Hello! It’s time to start greening up our lovely deck. We have plans to put a hammock, a table with chairs, and maybe loungey outdoor chair on there. I’d like to have plants as well!
Some background - we live in NY so the summer will get fairly hot. I’m open to having potted plants that will need to be moved inside in the winter.
About half of the deck is exposed to direct sunlight for at least a few hours a day, we may get more in the summer.
We are both cooks and not at all accustomed to gardening, so herbs and produce are an option, but we’ll need everything to be relatively hardy and simple.
I’m thinking about putting planter boxes along the railing - are there plants that will survive in the ones that don’t get direct sunlight?
I’m also interested in something that will climb to add some privacy to the balcony divider - maybe honeysuckle or something else fragrant that could climb up a trellis next to the divider?
Lights will also be needed since there’s no outdoor lighting. Solar lights affixed to the rails that get light would be neat, are those a thing that are reliable? We do have power outlets but would prefer to minimize the amount of cables running through the area
Ideally we’d like the space to be inviting and pleasant, as we’re hoping to host people outdoors when it’s safe to do so
What do y’all think?
Posts
Just buy seeds you like and throw them at the dirt and see what happens.
Prepare to kill 80% of everything you plant, and maybe subscribe to /r/mightyharvest for emotional support.
They are great on eggs and potatoes and all sorts of things
They grow back every year on their own. Literally zero effort herbs.
But it loses its thread
I find basil pretty easy to grow, and back when I lived in an apartment I had a few plants in individual pots. Just make sure to pick off the flowers that start growing out near the top of the plant or it'll go to seed and then taste weird.
Rosemary is also pretty easy to grow and may survive the winter. Same with sage.
I've grown tomatoes on balconies before, but depending on how much sun you get in the summer, the yield may be pretty low.
I've had some success with jalapenos and habaneros on balconies.
As for lights, I have some standalone solar lights in my yard, but they are mainly used for show rather than for light. They aren't bright enough to provide good lighting and the solar battery wouldn't be good enough to last for more than 4 hours. There are most likely better options with better batteries/lights but further research would have to be done. My neighbor has string lights that are interwoven along the railing that do a nice job of lighting up the place so the amount of cables would be minimal as it would just use one outlet.
- honeysuckle will probably be good, the varieties I have seem pretty tough
- grapes could maybe work as a climbing thing?
- climbing hydrangeas grow pretty quickly and should be fairly hardy
- fiddle leaf figs are pretty good at filling up a lot of space with green, tho they will need to come in for the winter I think
- mint and basil are supposed to go pretty nuts but I've always managed to kill them somehow.
- if you find good solar lights let me know
But it loses its thread
But it loses its thread
I should point out I don’t actually have *zero* gardening experience as I’ve grown herbs and kept some succulents indoors. Growing something from seed outdoors is new to me though
I’m also open to flowers and decorative plants, especially if they’ll be easier than herbs and tomatoes etc
But it loses its thread
Starting from seeds can be daunting, so it might not be a bad idea to hit up a nursery. But also not impossible. Started quite a few plants from seeds this year 2 varieties of 2 different bell pepper plants and 2 eggplant plants so far, and need to start cucumbers/squash and some other plants this week so I can transplant them outside in a couple weeks.
I'm doing hydroponics from seeds and that's going alright so far (just started them like last week), but I'm doing this indoors using the kratky method (which could also work outside).
The idea for the method is to not need power (though in my case I do rely on grow lights for extra sunlight hours since my windows face mostly east). You leverage a container with water/growing medium, and as the plant soaks up the water, it creates an air gap. Seems like an easy way to get started in the process.
Video from the guy who came up with the method:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huwgwTHZmPE
A somewhat alright tutorial method:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ezeP1VAEoc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqBcN4kek-c
Looks I can also order a small honeysuckle plant that I could grow indoors initially! I have a SAD lamp that acts as a grow light for my succulents pretty well
like this:
anyone have experience with these?