celery.

As for the soil, due to the limited volume, special requirements are imposed on it:

fertility,
absence of pests,
moisture and breathability.

The soil mixture should be loose

It is better to buy a soil mixture suitable for a home garden in a specialized store or, as a last resort, prepare it yourself from ingredients prepared in a timely manner and mixed in the following ratios:

peat, turf soil, humus, mullein – 5:1:3:1;
humus, turf soil – 2:1;
humus, mullein, turf soil – 7:1:2;
compost, coarse river sand, humus - 1:1:2 (plus add two glasses of ash to every two buckets of the mixture).

Be sure to make slits in the bottoms of the containers to drain excess water. Place a drainage layer on the bottom - expanded clay, perlite, clay shards, coarse gravel, pieces of foam plastic. Then fill it to the top with nutritious soil and leave it for several days. When the soil is compacted (do not compact it on purpose), fill it to the top and you can start planting seeds or seedlings.

Expanded clay for drainage

From bitter experience

I hasten to share with you the lessons that I learned from my own experience of growing a vegetable garden on a loggia:

Even balcony plants can suffer from pests and diseases. To avoid the use of chemicals, I recommend planting healthy flowers such as marigolds, rue and lavender. They drive away pests with their scent.

Marigolds are reliable assistants in pest control

Don't skimp on the size of the planting container. I found the optimal size for my loggia (1.7x5 m) - two hanging pots 15x55x10 cm, one stationary pot 15x30x10 cm and several free-standing pots. This area contained herbs, hot dwarf peppers, cherry tomatoes and a couple of bushes of low-growing beans.
Read the description of the variety carefully, remembering that they must all be self-pollinating.

Subtleties of growing different crops

Why is it that, despite the apparent simplicity of the idea of having a vegetable garden on the balcony, not everyone succeeds, and instead of generously fruiting bushes, some people end up with half-dry hedges, sadly hanging from the windowsill? The main mistake is neglecting the nuances of the work process. Pay attention to what kind of care a particular plant requires, and follow the recommendations exactly.

Cultivating lettuce in a container

If you still haven’t decided what to plant first in your balcony garden, listen to the advice - sow lettuce, it’s the easiest to cultivate. It is worth starting the “sowing campaign” at the end of April if you have a balcony on the south side, and at the beginning of May if on the north. Purchase seeds from a trusted company - if you are not sure, ask experienced summer residents where they usually shop.

Lettuce seeds

Immediately decide on the required quantity: 1 medium pot requires 10–15 seeds, they are planted in a box in 3 cm increments. Usually 1 bag is enough for a beginning gardener. Next, start preparing the seed material:

Prepare a light pink solution of water with potassium permanganate.
Open the package of seeds and separate the required amount.
Wrap them in a piece of cloth or gauze.
Dip the bag of seeds in a manganese solution and leave it for 1 hour to disinfect.

Plant the treated seeds in the prepared soil:

Make a depression of 1–1.5 cm in the ground - in a pot there are several holes, and in a box there is a central furrow along the entire length.
Carefully place a couple of seeds at the bottom of each hole.
Cover them with soil, pour plenty of settled water and cover with polyethylene until the first shoots appear.

If it’s still cool on the balcony, keep your “vegetable garden” in a warm, shaded place. After 3–5 days, you can notice young, fragile sprouts, which means it’s time to remove the film and moisten the soil. Please note that lettuce does not like heat and tolerates cold well. As soon as the temperature on the balcony thermometer reaches 16–18°, without hesitation, take the containers out of the living space.

Outdoor salad

Do not forget to water the lettuce sprouts daily and additionally spray the leaves - without moisture they become bitter and tough. If cool days come, water a little less often - every other day. There is no need to feed the plant with anything, unless you reuse the soil to plant new seeds. In this case, 2 weeks after germination, organize fertilizing with complex fertilizer for greenery.

How to grow tomatoes on the balcony

Before you set up a garden of tomato bushes on your balcony, you need to stock up on seeds or seedlings of a suitable variety. It is advisable in the fall, on the eve of frost, to dig up several strong bushes: on an insulated balcony they will be able to bear fruit for another month and a half, and on a well-insulated and heated one - until spring.

