The Community Guide

c/balcony-gardeners

5

angela_kelly•14d ago

PSA: My balcony tomatoes outgrew their pots in 3 weeks flat

I visited the community garden plot in Brooklyn last Saturday and saw they train tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets. But my balcony can't handle that weight. So is it better to prune aggressively in small pots or risk the bigger containers on a weight limit? I chose the pruning route and now my plants look sad. Anyone else stuck between yield and safety on a 4th floor balcony?

15

robinson.matthew•15d ago

Visited a rooftop garden in Brooklyn last weekend and noticed how they used old plastic nursery pots as clever vertical planters on a chain-link fence

They drilled drainage holes and zip-tied the pots in a staggered pattern, and now I'm wondering if anyone has tried something similar for small balcony spaces that get morning sun but need airflow saved on floor space?

7

harris.aaron•18d ago

Rant: My balcony garden got destroyed by a 3 day wind storm last week

I had everything going perfect - tomatoes nearly ripe, basil bushing out, even two pepper plants with buds. Then Tuesday morning a storm rolled in off the lake here in Chicago and just wrecked everything. Three pots tipped over, my dill snapped in half, and the wind shredded half the leaves off my kale. I spent Wednesday morning just picking up dirt and broken stems. Has anyone else had luck with those heavy duty wind screens or is it just hopeless on a high floor?

25

alicem29•18d ago

Wasted $60 on those self watering balcony planters and they rotted my roots

Bought a set of 3 from a brand I saw on Instagram back in April. Thought they would be perfect since I forget to water sometimes. By June my basil and mint were all yellow and droopy. Pulled them out and the roots were literally sitting in sludge at the bottom. The drainage holes are a total joke. I tore one apart to see how it works and the wicking system just traps moisture. Stuck with regular terracotta pots and saucers now. Anybody else had luck with a self watering system that actually works?

23

andrew_wood72•19d ago

My tomato plant snapped in half during a windstorm last week

I was out on my 8th floor balcony in Chicago around 6pm when a sudden gust came through. My cherry tomato plant had gotten pretty tall maybe 4 feet and I had it staked but the wind just ripped the main stem clean in two. I panicked at first then remembered reading somewhere you can prop up broken stems with tape. So I grabbed some medical tape from my first aid kit and splinted it with a chopstick. Wrapped it tight but not too tight and watered it right after. It's been 5 days now and the leaves above the break are still perky so I think it actually worked. Has anyone else tried taping a snapped stem back together? How long before I should take the splint off?

5

harper_singh18•20d ago

I finally planted herbs on my balcony and an elderly neighbor lectured me about mint

She stopped me mid-watering to say I should never put mint in the ground because it takes over everything. Now I have two small pots of mint fighting for space and I wonder if she was right. Has anyone else had a neighbor give you unsolicited plant advice that actually made you think twice?

15

noah_rivera57•21d ago

That time I put my tomato plants in those cheap black plastic pots on my fire escape

I thought the dark color would help keep the roots warm but turns out they cooked in the July sun and I lost three plants before I figured out to wrap the pots in newspaper, has anyone else had pots overheat on a south facing balcony?

21

martinez.karen•22d ago

PSA: Don't waste money on those balcony railing planters with the felt pockets

I spent $60 on a set of those fabric pocket planters for my balcony railing last spring and they dried out so fast I had to water them twice a day. The soil just leached through the felt and stained my railing too. Has anyone found a planter that actually holds moisture without turning into a mess?

30

drew_chen•22d ago

Learned that balcony soil temps can be 10 degrees hotter than ground soil

I was reading through my state ag extension website last night and found a fact that surprised me. They said soil in raised containers on balconies can heat up to 10 degrees F more than ground soil during summer afternoons. My tomato plants have been droopy even though I water them daily in July. Has anybody else dealt with overheating soil in their pots and found a good way to keep it cooler?

32

jade_hunt48•23d ago

My tomato plant staged a jailbreak onto the neighbor's balcony

Honestly, I thought I was being smart with a little cherry tomato on my 4th floor balcony. Tbh, I ignored it for a few days because work was crazy and I forgot to water it. Ngl, I came back after a three day stretch of night shifts and found it had grown these crazy long vines through the railing. The thing literally reached over and wrapped around my neighbor's outdoor lamp. I had to go knock on their door at 10am with scissors to ask if I could cut my escapee plant down. Has anyone else had a plant get way more ambitious than the space you gave it?

23

uma_mitchell83•24d ago

Hot take: I doubted moisture meters until my balcony tomatoes proved me wrong

For two years I just poked my finger into the soil to check if my pots needed water. I figured those little moisture meters were a gimmick for beginners. Then last June my cherry tomatoes kept getting blossom end rot even though I was watering every other day. A neighbor in my building let me borrow her $12 meter from the hardware store. Turns out the top inch felt dry but three inches down it was soaking wet. I was drowning the roots without realizing it. After I started using the meter twice a week my plants bounced back in about 10 days. Now I keep one in each of my five balcony pots. Has anyone else had a similar experience with a cheap gardening tool they were skeptical about?

8

the_jana•24d ago

Found a cheap solution for keeping my balcony pots from drying out too fast

I live in Phoenix where it hits 105 degrees and my little tomato pots were bone dry by noon no matter how much I watered them. I tried burying empty plastic water bottles with holes poked in the sides next to the roots and they stay damp for almost 2 days now. Has anyone else tried this trick with bigger containers or a different bottle size?

17

oliver811•24d ago

That convo with my neighbor about pot size hit different

She told me she plants everything in 5 gallon buckets and I laughed until I tried it on my peppers - 3 weeks later they're twice the size of my old ones from those skinny pots. Anyone else grow stuff in weird containers that actually worked better?

