[minkey]

Debbie, I wonder if the fertilizer I'm using is a problem. The one I'm using (and probably not frequently enough) is organic and supposed to be for everything. Maybe I need to specialize.

And I'll try pinching off. I have a hard time getting rid of anything that looks green and happy but it's for the greater good!

[Barbara]

I also should have mentioned pinching out the tips when you grow olives in pots. It will make them bush out . If you don't pinch out the grow tall and straggly.
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Barbara

[harpospeaking]

Here's a great reference on container gardening. It's well written, sort of encyclopedic in it's treatment of just about every fruit, vegetable and herb that will thrive in a container garden. Unfortunately, it has no color pictures or photos, but that's a minor complaint. It's really encouraged me to try all kinds of plants I hadn't considered before.

It's called "McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container : Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0761116230/sr=8-3/qid=1148711327/ref=pd_bbs_3/002-6106913-8337615?%5Fencoding=UTF8
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"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" --- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

http://onegirlonehouse.wordpress.com

[Alice]

Does anyone know of the best fruits or veggies that grow best facing east?
My condo has a balcony that only has about an hour and a half of sunshine in the morning. My tomatoes did not survive last year......though I did not put the water granules in the soil, and I put them in terra cotta pots. I am switching to plastic. Thank-you Debbie for that tip.

Alice

[harpospeaking]

Alice ---

According to my gardening book, most vegetables need a minimum of six hours of sunlight per day. Generally speaking, if something makes a flower before it makes the part we eat (tomatoes, squash, peppers, eggplant, etc.), it needs at least six hours. If the part we eat is a leaf (lettuce, spinach, parsley, etc.) or grows underground (radishes), it can get by with three to four hours of sunlight. It sounds like you have some obstructions (trees, buildings) that are decreasing the amount of light you're getting on your balcony if it's only 1 1/2 hours. Growing heat loving plants like tomatoes will be an uphill battle without artificial lights. I would try lettuce and radishes; if they seem to do well, try other leafy or root vegetables.

You might want to try growing the plants that require more sunlight on a window sill in your kitchen. Many people grow lettuce and herbs like basil, sage and thyme on their windowsills. You could create a nice shade garden on the balcony with maidenhair ferns and succulents.
_________________
"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" --- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

http://onegirlonehouse.wordpress.com

[Alice]

Thank-you harpo speaking.......I will try lettuce first, however unfortunately I cannot grow anything on my kitchen window sill as I don't have one! ........I do grow rosemary and sage on the balcony window sill with success.

I LOVE tomatoes and sweet peas and wish I could grow them. My mother had a huge garden when I was a kid. Every sweet summer night my sister and I would crawl out the bedroom window to the garden and devour all of my mothers sweet pea crop. Every year she would blame the rabbits!....and every year mom swore she would not grow another pea, by sis and I would convince her that it was worth it, if only we got a few for one dinner. It wasn't until we had moved out and we were in our twenties that mom discovered why she could never grow peas!

I remember what fun that was and how good veggies taste right out of the garden ......oh hell, I am going to get another condo so that I can grow tomatoes!

Alice

[Barbara]

Alice - my brother and I were pea stealers too! We would lie on our backs in the sun, under the pea vines reaching up to pick the pods. I think my Mum was pleased we were eating vegies and we never got into trouble when we were caught.
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Barbara

[harpospeaking]

Thanks to regular watering and fertilizing, my container garden is growing great. (I'll try and put some photos up on the web soon. The first baby zucchinis are making an appearance.) I'm addicted to sowing seeds, so there's always something new pushing its way through the potting soil mix.

I do have a question though. I'd like to make my own compost to enrich the potting soil. What's the best way to do this with food scraps? I don't need a lot of compost, just enough to have on hand. Is it inevitable that it will smell?
_________________
"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" --- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

http://onegirlonehouse.wordpress.com