Helpful Tips to Grow Fruits and Vegetables on Your Balcony

As you maybe read our 5 Benefits of consuming Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables, you may want to grow something healthy by yourself.

If you want to grow your own fruits and vegetables, you do not necessarily need a vegetable garden. Peppers, aubergines and strawberries can also be grown in flower boxes on the balcony. In this article, you will find out which fruit and vegetable plants are best suited for the balcony and which aspects should be given particular attention to in what concerns the balcony cultivation of that fruit or vegetable.

The most important planting and care tips for the beds of fruit and vegetable on your balcony

These fruit and vegetable varieties are particularly suitable for the balcony:

Peppers: May be in warm and sunny locations. Regularly provide sufficient moisture. Sow from the beginning of May, harvest in September.

Aubergines: Well suited for warm and sunny locations. Through its height of up to 100 centimeters, they are great jewelry for the balcony. Sow in February, harvest from the beginning of August.

Tomatoes: Extremely robust, therefore ideal for beginners. Needs sunny locations. Sow from the end of March, harvest in July.

Beans: They grow in height and are, therefore, good on small balconies and can be used as visual protection. Sow from May if possible, harvest from the beginning of August.

Salads: Well suited for beginners because they need little space and grow fast. Large varieties, sow them in March.

Strawberries: Hanging strawberries are particularly suitable for small balconies. Frequent crops guaranteed in the summer, and they get along well with shaded places.

A good location is crucial for the harvest

In order for your harvest to be as rich as possible, your balcony should ideally have a south-west or south-east orientation. This orientation is the best way to ensure that plants which need exposure to the Sun, such as tomatoes and peppers, are adequately provided sunlight and thus live in optimal growth conditions. In addition, it is also important that your balcony is well-ventilated. Because insufficient air circulation not only inhibits plant growth, but also makes the plants more susceptible to pest infestations.

What is the ideal time for cultivation

If you plan to grow your fruit and vegetables on the balcony in March or April, the risk of the plants being affected by cold or night frost is relatively high. Consequently, it is advisable not to start cultivation until the beginning of May, when no cold phases are to be expected. If you want to use fruit and vegetable plants that have been grown in a greenhouse, they should be slowly adapted to their future life on the balcony. Place these plants for a few days somewhere on your balcony that is protected from wind and excessive sunlight.

These requirements should be met by planters of balcony flower beds

In order for your fruit and vegetables to flourish on the balcony, the planters used must not be too tight. In the best case, you should use wooden, clay or plastic flower boxes with a capacity of at least 10 liters. Only lettuce plants or herbs need smaller vessels, whereas fruit and berry trees generally require even more space. If you have only a small balcony, it is advisable to plant fruit and vegetables that grow not in width, but in height. For this purpose, mainly climbing species, such as pumpkins, cucumbers and fire beans, are suitable. In addition to an adequate size, the planters should also have at least one bottom hole, so that excess pouring and rainwater flow away and no stagnation can occur within.

Regularly water and fertilize your fruit and vegetable plants

In order for your fruit and vegetable plants to grow well in the balcony flower bed after planting, and your harvest to be correspondingly rich, they must be regularly watered during the hot summer months. In addition to that, the fruit and vegetable plants should also be regularly fertilized. Their roots have very little space and, therefore, feed on the nutrients contained in the soil quickly. In order to get the best results, use organic fertilizer for long-term fertilizing.