30

stellacooper•25d ago

The basil that turned purple on me was a total surprise

I planted some sweet basil seeds in a small window box back in May, and after a couple weeks half the leaves started turning purple. Turns out my balcony was getting way less light than I thought, like maybe 4 hours of direct sun instead of the 6-8 basil needs. The purple was a stress response to low light and cooler temps at night. I moved the box to a sunnier corner and now it's back to green, but has anyone else had a veggie freak out like that on a shady balcony?

15

mason.mary•26d ago

Tiny balcony tomatoes finally ripened after I tried the bucket trick

I've been trying to get tomatoes to ripen on my 4x6 balcony in Chicago for two summers now and they always stayed green until frost. Then my neighbor who grows stuff on her fire escape told me to put the pots inside a black plastic bucket to trap heat. I tried it back in August with just one plant and three weeks later those cherry tomatoes turned red. The bucket kept the roots warmer at night I guess and the dark color absorbed more sun during the day. The other plants in regular pots still have green tomatoes so it definitely made a difference. Has anyone else messed around with heat trapping tricks for small space growing?

32

drew_thomas9•26d ago

Pro tip: let your balcony plants tell you when to water them

I used to water my herbs on a set schedule... every three days no matter what. My neighbor down the hall said I was drowning them and pointed out the yellow leaves on my basil. She told me to stick my finger two inches into the soil before watering. Now I only water when the top layer is dry, and my little mint and thyme are way happier after two months of this.

1

mitchell.mark•27d ago

My pepper plant snapped in half during a storm yesterday

I had this beautiful jalapeno plant that I grew from seed back in March on my balcony in Chicago, and a sudden gust of wind just broke the main stem clean in two. I tried to splint it with a chopstick and some tape, but the top half was already wilting within an hour. Has anyone else had luck saving a plant after a break like that or should I just give up on it?

14

abby698•28d ago

Hit 50 different herbs on my balcony last Saturday and didnt even plan it

I was just messing around counting pots for a soil order and realized I had 51 different herb plants crammed onto my 4x8 foot balcony. Started with just basil and mint two years ago, but then I got into Thai basil, lemon balm, and shiso from a friend. Then I picked up lavender, rosemary, and three kinds of sage from a nursery sale. Saturday morning I found a volunteer dill sprouting in a crack between two pots. I counted everything twice because I didnt believe it. Has anyone else accidentally turned their balcony into a full herb farm without meaning to?

4

wilson.jana•28d ago

That talk with the old lady next door changed how I water my herbs

My neighbor Carol who has been gardening on her balcony for 20 years saw me drowning my basil plant last Tuesday. She told me to stick my finger in the soil up to the second knuckle before I even think about watering. Now my rosemary and thyme are actually growing instead of just sitting there looking sad. Has anyone else had a neighbor drop some simple wisdom that totally shifted how you care for your plants?

1

dakotam17•1mo ago

PSA: Stop overwatering your balcony herbs, they don't need it every day

I kept killing my basil and mint for about 6 months before I figured out what I was doing wrong. Everyone told me to water them daily, but my balcony gets full sun from noon to 4pm and the pots were staying wet. I started sticking my finger an inch into the soil before watering, and now I only water every 2 or 3 days. My parsley went from yellow to dark green in just one week after I cut back. Has anyone else had success with checking soil moisture before watering?

8

vera_sanchez•1mo ago

Spent 2 months fighting fungus gnats in my balcony herb pots

I started my little balcony garden last spring with basil, mint, and parsley in three window boxes. Everything was going great until I noticed tiny flies buzzing around every time I watered. I figured it was just a fluke and they would go away on their own. Six weeks later I had gnats in every single pot and my basil was starting to droop. I tried cinnamon, let the soil dry out completely, even covered the dirt with pebbles. Nothing worked until I bought those yellow sticky traps and mosquito dunk bits. It took a full 2 months from start to finish to get rid of them all. Has anyone else dealt with a gnat infestation that just would not quit?

13

xena946•1mo ago

That vertical wall rack I ordered on a whim actually solved my carnivorous plant overcrowding issue on the balcony.

I was super skeptical about those plastic grid systems since they looked kinda flimsy, but after 3 months of rain and wind in Seattle, my drosera and sarracenia are thriving without taking up any floor space has anyone else tried hanging setups for fussy plants?

0

lee.casey•1mo ago

My basil plants all wilted in one afternoon

I was on my third floor balcony in Chicago last Tuesday when I saw all my new basil seedlings had gone limp. I'd used a cheap plastic pot from the dollar store that had no drainage holes, and a heavy rain had filled it up like a bucket. I had to quickly poke holes in the bottom with a screwdriver to let the water out. Has anyone else saved plants from drowning like this?

20

gray_smith67•1mo ago

My friend in Denver swore by a cheap plastic pot trick for my windy balcony

So my buddy out west told me to get those basic black plastic nursery pots and just drop them inside my nicer ceramic ones. He said the air gap would keep the roots from cooking in the summer sun. I was sure it was silly, but my petunias in the ceramic alone got super sad and droopy by 2 PM every day last July. I tried his way with a new batch of herbs, and the difference is crazy. The soil in the plastic pot stays damp way longer, and the plants just look happier. It cost me maybe ten bucks for a set of pots at the garden center. Has anyone else found a simple fix like this for beating the heat on a small, sunny balcony?

4

robert248•1mo ago

My neighbor in Chicago said to use old coffee grounds for my basil, and it actually doubled the leaf size in a month.

I was skeptical because my balcony only gets four hours of sun, but mixing the grounds into the soil once a week gave me the biggest harvest I've ever had. Has anyone else tried this with other herbs like mint or oregano?