first time growing

[Anthonyox10]

Hello all.

This is my first year growing my own fruit and veg and woukd appreciate any tips/ideas/advice you could give.

I live in a flat and only have access to a balcony to grow my plants. Although it does get some sunlight, its not much, maybe 3/4 hours a day tops!

What veg/fruit would i be able to grow? Is it too early to start planting seeds in planters (attached to the balcony)?

Ideally i would like to grow tomatoes, potatoes, cucumber, pepper and maybe strawberry as these are my kids favourites.

Many thanks

[Alison]

Welcome . How big is the balcony?

[Bigmallly]

Hi & welcome to the vine. Same Q as Alison really, how big is the balcony? You could grow Tomatoes but choose an outdoor variety, maybe some Cherry Toms in a hanging baskets or wall planters, You can grow potatoes in containers/sacks etc, again you could grow Cucumbers but would need a ridge(outdoor) variety plus it would need some kind of trellis to support it, Peppers really need to be grown in a greenhouse or indoors on a windowsill, strawberries will be fine in planters or hanging baskets. Hope this gives you some comfort that although you may be short of space, crops can be grown.

[Anthonyox10]

Erm pass haha i duno probably like 10ft by 4ft?! As i say im not sure. I brought a mini greenhouse, but it doesnt seem to get enough sun to heat up at all. Ive got some old window boxes and planters and they can sot on the ledge to get the most sun.

I planted some tomato and pepper seeds in seed trays but i have a horrible feeling that its still too cold for them to do anything. Even though they spend the day in the sun and i bring them in at night.

[Bigmallly]

If you are really keen to want to grow stuff, I suggest you put your name down on an allotment waiting list. You could end up being disappointed trying to grow on a small partially shaded balcony & that would be a shame cos there's nowt like growing your own, not only for the food but for exercise & the social aspect.

[Anthonyox10]

Maybe your right. I will have a look around to see if there are any near to me.

Might juat stick to spuds in my potato sack and some hanging baskets.
Thanks

[veggiechicken]

Hi Anthony and welcome.
You need to keep your tomato and pepper seed trays indoors, somewhere warm, while they germinate and grow. They need constant warmth while they're babies. Putting them outside at the moment, even though it feels warmish to us, will either kill or stunt their growth.
Since you don't have much space, you may be better off buying a couple of plants in a month or so, and growing those on. Make sure you choose a tomato that is OK outdoors. You'll probably need to keep the peppers on your sunniest window sill.

[Anthonyox10]

I brought a tomato bush growing pack yesterday, and this is currently in my airing cupboard (should be warm enough?) Also of the tomato seeds i planted in a seed tray, i kept some by and put them on cotton wool and they are also in the airing cupboard. I noticed today that they have a white sprout(i think),coming out of them?

When do i transfer these to pots?

[Bigmallly]

As soon as they germinate, they need putting in compost in as much light as possible.

[Anthonyox10]

So that white shoot thing is the seed germinating? (As u can tell i need all the help i can get...abd possibly more) haha

[Bigmallly]

Tomatoes usually germinate fine in trays of compost, they will need a bit of warmth but you shouldn't need to chit them first (what you've done on cotton wool).

[Kristen]

I don't chit Tomato seeds either, but if I only had a few and wanted to avoid pricking out then chitting first seems OK.

That said, WHEN I prick out I plant them deeply. Even if not leggy they have a good inch or more of stem to their seed-leaves, and I take the pricking-out opportunity to bury that and make them more sturdy.

So that white shoot thing is the seed germinating?

Yup. Usually the root ("radicle") coming out first. Doesn't matter which way up you plant it (the plant has chemicals which are sensitive to gravity and they enable it to make shoots grow up and roots grow down, so it will sort itself out).

However, if you leave the seed on the cottonwood for too long (by "accident", obviously ) then I always think it is a kindness to orientate the root downwards, particularly if the shoot/leaf has already appeared from the seed, burying and leaf-end which has appeared much/at all gives the seed a harder job to then grow up above-ground for light, and the seed only has limited energy stored.

Probably WAY more information than you needed to know, sorry about that!

[Anthonyox10]

I didnt intentionally do it to "chit" them, it was more to see if i had killed the seeds haha.

But thanks for all your help guys and gals

[Bigmallly]

If you have difficulty handling the tiny seed, just plant the cotton wool with the seed on it.

[maverick451]

Hi anthony

I would really recommend the tomato variety Hundreds and Thousands, last year I got about 400 or so small cherry tomatoes from each plant and the taste was the best ive ever had from any tomato, plant 1 plant in a big hanging basket.

I planted about 6 or 7 last year and it the baskets that only received a few hours direct sun produced as much (if not better) that the ones blasted by sun 10 hours a day.