Young tomato seedlings

Even a beginner can grow seedlings on his own. To do this, follow the step-by-step instructions:

In damp soil (to disinfect it, you should first heat it in the microwave or soak it with a strong solution of potassium permanganate) dig grooves 1–1.5 cm deep at a distance of 3–4 cm.
Place the seeds in increments of 1–2 cm and sprinkle them with soil.
Cover the drawers with film or glass and place them close to the battery - ideally the temperature should be at least 25°.
For 3-4 days, check the humidity inside the “greenhouse” and, if you notice drying, spray the surface with a spray bottle.
After the seedlings emerge, move them to the warmest and brightest windowsill and, if possible, provide the seedlings with 24-hour supplementary lighting with fluorescent lamps.
After about a week, remove the film cover; all this time the seedlings should be kept at extremely high humidity - at least 95%.

When the sprouts grow and become stronger, take them out onto the balcony for a while and let them harden. Continue to monitor the moisture content of the top layer of soil and the turgor (elasticity) of the leaves, and add settled room water to the pot. Finally, leave the plants for permanent residence when the optimal temperature regime for them has been established: 16–20° at night and 20–25° during the day.

Standard mini tomato bushes

During the growth process, remove weak and lagging plants, transplant strong specimens that interfere with each other into separate containers. Don’t forget about fertilizing: regularly sprinkle with ash and mulch the soil with humus, rotted grass, and once a week fertilize with purchased compounds based on guano (bird droppings), humates or vermicompost.

Video: how to grow balcony tomatoes:

Homemade cucumbers from the balcony garden

Cucumber is famous for having the most capricious character among balcony crops. It does not tolerate drafts, is picky about the composition of the soil mixture, needs intense lighting (cucumbers usually do not take root on northern balconies), and every now and then strives to get sick. But once you get the hang of it, you will get a decent harvest of greens - you can harvest 5–7 kg from one bush.

Preparing seeds for germination

If you do not plan to add light to your garden on the balcony, start planting in May, when daylight lasts at least 10 hours. Pre-germinate the cucumber seeds - place them on damp gauze and wait until small sprouts emerge from the “spouts”. Place the soil only in a disinfected container, for example, after holding it over a pan of boiling water.

Your next steps should look like this:

Sow the seeds into a container to a depth of 1.5–2 cm. Do this carefully - the seedlings are very tender.
Cover the crops with translucent material and place the containers on the balcony or other place with a plus temperature of 24–26°.
As the top layer of soil dries, moisten it with a sprayer.

With the right agricultural technology, seedlings will appear on the 6th day or a little earlier. You can already remove the film or glass, but be sure to maintain a warm and humid microclimate around the sprouts. After 2-3 weeks, when 2-3 true leaves appear on the stems, gradually harden the plants and prepare them for moving to the balcony (if they were originally planted in the room). To do this, open the window, ventilate the room, turn off the heaters.

Cucumber on a trellis

As soon as it gets warmer than +15° on the balcony, move the containers here. After 5-6 leaves appear, tie the vines to a plastic trellis or to a stretched twine. Protect them from overheating and hypothermia, shade them in time or, conversely, wrap the plants. Remember that they categorically do not accept drafts and consume a lot of water; water and spray the cucumbers daily.

Video: real experience of growing cucumbers on the balcony:

Growing strawberries on the balcony

Seeing the price of berries in the “off season” in the supermarket, you may decide that growing them is difficult and expensive. In fact, strawberries take root quite easily on a balcony or windowsill with a constant temperature of +18°. Remontant varieties (capable of repeatedly blooming and bearing fruit during one growing season) have adapted well to urban conditions:

"Queen Elizabeth";
"Clery";
"Supreme";
"Home Delicacy"

Garden strawberry seedling

Buy seedlings at the store, or better yet, take them from friends or even grow them from seeds. Choose a universal soil mixture - for home flowers, and the containers must have a volume of at least 3 liters. The process of planting seeds is very simple:

Lightly compact the prepared soil with a plank.
Make shallow grooves in it.
Using tweezers or a pointed stick, sow the berry seeds at a distance of 2 cm from each other.
If necessary, place beacons indicating varieties.

