With the continuous improvement of material life, more and more people are advocating scientific and environmentally friendly planting, and the balcony is no longer a place just for flowers, but a place for vegetables in response to the needs of people's lives. Growing vegetables on the balcony is both environmentally friendly and healthy, and it can also be used as a flower garden for cultivation, which is indeed a good thing for both body and mind.
- Things to be done before growing
①Clean your balcony.
②Prepare necessities
Content: There are two main types of containers for growing vegetables: clay containers and plastic containers. The clay containers have better drainage and air permeability, which is good for the growth of vegetable roots. But good drainage also means that we need to increase the frequency of watering. Plastic containers are cheap and sturdy, but they have poor drainage and air permeability, so vegetables need to be watered less often if they are planted in them.
Soil: Balcony vegetables can be cultivated without soil, using rock wool, grass charcoal, vermiculite, water and other substrates with nutrient solution. You can also choose humus, which can be mixed with garden soil.
Watering Tools: There must be enough water for the plant growing. When planting vegetables, we need to prepare two types of watering tools, one is kettle and the other is a spray. Spray cans are mainly for watering the soil and sprays are mainly for wetting the foliage. The longer the nozzle is, the more stable the water flow from the spray can will be. You should also choose a sprayer with a longer nozzle so that it is easier to use.
Other Tools: Transplanting shovels, scissors, brackets, rope, soil loader, small rakes, sieves, concrete blocks, trellises, climbing nets, etc.
③Buy seeds
- Some Easy-Grown Veggies
①beans: Beans can be planted on the balcony by direct sowing or seedling transplanting. In the case of direct sowing, poke a hole in the soil with your finger and place 1-3 seeds in each hole. Water well and keep moist. 1 week later the seedlings can be produced. Harvesting can be done about two months after sowing. Beans have strict water requirements, generally every 2-3 days, when the temperature is high, you can increase the frequency of watering.
②carrots：The best temperature for seedling is 20-25 degrees Celsius, while the best temperature for growth is 18-23 Celsius at daytime and 13-18 Celsius at night. It takes a long time for carrots to grow and you need to wait patiently for 2-4 months after sowing for harvest.
③basil：Basil grows well in a warm environment, so be sure to get plenty of sunlight. Place one or two seeds in each pot, cover them with a layer of soil, and then cover them with plastic film to keep the soil moist. Place the pots in a sunny place and spray the soil twice a day with the plastic film open to keep the soil moist. When a small sprout appears, you can remove the plastic film completely. When it has one or two mature leaves, it is ready for transplanting.
④lettuce：Growing lettuce on a balcony does not require much light. During the growing season, the soil should be kept moist and not too dry. After planting, it will sprout in about a week. One month from sowing to harvesting is enough for lettuce.
⑤tomatoes：Tomatoes should be hand-pollinated in time for their flowering. We can use a brush to swab the tomato flowers so that the pollen from the stamens falls onto the pistil stigma. The seedlings of tomatoes are very small when they first grow, but when they mature, they need plenty of space to grow, and their roots are very strong. The best way to cultivate tomatoes is to set up a stand so that they can grow strong, avoid being blown over by the wind, and bear fruit. Some soft strings would be a good choice.
⑥spinach：Spinach does not have a well-developed root system. Therefore transplanting would easily hurt its root, and it is usually sown by direct seeding. Buy some fresh seeds and plant it with a temperature between 15 to 20 Celsius, which is the best condition for its seedling. When the temperature is too high, you should water once in the morning and once in the evening to keep the soil moist.
⑦cucumber：Cucumbers don't have very high light requirements, and most are suited to short daylight conditions. So if you want to keep it on a balcony, it's best to choose a low light location or give it proper shade. The water requirement is very high, so in addition to proper water control during the seedling stage, it is important to ensure sufficient water at all times, and also to ensure that the temperature is appropriate. Like tomatoes, cucumbers also require artificial pollination.
- Steps of growing
①Container Selection. Choose containers according to the size of the various vegetable plants. Generally, a container with a diameter of about 20 cm is suitable for small plant; a diameter of about 30 cm is suitable for medium-sized plant. And for large plants, choose a planter box with a depth of about 40 cm.
② Lay the mortar stone. Before filling the container with culture soil, you should lay a layer of potting stone on the bottom of the container so that the container has better air permeability, and the thickness of the potting stone should be visible at the bottom of the container.
③Lay soil. The height of the culture soil should be about 2cm from the top of the container, so that the soil is evenly distributed.
④ Sow seeds. If the seeds are too small, we can spread them on the soil directly. If the seeds are large, we can insert them into the soil.
⑤ Interseeding. Usually, people will sow more seeds to ensure the sprouting of the seeds. If there are more seedlings, we need to use interseeding, that is, to adjust the spacing of seedlings, so as to ensure the healthy growth of seedlings.
⑥ Fertilization. When planting vegetables in containers on the balcony, we need to fertilize the soil after a period of time to ensure the nutritional needs of the vegetables.
⑦ Remove the axillary buds. Axillary bud removal refers to the removal of the axillary buds that grow from the connection between the stem and the leaves. The purpose of axillary bud removal is to concentrate the nutrition of the vegetables.
⑧ Harvest. After the fruits have grown, we can harvest them.
- Some Tips
①When growing vegetables on the balcony, it is best to choose vegetables that are in season.
②Fertilizer can be added at different times according to the growth needs of different plants.
③The balcony needs to be properly secured with guardrail or other safety precautions. If accidentally touched or blown down by strong winds, pots will fall off the building and hurt pedestrians and vehicles, causing serious consequences.