Please note that the seeds will take a long time to germinate; they need to be regularly moistened with a spray bottle. To reduce moisture evaporation, cover the strawberry garden with film and ventilate it daily. Keep pots with seedlings in the brightest and warmest place. If you see that they do not receive the minimum required 12 hours of light, provide them with artificial sun in the form of illumination with a fluorescent lamp.

Strawberry sprouts

With ready-made seedlings, the life of a balcony gardener becomes even easier. You need:

Prepare a solution of 1 tablet of heteroauxin (an organic growth stimulator) and 5 liters of water.
Trim the longest roots and place the plants in the solution for 3-4 hours.
Plant each seedling, burying its underground stem halfway.
Water the plantings with the prepared heteroauxin solution.

2 weeks after planting or the appearance of the first shoots, feed with complex mineral fertilizer. It won't hurt to spray the leaves with a liquid iron solution, which is usually sold in flower shops - iron increases the yield of strawberries. As a result, you will grow bushes that can produce tasty, aromatic berries all year round.

Ripe and still green berries

Spinach

Spinach is a very light-loving crop, but not too demanding on temperature. Its seeds germinate even at 4°C, and the optimal temperature for growth after germination is 15°C. Moreover, adult plants can withstand even a sharp drop in temperature down to 6°C.

Considering the huge list of beneficial substances contained in spinach leaves, it can be called an indispensable plant for indoor gardening.

Spinach seeds are first soaked for 1-2 days, and immediately before sowing they are dried a little.

The soil for sowing should be fertile and loose. Sowing depth – 2-3 cm, distance between plants – 10 cm, between rows – 30 cm.

As soon as the sprouts hatch, move the containers as close to the window as possible. Spinach needs to be watered abundantly both before seed germination and during the growing season. At the age of 20 days, seedlings can be fed with complex microfertilizer if desired.

The “harvest” is harvested in the 5-6 leaf phase, approximately 25-30 days after sowing. There is no point in keeping it in the ground any longer - the leaves become coarse and tasteless.

Design of balcony beds - photo ideas

Even country plantings today are usually decorated decoratively. What can we say about a vegetable garden on the balcony - you want to share photos of your home beds and show them off to your guests as a landmark of your home. Here are some ways to combine practical benefits with spiritual beauty:

be sure to put the containers you use in order - paint the pots and boxes with bright paint (you can even use nail polish), decorate with a mosaic of ceramic shards or buttons, wrap with twine or textured yarn;
to increase the usable area, use the principle of vertical beds - install open shelves, install a wooden shelf or a figured trellis net, make decorative fences;
As a base, use all kinds of available materials - construction pallets, plastic pipes cut lengthwise or installed at the end, flower or household shelves.

Do not overdo it with compaction - all plants should be spacious and light. It is also important to consider the compatibility of crops when planting them nearby. Thus, tomatoes, basil and radishes do not like to grow next to cucumbers, fennel “quarrels” with spinach, and carrots with dill.

To make fewer mistakes, get ideas from experienced gardeners who are willing to share their experience in growing vegetables and berries in mini-gardens on balconies and window sills. Don’t neglect the little things, provide favorable climatic conditions for the plants, and they will thank you with a generous harvest.

Examples of vegetable garden design on a balcony:

Container for landing

Small containers are perfect for salads and small vegetables.
You can grow vegetables on the loggia in special boxes or any suitable container, but you need to take into account the style of decoration of the room. Dirty and old buckets with cracks on the side are unlikely to decorate the balcony, even if luxurious vegetable bushes are planted in them.

For each vegetable crop, containers of a certain height should be selected, this depends on the length of the root system. When planting cucumbers, it is best to use tall cylindrical containers, the height of which reaches from 0.5 to 1.0 meters. The same container will be needed for planting tall tomatoes and eggplants. Spicy greens, leaf and head lettuce, celery develop well and produce a harvest in horizontal boxes 25 cm high.

Beans, peas and beans can be planted in boxes and individual pots, but these plants will need reliable support in the form of a ladder or a special shelf.